LSU out of AP poll for first time since 2017

LSU is out of The Associated Press college football poll for the first time since 2017 and is the first defending national champion to drop from the rankings in nine years.

No. 1 Clemson, No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia held steady at the top of the rankings Sunday, setting up a top-three matchup Saturday when the Crimson Tide host the Bulldogs.

Clemson received 59 first-place votes. Alabama got two and Georgia one. Notre Dame moved up to No. 4 and North Carolina is No. 5.

LSU dropped out from No. 17 after falling to 1-2 with a 45- 41 loss at previously winless Missouri. The Tigers had been ranked in 43 straight polls, dating to Nov. 5, 2017. That was the seventh-longest active streak in the nation.

The last defending national champion to be unranked was Auburn in 2011. Following Cam Newton’s departure the Tigers spent much of the ‘11 season outside the Top 25, finishing 8-5 and unranked.

POLL POINTS >> This is the second straight week that one of college football’s traditional powers has fallen from the rankings, with LSU following Oklahoma.

The Sooners remained unranked Sunday, even after beating Texas in four overtimes. The Longhorns dropped out of the Top 25 for the first time this season with their second straight loss, but that’s hardly big news at this point.

Texas has not had a season in which it was ranked from beginning to end since 2009.

The last time both Oklahoma and LSU were unranked was also the last time before this season the Sooners were out of the polls: Sept. 25, 2016. That was a one-week departure for OU, which went on to win the Big 12 after starting 1-2.

The last time Oklahoma went two straight Top 25s without being ranked was the final two polls of the 2014 season, when the Sooners finished 8- 5 and lost their final two games.

UP >> No. 11 Texas A& M jumped 10 spots after beating No. 10 Florida in a thriller at College Station. The Gators slipped six spots. DOWN >> No. 13 Miami dropped six spots after losing for the first time this season. The Hurricanes received a serious dose of reality, losing 42-17 at Clemson. RANKED VS. RANKED >> The only game matching ranked teams this week is the most anticipated regular-season game of the year.

No. 3 Georgia at No. 2 Alabama. First regular-season meeting since 2015 and first time in Tuscaloosa since 2007.

HARRISHAS BIG GAMEAS ALABAMA BEAT OLEMISS INRECORD SEC OUTBURST >> Lane Kiffin’s Mississippi offense put up more yards against an Alabama defense than it has ever been done before and scored more points against the Crimson Tide than any unranked team has ever.

It was not enough. Najee Harris ran for 206 yards and five touchdowns and No. 2 Alabama beat Ole Miss 63- 48 on Saturday night in Oxford, Mississippi, in the highest-scoring SEC regulation game ever.

Matt Corral passed for 365 yards for Ole Miss (12) and the Rebels put up 647 yards on the Tide. The teams combined for an SEC-record 1,370 yards.

“We knew we had to score pretty much every possession,” Tide quarterback Mac Jones said.

Alabama and Ole Miss traded touchdowns for much of the night, but with the Tide (3-0) leading 49-42 the Rebels misfired in Alabama territory and had to settle for a field goal. That was as good as a stop in this game. Tide receiver DeVonta Smith went 14 yards for a touchdown run to make it 56-45 with 3:16 left.

COVID CASES FORCE DELAY OF BAYLOR GAME VS NO. 7 OKLAHOMA ST. >> Seventhranked Oklahoma State’s scheduled game Saturday at Baylor has been pushed back nearly two months because of an increase in positive COVID-19 cases and concerns of a potential outbreak inside the Bears’ program.

The Big 12 Conference announced Sunday night that the game has been rescheduled for Dec. 12.