Current:Home > MarketsAP Top 25: SEC grabs six of the first seven spots in rankings as Notre Dame tumbles to No. 18 -Clarity Finance Guides
AP Top 25: SEC grabs six of the first seven spots in rankings as Notre Dame tumbles to No. 18
Algosensey Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-10 07:10:04
After the first shake-up of the college football season, the Southeastern Conference grabbed six of the top seven spots in the AP Top 25 — a first in the 88-year history of the rankings — and Notre Dame tumbled all the way to No. 18 on Sunday after being stunned at home.
Georgia received 54 out of a possible 63 first-place votes to keep a firm hold on No. 1. No. 2 Texas jumped a spot after dominating defending national champion Michigan on the road and received four first-place votes. The Longhorns have their best ranking since finishing second in 2009.
The Wolverines were down to No. 17.
No. 3 Ohio State from the Big Ten Conference slipped a spot. Then it was four more SEC teams. Alabama held steady at No. 4 and Mississippi moved up a spot to No. 5.
Missouri moved up three spots to No. 6 and Tennessee made a big jump from No. 14 to No. 7 after routing North Carolina State in Charlotte.
With the SEC bigger (16 teams) — and seemingly better — than ever given the additions of Texas and Oklahoma — the circumstances were right for an early season takeover like never before.
Not only is six of the top seven teams from one conference a record for a poll, but never before had a single league held as many as five of the top seven places.
Those teams will start playing each other in the coming weeks so it is unlikely the SEC can keep this up, but it’s a stark example of what’s possible in the superconference era.
Especially after the first huge upset of the college football season. Notre Dame’s 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois marked the first time a top-five team lost to an unranked team since the 2022 season, when Purdue knocked off then-No. 2 Iowa on Nov. 5, 2022.
The Huskies’ victory, the first top-five win for a Mid-American Conference team in league history, landed Northern Illinois at No. 25 in the rankings. NIU is ranked for the first time since 2013 and is the first team from non-Power Four conference to be ranked this season.
Rounding out the top 10 were No. 8 Penn State and No. 9 Oregon of the Big Ten and No. 10 Miami. The Ducks slip two spots after a wild, comeback victory against Boise State.
Poll points
Northern Illinois is one of four teams to move into the rankings this week for the first time this season, most notably Nebraska at No. 23.
The Cornhuskers are ranked for the first time since 2019 after easily handling Colorado at home. That was a brief stay. After starting that season ranked No. 24, the Huskers lost in Week 2, fell out the rankings and have been gone ever since.
The last sustained season in the rankings for Nebraska was 2016, though even that season ended with the Huskers unranked. They have not finished a season ranked since 2012. That’s what second-year coach Matt Rhule and freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola are aiming for.
Just a reminder: Nebraska still owns the record for the longest streak of poll appearances with 348 under coach Tom Osborne from 1981-2002. The second-best streak is Alabama’s active 264 straight weeks ranked.
In and out
The turnover came from the bottom of the rankings, where Kansas, Iowa, Georgia Tech and North Carolina State all fell out after losses.
No. 21 Iowa State essentially switched places with its Cy-Hawk rivals by beating Iowa.
Last week, Georgia Tech made its first appearance in the AP Top 25 since 2015, snapping one of the longest active droughts among power conference teams. The Yellow Jackets lasted only a week after losing at Syracuse, but another Atlantic Coast Conference team snapped its own lengthy drought.
No. 24 Boston College is ranked for the first time since 2018.
Conference call
The only other time a conference had four of the top five teams was the SEC on Oct. 19, 2014, when Mississippi State was No. 1, Ole Miss was third, Alabama was fourth and Auburn was fifth.
SEC — 8 (Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 15, 16).
Big Ten — 6 (Nos. 3, 8, 9, 11, 17, 23).
Big 12 — 5 (Nos. 12, 13, 14, 20, 21).
ACC — 4 (Nos. 10, 19, 22, 24).
MAC — 1 (No. 25).
Independent — 1 (No. 18).
Ranked vs. ranked
No. 20 Arizona at No. 14 Kansas State, Thursday. A Big 12 game that’s not actually a Big 12 game. This is a nonconference matchup that already was set before realignment.
No. 24 Boston College at No. 6 Missouri, Saturday. An unexpectedly ranked ACC-SEC matchup.
___
Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
veryGood! (166)
Related
- Nearly 400 USAID contract employees laid off in wake of Trump's 'stop work' order
- Trump expected to testify in New York civil fraud trial Dec. 11
- Tensions are bubbling up at thirsty Arizona alfalfa farms as foreign firms exploit unregulated water
- Every MLB team wants to improve starting pitching. Supply and demand make that unrealistic
- Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
- LeBron James sets all-time minutes played record in worst loss of his 21-year career
- Jada Pinkett Smith Confirms Future of Her and Will Smith's Marriage After Separation Revelation
- Tiffany Haddish says she will 'get some help' following DUI arrest
- How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
- Women falls to death down a well shaft hidden below rotting floorboards in a South Carolina home
Ranking
- Alex Murdaugh’s murder appeal cites biased clerk and prejudicial evidence
- Yippy-ki-yay, it's 'Die Hard' season again
- Horoscopes Today, November 27, 2023
- Hurry! These Extended Cyber Monday Sales Won't Last Forever: Free People, Walmart, Wayfair, & More
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Abigail Mor Edan, the 4-year-old American held hostage by Hamas, is now free. Here's what to know.
- Strike over privatizing Sao Paulo’s public transport causes crowds and delays in city of 11 million
- Cardinals get AL Cy Young runner-up Sonny Gray to anchor revamped starting rotation
Recommendation
Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
Frank Reich lasted 11 games as Panthers coach. It's not even close to shortest NFL tenure
Suspect in shooting of 3 Palestinian students in Vermont said he was waiting for agents to arrest him, police say
Morgan Wallen tops Apple Music’s 2023 song chart while Taylor Swift and SZA also top streaming lists
The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
Michigan Democrats poised to test ambitious environmental goals in the industrial Midwest
New Google geothermal electricity project could be a milestone for clean energy
Meta deliberately targeted young users, ensnaring them with addictive tech, states claim