Alabama struggles, but stays atop poll
Clemson and Ohio State slipped to the back of the top 10 in The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday and Penn State jumped four spots to No. 6 after another weekend in which ranked teams had issues.
Even No. 1 Alabama.
The defending national champion Crimson Tide remained an overwhelming No. 1 after holding on to beat Florida, 31-29, Alabama’s closest margin of victory during its current 17-game winning streak. The Tide received 59 of 62 first-place votes.
No. 2 Georgia, which had no problem with South Carolina, received the other three first-place votes in the AP Top 25.
No. 3 Oregon moved up a spot and No. 4 Oklahoma slipped one after a close victory over Nebraska.
Iowa came in at No. 5 for a second straight week and Penn State has its best ranking since the Nittany Lions were fifth on Nov. 3, 2019. Penn State, which beat Wisconsin a week ago, topped Auburn on Saturday night to give it two victories against ranked teams.
Ninth-ranked Clemson and No. 10 Ohio State both won, but neither looked typically dominant. The Tigers managed only 14 points against Georgia Tech and the Buckeyes struggled defensively before pulling away late against winless Tulsa.
Clemson was last ranked this low early in 2015, when the Tigers started the season in the low teens but ended up playing for the national championship.
For Ohio State, 11th has been its lowest rankings since the 2014 season, when a Week 2 loss to Virginia Tech sent the Buckeyes tumbling as far as No. 23. They never lost again that season and won the national title.
The last time Clemson and Ohio State were both ranked below No.8 was Nov. 2, 2014, when Ohio State was 13th and Clemson was 19th.
Six ranked teams lost Saturday, though none in the top 10, raising to 19 the total number of ranked teams to lose through the first three weeks of the season.
That’s the most through three weeks of a season in the history of the poll, according to ESPN’s stats and info.
The number is padded by 10 ranked teams losing to ranked