MIAMI, FL —— The top six teams held firm in the AP Top 25 Week 9 rankings, released on Sunday (23), while the improving LSU moves back into AP Top 25 at No. 18 and No. 25 South Carolina enters rankings this week.
No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State, and No. 3 Tennessee collected the bulk of the first-place votes this week with the Bulldogs leading the way with 31 of the first-place votes from the panel for 1,530 points. Ohio State received 18 for 1,513 points and Tennessee had 13 votes for 1,476 points.
Michigan comes back at No. 4, while Clemson, which had the last vote for first place is at No. 5, just ahead of Alabama at No. 6. READ ALSO: AP Top 25 college football scores in Week 8
No. 7 TCU moved up a spot after remaining unbeaten with a second-half comeback against Kansas State, while Oregon advanced two spots to a season-high No. 8 after routing UCLA, Oklahoma State is No. 9, followed by Southern California and Wake Forest in a tie at No. 10.
Meanwhile, LSU (6-2) returns to the AP Top 25 in Week 9 on the back of an impressive run of form in the last few weeks, including the 45-20 win over last week’s No. 7 ranked Ole Miss on Saturday. The Tigers, in their first season under coach Brian Kelly, enter the rankings this week at No. 18. LSU was ranked for a week earlier this month before losing to Tennessee.
South Carolina, in the meantime, is ranked for the first time since a one-week stint after the opening weekend of the 2018 season. The Gamecocks beat Texas A&M 30-24 on Saturday for their fourth straight win to improve to 5-2 on the season. They have not been ranked this late in a season since 2013.
Mississippi State, which lost to Alabama and Texas, which fell to Oklahoma State, both fell from the rankings this week.
| AP Top 25 | ||||
| RK | TEAM | REC | PTS | TREND |
| 1 | Georgia(31) | 7-0 | 1530 | – |
| 2 | Ohio State(18) | 7-0 | 1513 | – |
| 3 | Tennessee(13) | 7-0 | 1476 | – |
| 4 | Michigan | 7-0 | 1382 | – |
| 5 | Clemson(1) | 8-0 | 1318 | – |
| 6 | Alabama | 7-1 | 1266 | – |
| 7 | TCU | 7-0 | 1213 | +1 |
| 8 | Oregon | 6-1 | 1114 | +2 |
| 9 | Oklahoma State | 6-1 | 1064 | +2 |
| 10 | USC | 6-1 | 927 | +2 |
| Wake Forest | 6-1 | 927 | +3 | |
| 12 | UCLA | 6-1 | 803 | -3 |
| 13 | Penn State | 6-1 | 783 | +3 |
| 14 | Utah | 5-2 | 766 | +1 |
| 15 | Ole Miss | 7-1 | 744 | -8 |
| 16 | Syracuse | 6-1 | 626 | -2 |
| 17 | Illinois | 6-1 | 508 | +1 |
| 18 | LSU | 6-2 | 502 | NR |
| 19 | Kentucky | 5-2 | 429 | – |
| 20 | Cincinnati | 6-1 | 386 | +1 |
| 21 | North Carolina | 6-1 | 278 | +1 |
| 22 | Kansas State | 5-2 | 272 | -5 |
| 23 | Tulane | 7-1 | 243 | +2 |
| 24 | NC State | 5-2 | 169 | +1 |
| 25 | South Carolina | 5-2 | 113 | NR |
+ = team moves up in the rankings
— = team fell in the rankings
Others receiving votes: Texas 38, Liberty 35, Oregon State 25, Mississippi State 10, Maryland 8, Troy 3, UTSA 1, Washington 1, Florida State 1, Arkansas 1
Dropped from rankings: Texas 20, Mississippi State 24
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