Alabama among three newcomers to top 10
The top five teams remain the same in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.
But three other top-10 teams weren’t as fortunate over the weekend as their hopes of reaching the College Football Playoff were severely damaged. Those loses opened the door for three new teams to join the top 10.
Georgia continues to hold down the No. 1 spot after taking care of business against the SEC’s other Bulldogs of Mississippi State. Georgia was voted first on 61 of the 63 ballots this week, with No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan getting one first-place selection each. TCU stays put at No. 4, followed by No. 5 Tennessee. Southern Cal moves up one spot to No. 6, as does No. 7 LSU.
Then comes the three newcomers. Alabama and Clemson return to the top 10 at No. 8 and 9, respectively. No. 10 Utah rises three spots, as do No. 11 North Carolina and No. 12 Penn State.
Oregon tumbles seven spots to No. 13 after a tough home loss to Washington, while the Huskies vault eight positions to No. 15 thanks to that win. Mississippi drops five notches to No. 14 after coming up short against Alabama. The third top-10 upset victim, UCLA, slides six places to No. 16 following a late-night setback against unranked Arizona.
Four teams move into the top 25, headed by No. 20 Florida State and No. 21 Cincinnati. Coastal Carolina checks in at No. 23 and Oklahoma State returns to the poll at 24. The Seminoles are in the rankings for the first time since the 2018 preseason poll.
Texas, Liberty, Illinois and Kentucky fall out after losses.