AP Top 25 College Football: Georgia Moves up to No. 2, Passing Ohio State

Georgia tight end Darnell Washington (0) runs past Oregon linebacker Jeffrey Bassa, bottom, after a catch in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Atlanta, on Sept. 3, 2022. AP Photo/John Bazemore

Georgia moved up to No. 2 in the first Associated Press college football poll of the regular season, passing Ohio State, after the defending national champions dominated their opener.

Alabama remained No. 1 in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank released Tuesday, receiving 44 of 63 first-place votes from the media panel and 1,552 points.

The Bulldogs narrowed the gap on the Crimson Tide after beating Oregon 49–3 on Saturday. Georgia received 17 first-place votes.

Ohio State slipped to No. 3 and received two first-place votes. Michigan moved up four spots to No. 4.

Clemson dropped a spot to No. 5.

Florida debuted at No. 12 after its thrilling victory at home against Utah on Saturday night. The Utes slipped six spots to No. 13 after the loss.

The rest of the top 10 was Texas A&M at No. 6, followed by Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Baylor and Southern California.

USC is in the top 10 for the first time since the final regular-season poll of 2017, when the Trojans were eighth.

The eighth-ranked Fighting Irish dropped three spots out of the top five after losing 21–10 at Ohio State.

Poll Points

Georgia has been ranked No. 1 or 2 in 15 of the last 17 polls, with the other two weeks at No. 3.

Since 2017, Georgia has been ranked No. 2 in the country 13 times and No. 1 nine times, all last season.

From 1981 — the season after Georgia won the national title — to 2016, the Bulldogs were ranked in the top two a total of 10 times.

In

— Florida’s jump from unranked to No. 12 is the biggest for an unranked team since the first regular-season poll of 2016, when Texas landed at No. 11 and Wisconsin at No. 10 after Week 1 victories.

— No. 24 Tennessee is ranked for the first time under second-year coach Josh Heupel.

Out

— Oregon’s humbling loss to Georgia sent the Ducks all the way out of the rankings. It’s the first time Oregon has been unranked in a poll for which it was eligible since the last regular-season AP Top 25 of 2020.

— Cincinnati dropped out after losing at Arkansas by a touchdown, its first regular-season loss since late in the 2019 season.

For the Bearcats, who made the College Football Playoff last year, it snapped a run of 45 consecutive poll appearances, which was the fifth-longest active streak in the country.

Conference Call

Florida and Tennessee moving into the rankings gives the SEC eight ranked teams, the most for a conference since the SEC had eight three times in 2020.

The record for ranked teams from one conference is 10 by the SEC early in the 2018 season. From 2011–18, the SEC had eight teams ranked in a AP Top 25 a total of 14 times.

SEC—8 (Nos. 1, 2, 6, 12, 16, 20, 22, 24).

ACC—5 (Nos. 5, 15, 17, 18, 23).

Big Ten—4 (Nos. 3, 4, 14, 19).

Big 12—3 (Nos. 7, 9, 11).

Pac-12—2 (Nos. 10, 13).

Independents—2 (Nos. 8, 21).

American—1 (No. 25).

Ranked vs. Ranked

No. 9 Baylor at No. 21 BYU. Future Big 12 matchup.

No. 20 Kentucky at No. 12 Florida. The first time both will be ranked when they play since 2007.

No. 24 Tennessee at No. 17 Pitt. First SEC/ACC ranked nonconference matchup of the season.

By Ralph D. Russo