New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Mississippi State has ended Florida State’s
season-long reign atop the Associated Press college football poll while
achieving the first No. 1 ranking in program history.
The Bulldogs had been tied with in-state rival Ole Miss for third place in
last week’s poll, but jumped both the Rebels and Seminoles as well as Auburn
following Saturday’s 38-23 victory over the previously No. 2 Tigers in
Starkville.
The result earned Mississippi State (6-0) 45 of the 60 first-place votes cast
and a total of 1,480 points, with Florida State (6-0) receiving 1,415 points
while atop 12 ballots.
Ole Miss (6-0) took the other three first-place votes to remain in third with
1,413 points, just two behind Florida State.
Baylor climbed from fifth to fourth after Saturday’s action-packed 61-58 win
over then-No. 9 TCU, with Notre Dame also moving up one place to fifth heading
into this weekend’s marquee matchup with Florida State in Tallahassee.
Auburn’s loss to Mississippi State dropped the Tigers to sixth, with Alabama,
Michigan State, Oregon and Georgia rounding out the top 10. The Bulldogs
vaulted three spots from 13th on the strength of a 34-0 pasting of then-No. 23
Missouri.
Oklahoma remained 11th and TCU fell from ninth to 12th, with Ohio State,
Kansas State and Oklahoma State now occupying spots 13 through 15.
Kansas State will travel to Oklahoma for a key Big 12 showdown this coming
Saturday.
Arizona slipped from 10th to 16th after losing at home to USC on Saturday,
which put the Trojans back into the top 25 at No. 22.
Arizona State gained three places to 17th, followed by East Carolina and
Nebraska. Utah comes in at No. 20 in this week’s rankings, a four-spot climb
from the previous poll.
Texas A&M, which dropped a 35-20 decision at home to Ole Miss over the
weekend, fell from 14th to 21st, with USC, Stanford, Clemson and Marshall
rounding out the top 25.
Clemson and Marshall join USC as this week’s newcomers, with UCLA, Georgia
Tech and Missouri falling out of the top 25.
This week’s schedule features four games involving ranked teams, In addition
to Notre Dame-Florida State and Kansas State-Oklahoma, Texas A&M will visit
Alabama and Arizona State hosts Stanford.
