Clemson’s streak of top-10 rankings ends at 97 weeks

Clemson tumbled to No. 25 in The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday, snapping its streak of 97 consecutive weeks in the top 10.

The Tigers (2-2) lost in double overtime to North Carolina State on Saturday and dropped 16 spots from No. 9.

Clemson’s top-10 streak was tied with Alabama for the longest current run in college football and second-longest in the history of the AP poll, behind Miami’s 137 weeks from 1985-93.

The Crimson Tide remained No. 1 with 58 firstplace votes out of 62. No. 2 Georgia received the remaining four first-place votes. Oregon stayed No. 3. Penn State moved up two spots to No. 4, Iowa held at No. 5 and Oklahoma slipped two spots to No. 6.

Cincinnati moved up a spot to No. 7 and Arkansas jumped eight spots to No. 8 after beating Texas A&M. The Razorbacks have their best ranking since they were No. 8 early in the 2012 season.

That season, Arkansas lost its second game of the season to Louisiana-monroe and was never ranked again. The Razorbacks had finished fifth the previous season under Bobby Petrino.

Notre Dame and Florida rounded out the top 10.

Clemson did manage to extend its streak of weeks ranked to 107, the third-longest active streak behind Alabama (218) and Ohio State (150). The Buckeyes’ streak does not include polls in which they were ineligible during the 2020 season because the Big Ten was not planning to play due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Alabama’s current streak of poll appearances is second all-time to Nebraska’s 348 from 1981-2002.

After six ranked teams lost this past weekend, four to unranked opponents, four new teams entered the rankings of the first time this season. No. 19 Oklahoma State (4-0) beat Kansas State. No. 21 Baylor (4-0) upset Iowa State at home and is ranked for the first time since the final 2019 poll. No. 23 North Carolina State (3-1) and No. 24 Wake Forest (4-0) also entered the rankings.