Texas and Penn State plummeted from the AP Top 25 on Sunday after both lost to unranked opponents, leaving the preseason Nos. 1 and 2 teams out of the rankings.
Ohio State remained No. 1 with 40 first-place votes. Miami jumped past Oregon back to No. 2. The Hurricanes received 21 first-place votes after winning at Florida State on Saturday night.
The idle Ducks slipped to No. 3, followed by the SEC trio of Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Indiana moved to No. 7 and Alabama to No. 8 after beating Vanderbilt.
Texas Tech and Georgia round out the top 10.
The Red Raiders have their highest ranking since 2008, maybe the greatest football season in school history. Mike Leach led the Red Raiders to No. 2 in the country as they battled Texas and Oklahoma in a fierce three-way Big 12 race before finishing No. 12. Texas Tech is still searching for its first top-10 finish.
Starting the season as highly ranked as Texas, preseason No. 1 for the first time in program history, and Penn State and then falling out of the rankings at any point during a season is a rarity.
The AP’s preseason poll began in 1950. Toss the seasons from 1961-67, when the AP poll was only a top 10, and the 2020 season, which was abbreviated because of the pandemic, and there are only seven instances where a team ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the preseason was unranked for any part of the season, according to research by College Poll Archive.
The last time was preseason No. 1 USC in 2012. Those Trojans and Notre Dame in 1950 are the only teams to drop from the rankings in a year in which they were preseason No. 1 and the rankings featured at least 20 teams. And never in the same season did preseason Nos. 1 and 2 both spend time unranked.
Throw in Clemson, preseason No. 4, and three of the top four teams to start the season are unranked one week into October.
AP Top 25 after Week 6
Rank
Team
Ralph’s vote
Record
Prev
1
1
5-0
1
2
2
5-0
3
3
4
5-0
2
4
6
5-0
4
5
3
5-0
6
6
5
5-0
5
7
9
5-0
8
8
8
4-1
10
9
7
5-0
11
10
10
4-1
12
11
12
4-1
13
12
11
4-1
15
13
16
5-0
17
14
14
5-0
19
15
13
4-1
20
16
17
3-2
21
17
21
5-1
22
18
25
5-0
23
19
18
5-1
24
20
20
5-1
16
21
NR
4-1
25
22
15
5-1
14
23
24
6-0
NR
24
22
4-1
NR
25
19
3-2
18
NR
23
4-1
NR
Others receiving votes: Cincinnati 129, Texas 111, Penn State 97, Utah 84, Nebraska 60, USC 46, UNLV 19, North Texas 16, TCU 14, Washington 10, Mississippi State 10, Navy 4, Louisville 3, Auburn 1
Also considered by Ralph: Nebraska, Arizona State, Mississippi State, Utah, Duke, Louisville, Washington
How I voted
In the initial run through the ballot before bed in the early morning hours of Sunday, Ohio State at No. 1 and Miami at No. 2 didn’t require much thought.
After six-ish hours of sleep, I woke up to some doubt about that order.
Baking in a lot of transitive property results is not the way I want to go, but a game between two teams that are not in my ranking this week gave me pause.
Ohio State jumped to No. 1 after beating Texas to start the season. That’s not looking quite as great right now after Florida handed the Longhorns a second loss. If we’re ranking resumes, Miami’s victories against Notre Dame, USF, Florida and Florida State definitely look better than Ohio State’s against Texas, Washington and Minnesota.
The problem is that the games are televised. Watching Ohio State be so dominant, with its latest array of talented freaks, it was hard for me to make the switch from the Buckeyes to the Hurricanes at No. 1.
There are no degrees of No. 1 on individual ballots, but Ohio State vs. Miami was a close call.
I did make a small resume adjustment at spots three and four this week. Oregon’s best victory is at Penn State. Texas A&M’s is at Notre Dame.
I moved the Aggies up to No. 3 and docked the Ducks one spot. I could have dropped Oregon even further, behind Oklahoma and Ole Miss. Again, we get to watch the games, and the Ducks definitely look the part.
As far as Texas and Penn State, they were Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on my preseason ballot, too. Both are off my ballot this week. Both could be back at some point. Yes, even Penn State after losing to UCLA. But for now, the Longhorns and Nittany Lions are in timeout and need to show me something to work their way back into the rankings.
I was glad the majority of fellow voters thought the same.
In and out
With Texas and Penn State falling out, my fellow voters caught up to me this week by voting Memphis into the Top 25 for the first time this season. The 23rd-ranked Tigers (6-0) are the first bowl-eligible team in the country. They finished last season No. 24.
They are joined by American Conference mate USF at No. 24. The Bulls moved back into the rankings not so much because of what they did to Charlotte (54-26 on Friday night) but by virtue of having a win over Florida last month.
Next week
The Red River Rivalry between No. 6 Oklahoma and Texas in Dallas is no longer a ranked matchup, but there are still three on the board:
No. 1 Ohio State at No. 17 Illinois. This will be the 10th time the teams have met while both were ranked. The Buckeyes are just 3-6 in the first nine, losing all four since 1964 (most recently in 2001). The Illini also own two victories against top-ranked Ohio State teams. The first was in 1950, when Illinois was ranked eighth. The second came in 2007, when Juice Williams and the unranked Illini won in Columbus en route to a Rose Bowl bid.
No. 7 Indiana at No. 3 Oregon. Still getting used to Indiana being involved in huge games and the Hoosiers and Ducks playing in the same conference. This is just the third meeting between the schools and first since IU beat Oregon in Eugene in 2004 thanks to seven Ducks turnovers.
No. 8 Alabama at No. 14 Missouri. Since joining the SEC, the Tigers have faced the Tide twice when both have been ranked. Alabama has won both games, including last season, by a combined 76-13.
(Photo: James Gilbert / Getty Images)
