New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Mississippi State remained the top team in
the latest Associated Press college football poll and Auburn jumped Alabama
for third after its thrilling victory at Ole Miss on Saturday.
The Bulldogs, as Alabama found out earlier this season, had plenty of trouble
with Arkansas on Saturday and gutted out a 17-10 home victory to stay
unbeaten. The Razorbacks gave the Crimson Tide all they could handle last
month and came up just short in a 14-13 Alabama win.
Mississippi State received 45 first-place votes, one fewer than last week, and
a total of 1,484 points from a nationwide media panel, while Florida State
picked up an additional top tally for a total of 15, to remain entrenched in
the second spot. The Seminoles had their own troubles this week, scoring 21
points in the fourth quarter to pull out a 42-31 triumph at Louisville.
Auburn’s 35-31 win in Oxford on Saturday night sent the Tigers ahead of the
idle Crimson Tide, as two SEC West powers swapped places. Oregon remained
fifth after a 45-16 win over annual nemesis Stanford.
TCU vaulted four places to sixth after a 31-30 win at West Virginia on
Saturday. Michigan State also moved up one spot to seventh, while Notre Dame
dipped two places to eighth following a tough 49-39 win over Navy.
Kansas State and Baylor round out the top 10, giving the Big 12 three schools
among the first 10. The SEC, of course, also has three — all in the top four.
The second 10 consists of Arizona State, Ole Miss, Ohio State, LSU, Nebraska,
Oklahoma, Georgia, UCLA, Clemson and Utah. Ole Miss dropped five spots from
seventh after its second straight loss, while Georgia tumbled eight places
from ninth following a surprising 38-20 loss to Florida at the annual Cocktail
Party in Jacksonville.
Arizona, Duke, Marshall, West Virginia and Wisconsin are the last five teams
ranked. Arizona dropped seven spots from 14th after a 17-7 setback to UCLA,
while West Virginia slipped four places after its narrow setback to TCU on a
last-second field goal.
Wisconsin is this week’s lone newcomer, joining the poll after a 37-0 rout at
Rutgers on Saturday. East Carolina was 21st and dropped out after a 20-10 loss
at Temple.
Six matchups of ranked teams are on next Saturday’s schedule, including two
from the Big 12 as Kansas State visits TCU and Oklahoma hosts Baylor. Alabama
will travel to Death Valley for a battle with LSU, while a Big Ten tussle pits
Ohio State and Michigan State in East Lansing. Utah will host Oregon in the
Pac-12 and Notre Dame has a tough test in the desert against Arizona State.
