AP Top 25: Notre Dame motors into the Top 5
Top four spots remain the same
After three teams in the top eight and eight ranked teams overall lost on Saturday, there was significant movement throughout the AP Top 25 , except in the first four spots.
Alabama stayed No. 1, with 59 first-place votes and Georgia remained No. 2. No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Clemson each received a first-place vote from the media panel.
Notre Dame reached a season-high fifth after beating Virginia Tech on Saturday night. Texas jumped 10 spots to No. 9 after beating Oklahoma. The Longhorns are in the top 10 for the first time since Sept. 19, 2010, when they reached No. 7.
No. 10 UCF has never been ranked higher during the regular season. The Knights, who have the nation’s longest winning streak at 18 games, finished last season unbeaten and at No. 6.
The SEC’s eight teams are the most by a conference since the SEC had eight on Oct. 16, 2016. The record for most teams in the AP Top 25 for one conference is 10 by the SEC on Sept. 8, 2015. POLL POINTS >> For the first time this season, every unbeaten FBS team is ranked. After LSU, Oklahoma and Kentucky lost on Saturday, there are 11 undefeated teams left. The new unbeatens to join the rankings were both
from the American Athletic Conference: No. 23 South Florida (5-0) and No. 25 Cincinnati (6-0).
The Bulls finished each of the last two seasons ranked, but for the Bearcats 2018 has been a turnaround season for second-year coach Luke Fickell. Cincinnati is bowl eligible for the first time since 2015 and ranked for the first time since Oct. 14, 2012.
Including UCF, the American has three ranked teams, as many as the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12 and Pac-12.
Re-entering the rankings were No. 22 Texas A&M and No. 24 Mississippi State from the SEC. OUT >> — Stanford lost for the second straight week and dropped out for the first time this season.
— Michigan State’s second loss sent it out of the rankings for the first time.
— Virginia Tech and Oklahoma State both lost for a second time and dropped out again after re-entering just last week. CONFERENCE CALL >> SEC — 8 teams (1, 2, 13, 14, 18, 21, 22, 24). Big Ten — 4 (3, 8, 12, 14). ACC — 3 (4, 16, 20). American — 3 (10, 23, 25). Big 12 — 3 (6, 9, 11). Pac-12 — 3 (7, 17, 19). Independent — 1 (5). RANKED VS. RANKED >> No. 2 Georgia at No. 13 LSU. The Bulldogs have had a smooth ride so far, but this is the first of three games in four weeks that will likely determine if they can repeat as SEC East champions.
No. 7 Washington at No. 17 Oregon. The Ducks get another chance to make a statement after fumbling away the Stanford game.
No. 15 Wisconsin at No. 12 Michigan. The loser gets relegated from contender to playoff spoiler. Kevin Harvick early and Almirola late. Harvick led 286 laps and was on pace to sweep the Dover races until tire issues derailed his run and he finished sixth. Almirola, who led 64 laps late and had his second career Cup win in sight, was running sixth off a restart when he got loose and connected with Brad Keselowski. That triggered a multi-car wreck that collected championship contenders and brought out the red flag to force overtime.
Denny Hamlin was second, followed by playoff driver Joey Logano. NASCAR playoff drivers took 10 of the top 15 spots.
Here are other items of note from Dover. JIMMIE’S RIDE >> Johnson might have had better luck using one of the kids’ bikes he bought as a gag gift for his ride at Dover.
Johnson, who holds the Dover record with 11 wins, was an early hit when he dropped off 12 bikes at Martin Truex Jr’s hauler as an apology of sorts for triggering a wreck last week at Charlotte that denied both drivers a shot at a win.
Truex’s team gave away the bikes to kids who stopped by in the garage.
Johnson gave away the race before it really started. His No. 48 Chevrolet was forced to the garage during the pace laps because of mechanical woes and he finished 36th.
Johnson’s bid for a record eighth NASCAR Cup title ended last week when he was eliminated from the playoffs. BIG BET >> NASCAR President Steve Phelps said the series is set to implement guidelines in the rulebook on sports betting in 2019.
Dover International Speedway opened its onsite betting kiosk this weekend and became the only track that allowed sports gambling on its property. NASCAR does not prohibit its drivers or team members from betting on the race.
“I think for ‘19, we’ll have some rules that we’ll put in place,” Phelps said Sunday at Dover. “For right now, there’ll be betting here. They have a kiosk here, you can bet inside. We’ll study and see how that goes, but I think we’ll have some rules in place for sponsorship, for what betting looks like, and continue to see what happens in the landscape overall.” UP NEXT >> The series heads to Talladega where Keselowski is the defending race winner. Team Penske drivers Keselowski and Logano have combined to win five of the last seven races at Talladega.