Ohio State jumps Wisconsin, Michigan drops in AP top 25

9/4/2018

Ohio State running back Mike Weber scores a touchdown against Oregon State during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018, in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State beat Oregon State 77-31.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Michigan Wolverines took a dive in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, falling seven spots from No. 14 to 21 on Tuesday

An uninspiring 24-17 loss at then-No. 12 Notre Dame did not impress voters. However, they did like what Ohio State displayed, as the Buckeyes leapfrogged fellow Big Ten school Wisconsin, rising from fifth to fourth after clobbering Oregon State 77-31.

Alabama, Clemson, and Georgia remained the top three teams. The Big Ten still has five ranked teams — No. 4 Ohio State, No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 13 Penn State, No. 15 Michigan State, and No. 21 Michigan.

Jonny Miller of WBZ radio in Boston ranked Ohio State 25th, 15 spots lower than any other voter.

Notre Dame jumped from 12th to eighth after the win against Michigan.

Miami (Fla.), which visits Toledo on Sept. 15, dropped all the way from eighth to 22nd after losing 33-17 to LSU in its opener Sunday.

MOVING UP, DOWN

No. 11 LSU and No. 12 Virginia Tech made the biggest jumps in the first poll of the regular season.

Alabama remained No. 1 with a blowout of Louisville, and No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Georgia held their spots. The Crimson Tide received 48 first-place votes, Clemson had 12 and Wisconsin had one. The Buckeyes are just four points ahead of the Badgers and nine points ahead of No. 6 Oklahoma.

LSU, which was ranked No. 25 in the preseason, moved up 14 spots after beating Miami in one of four games that matched ranked teams. Virginia Tech won 24-3 at Florida State and moved up eight spots.

The Seminoles fell out of the rankings after being 19th. Texas, which was No. 23 in the preseason poll, didn’t receive any votes in the latest poll.

POLL POINTS

Alabama tied Ohio State for most appearances at No. 1 in the history of the AP college football poll, which started in 1936. Barring an historic upset, Alabama should break the record Sunday after playing Arkansas State on Saturday in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama — 105 weeks at No. 1

Ohio State — 105

Oklahoma — 101

Notre Dame — 98

Southern California — 91

Florida State — 72

Nebraska — 70

CONFERENCE CALL

Week 1 was good for the Southeastern Conference, which went 13-1 including two victories against ACC opponents, one versus the Pac-12 and one against the Big 12. The SEC has seven teams ranked this week, the most for the conference since Oct. 16, 2016, when eight were ranked.

SEC — 7

Big Ten — 5

Pac-12 — 4

ACC — 3

Big 12 — 3

American — 1

Mountain West — 1

Independent — 1

RANKED VS. RANKED

No. 3 Georgia at No. 24 South Carolina this week. Big opportunity for the Gamecocks, who are ranked for the first time since Sept. 21, 2014.

No. 17 Southern California at No. 10 Stanford. The Cardinal have been in control of this rivalry for most of the past decade, but the Trojans swept Stanford last season — including a victory in the Pac-12 championship game.