LSU climbs to No. 2 after win over Florida
NEW YORK — LSU moved up to No. 2 in the Associated Press college football poll, giving the SEC the top two teams in the country for the 29th time and putting the Tigers behind No. 1 Alabama.
The Tigers jumped from No. 5, past No. 3 Clemson and No. 4 Ohio State, after beating Florida in a matchup of unbeaten teams Saturday night. LSU received 12 firstplace votes Sunday in the AP Top 25 while Alabama received 30 firstplace votes and is No. 1 for the third consecutive week. The Crimson Tide host the Tigers on Nov. 9.
One conference has held the top two spots 75 times since the AP poll started in 1936, none more than the SEC. The nowdefunct Big Eight is next with 23.
Clemson received 11 firstplace votes and Ohio State had nine. Oklahoma was No. 5 and Wisconsin became the first new team to crack the top six after Georgia suffered the biggest upset of the season. The Bulldogs dropped from No. 3 to No. 10 after losing at home to South Carolina in double overtime.
Georgia is the highestranked team to lose to an unranked team this season. The Bulldogs had been steady at No. 3 since the preseason. They were among a seasonhigh eight ranked teams to lose this weekend, including four to unranked teams.
Penn State moved up to No. 7. Florida’s loss at LSU cost the ninthranked Gators two spots. Notre Dame was No. 8, two spots ahead of Georgia, which won a close game at home against the Irish last month.
Texas slipped four spots to No. 15, the highest ranked team with two losses. The Longhorns lost Saturday to Oklahoma and fell to LSU early in the season. Both losses were to current topfive teams, each by seven points.
This is the 27th time the SEC has had the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the rankings since 2000. The only other conferences to do it in that time are the Big Ten (eight times) and the Big 12 (once).
LSU and Alabama have been Nos. 1 and 2 (in some order) 10 times previously, including nine times during the 2011 season, when they played as the top two teams in the regular season and BCS championship game. Alabama lost the regularseason matchup but won the national championship contest.
In and out
Three teams moved into the rankings for the first time this season and a fourth is back after a week out.
No. 25 Washington (52) fell out last week after losing at Stanford, but it bounced back with a 5127 road win against Arizona on Saturday.
No. 20 Minnesota (60) is off to its best start since 2003. The Gophers are the only unbeaten team from a Power Five conference that had not yet been ranked.
No. 24 Appalachian State is in the Top 25 for the second time in school history. The Mountaineers will try to hang around a little longer this time. Last year, Appachian State was ranked for the first time since moving to the FBS in 2014, but the Mountaineers lost their first game as a ranked team and never returned.