AP Top 25: Clemson pulls closer to ’Bama

Alabama’s big win over Mississippi didn’t keep Clemson from cutting into its lead in The Associated Press college football poll.

The defending national champion Tigers more than doubled their number of first-place votes after their 3117 win over then-No. 12 Virginia Tech. Clemson lost ground a week ago after struggling for three quarters against Boston College, but its sharp performance against the Hokies took the Tigers from eight to 17 first-place votes Sunday.

The Tide went from 52 first-place votes last week to 44 despite their 66-3 rout of the Rebels.

The top four teams remained the same. Following Alabama and Clemson are Oklahoma, which lost the firstplace vote it got last week, and Penn State.

Southern California’s 30-27 loss at Washington State made room for Georgia to take over at No. 5 after its 41-0 win over Tennessee.

Washington, Michigan, TCU, Wisconsin and Ohio State rounded out the top 10.

AP TOP 25

The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sept. 30, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:

Record Pts 1. Alabama (44) 5-0 1506 2. Clemson (17) 5-0 1475 3. Oklahoma 4-0 1392 4. Penn St. 5-0 1325 5. Georgia 5-0 1237 6. Washington 5-0 1218 7. Michigan 4-0 1115 8. TCU 4-0 1079 9. Wisconsin 4-0 1028 10. Ohio St. 4-1 1016 11. Washington St. 5-0 980 12. Auburn 4-1 802 13. Miami 3-0 782 14. Southern Cal 4-1 713 15. Oklahoma St. 4-1 664 16. Virginia Tech 4-1 549 17. Louisville 4-1 507 18. South Florida 5-0 440 19. San Diego St. 5-0 373 20. Utah 4-0 358 21. Florida 3-1 349 21. Notre Dame 4-1 349 23. West Virginia 3-1 221 24. NC State 4-1 149 25. UCF 3-0 120 NR Others receiving votes: Oregon 19, Florida St. 15, Texas Tech 10, Georgia Tech 10, Stanford 8, Navy 7, Kansas St. 3, Texas A&M 2, Memphis 2, Troy 1, Maryland 1. Pv 1 2 3 4 7 6 8 9 10 11 16 13 14 5 15 12 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 NR