New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Florida State remained the top-ranked team
in college football after a second straight hard-fought victory on Saturday,
as there were no changes among the top seven in the latest Associated Press
poll.
The Seminoles had to rally from a 24-7 first-quarter deficit and pulled out a
56-41 victory over North Carolina State, a week after escaping with a home
overtime win against Clemson without reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jameis
Winston.
Florida State earned 27 first-place votes, seven fewer than last week, and a
total of 1,416 points from a nationwide media panel. Oregon picked up an
additional No. 1 vote for a total of 13 and remained second, again followed by
Alabama, Oklahoma, Auburn, Texas A&M and Baylor.
Oregon, Alabama and Oklahoma were idle this past weekend, while Auburn, Texas
A&M and Baylor all came away with victories. Texas A&M needed overtime to beat
Arkansas and didn’t receive a first-place vote this week after earning four
last week. Alabama picked up 13 top tallies and Oklahoma nabbed seven.
UCLA moved up three spots to eighth after a dominating road win over then-No.
15 Arizona State. The Sun Devils dropped out of this week’s poll, as did South
Carolina from 13th after a 21-20 home loss to Missouri.
Notre Dame dropped one spot to ninth after a lackluster win over Syracuse and
Michigan State, despite a second straight game with more than 50 points, also
fell one spot to 10th.
The second 10 consists of Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Georgia, Stanford, LSU,
Southern California, Wisconsin, BYU, Nebraska and Ohio State. The last seven
teams in that grouping all moved up two spots.
Oklahoma State, East Carolina, Kansas State, Missouri and TCU are the last
five teams ranked. Missouri moved back into the rankings after a one-week
absence, while TCU is ranked for the first time this season.
Next week’s schedule features six matchups of ranked teams. Three come from
the powerhouse SEC, as Mississippi State hosts Texas A&M, Alabama visits Ole
Miss and LSU travels to Auburn. Also, Stanford makes the trip to South Bend to
face Notre Dame, TCU plays its first game as a ranked team against Oklahoma in
Fort Worth and Nebraska takes on Michigan State in East Lansing.
