No. 1 Alabama leads locked-in top 8 for 4th week
Alabama is the unanimous No. 1 again in Associated Press college football poll as the top eight teams held steady for the fourth week in a row.
The Crimson Tide got 62 first-place votes for the second consecutive week and are followed by No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Clemson.
Southeastern Conference teams Texas A&M and Florida are fifth and sixth. Unbeaten Cincinnati is seventh and undefeated BYUis eighth.
The changes in the poll came after that, with Miami inching upto No. 9andIndiana returning to the top 10.
Oregon’s first loss of the season knocked the Ducks out of the top 10, dropping them 12 spots to No. 21.
The Crimson Tide have now been ranked for 209 consecutive APpolls, matching Florida’s run from 19902002 under Steve Spurrier for the third-longest streak in the history of the rankings.
Florida State is second at 211 straight poll appearances from 1989-2001. With two games against losing teams left on Alabama’s schedule, the Tide are likely to catch Bobby Bowden’s Seminoles before the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 19.
The record for longest streak of poll appearances is still way in the distance for Alabama. Nebraska appeared in 348 straight AP rankings from 1981-2002.
Texas, Auburn and North Carolina dropped out of the rankings after each lost for the third time this season. All three started the season ranked and at some point spent time in the top 10.
The replacements were
two teams returning to the poll and one making its season debut:
No. 23 Washington is ranked for the first time this season after it improved to 3-0 with a 21-point comeback against Utah on Saturday night.
No. 24 Iowa was also 24th in the preseason. The Hawkeyesdisappearedfrom the rankings along with the rest of the Big Ten when it did not look as if the conference would play in the fall. WhentheBigTenreturned, Iowa didn’t quite make the cut among voters, but four victories in a row have the Hawkeyes back where they started.
No. 25Liberty is back after a week out.
LSU’s top receiver opts out: LSU wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr. has decided to opt out for the rest of this season, leaving the Tigers without their leading receiver ontheweek they’re scheduled to host No. 1 Alabama.
Marshall, a junior who will be eligible for next spring’s NFL draft, announced his decision Sunday in a social media post verified by LSUathletic officials.
“Since a kid, to play in the NFL and to retire my parents has been my No. 1 mission,” Marshall wrote. “After careful consideration, but with faith, I have decided to declare for the 2021 NFLdraft.”