New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Mississippi State slightly increased its
lead over Florida State for the No. 1 overall spot in the final Associated
Press Top 25 released prior to the debut of the College Football Playoff
rankings.
The Bulldogs overcame a challenge from Kentucky to record a 45-31 road win on
Saturday, which garnered Mississippi State three additional first-place votes
for a total of 46.
Florida State, which was idle this past weekend, received 14 first-place votes
and 1,453 points for a second consecutive week. Ole Miss, which was listed
atop three ballots in the previous poll, slipped from third to seventh
following Saturday’s 10-7 loss at LSU.
The Rebels’ tumble moved Alabama, Auburn, Oregon and Notre Dame each up one
place to round out the top six. Michigan State, Georgia and TCU, which set a
Big 12 record for points in an 82-27 blowout of Texas Tech on Saturday,
continued to occupy spots 8-10.
Auburn will travel to Mississippi this Saturday in the marquee matchup of next
week’s schedule.
The next five positions are held by Kansas State, Baylor, Ohio State, Arizona
and Arizona State, with the Wildcats and Sun Devils flipping places. LSU’s
victory over Ole Miss made the Tigers the biggest climbers in this week’s
rankings, vaulting from 24th to 16th.
The remainder of the Top 25 consists of Nebraska, Utah, Oklahoma, West
Virginia, East Carolina, Clemson, Marshall, Duke and UCLA. Duke is the lone
new entry and replaces Southern California, which dropped out from 20th after
falling to Utah on Saturday.
There are three other matchups involving ranked teams slated for this coming
weekend in addition to the Auburn-Ole Miss clash. TCU will travel to West
Virginia, Arizona visits UCLA and Arizona State hosts Utah.
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee will unveil its first
rankings Tuesday night and release a weekly poll up until the selection of the
four semifinalists on December 7.
