The Big Ten continue to sit at the very top of the AP Poll, with its top teams handling business in Week 9 of the college football season.
The Paul Bunyan trophy will stay in Ann Arbor for a fourth straight
year, as the Michigan Wolverines defeated Michigan State, 31-20, in East Lansing. Michigan was rewarded by moving from No. 25 to No. 21 in the latest batch of rankings. The Wolverines are in a great spot the rest of the way until they host Ohio State next month.
Around the Big Ten, Indiana made a strong case for the No. 1 overall spot after demolishing UCLA, 56-6. With Ohio State on a bye week, it was tough for AP voters to choose between the two teams, but they ultimately did not punish the Buckeyes for their bye week. It’s looking like it will come down to the last week of the season to truly see who is the top team in the conference.
Right behind the Hoosiers are No. 6 Oregon, which defeated Wisconsin, 21-7, in Eugene. Meanwhile, it was a bad day for former No. 23 Illinois, which was run over by Washington and dropped out of the rankings entirely.
There was more reshuffling elsewhere. Former No. 20 LSU lost to No. 3 Texas A&M and dropped out of the Top-25 altogether. Former No. 24 Arizona State had another letdown performance against Houston to get dropped from the rankings, while former No. 18 South Florida was upset by Memphis and is also unranked.
On the winning side of things, Ole Miss defeated Oklahoma in a thriller to raise the Rebels to No. 7 while dropping the Sooners to No. 18. Vanderbilt took down Missouri to move up one spot to No. 9, while Alabama (at South Carolina) and Texas (at Mississippi State) survived on the road to be at No. 4 and No. 20, respectively.
Here is how the latest AP Poll looks.
- Ohio State
- Indiana
- Texas A&M
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Oregon
- Ole Miss
- Georgia Tech
- Vanderbilt
- Miami and BYU (tied in points)
- N/A
- Notre Dame
- Texas Tech
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Louisville
- Cincinnati
- Oklahoma
- Missouri
- Texas
- Michigan
- Houston
- USC
- Utah
- Memphis
Other teams that received votes: Navy 86, Tulane 59, Washington 46, Iowa 27, South Florida 22, San Diego State 14, LSU 11, James Madison 9, North Texas 4, Illinois 3, Pittsburgh 1.
