Penn State ranked ninth ahead of showdown with No. 2 Michigan
The Nittany Lions (8-1, 5-1 Big Ten) will host the Wolverines (9-0, 6-0) on Saturday at noon.
Penn State remained at No. 9 in the Associated Press college football poll on Sunday heading into a Big Ten showdown with No. 2 Michigan.
The Nittany Lions (8-1, 5-1 Big Ten) thumped Maryland, 51-15, Saturday behind a 240-yard, four touchdown passing performance by Drew Allar. Penn State will host the Wolverines (9-0, 6-0) on Saturday at noon (Fox29).
Southern California dropped out of the poll Sunday for the first time under coach Lincoln Riley and No. 15 Oklahoma State vaulted into the rankings for the first time this year.
The top nine teams in the Top 25 held their spots, led by No. 1 Georgia. The Bulldogs have now tied the second-longest streak atop the poll at 21 straight weeks, dating back to the middle of last season.
Georgia received 49 first-place votes. No. 2 Michigan got nine first-place votes, No. 3 Ohio State had three and No. 4 Florida State had two.
Washington remained No. 5, followed by Oregon, Texas, Alabama and Penn State.
The last time the first nine teams in the poll went unchanged this late in the season was Nov. 19, 2017.
Mississippi moved up a spot to a season-high No. 10.
USC (7-3) lost to Washington on Saturday night in yet another high-scoring, defense-optional affair, and is now unranked after starting the season No. 6. Next week at Oregon, USC will play as an unranked team for the first time since 2021, a 4-8 season in which the school fired coach Clay Helton after two games.
“I think our guys are frustrated that we’ve been so, so close and we haven’t played good enough to be able to separate,” Riley said after the Washington game.
USC hired Riley away from Oklahoma after the 2021 season and he brought Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams with him as a transfer.
The Trojans started this season 6-0, but have lost three of four since, allowing 46 points per game.
Oklahoma State (7-2) is having an inverse season to USC.
The Cowboys beat rival Oklahoma for their fifth straight victory after a 2-2 start. The Cowboys’ jump to No. 15 matches the highest ranking for a previously unranked team this deep into the season since the AP poll expanded to 25 teams in 1989.
USC went from unranked to No. 15 on Nov. 13, 2016, after it beat No. 4 Washington 26-13 in Seattle.
Poll points
Georgia’s No. 1 streak matches Miami’s 21 straight from 2001-02. The Bulldogs still have a long way to go to catch USC’s 33 straight from 2003-05.
What did both the Miami and USC streaks have in common? They both ended with a national championship game loss.
Dropping out of the Top 25 along with USC were:
Air Force, which was upset by Army to fall from the ranks of the unbeaten.
UCLA after taking its third loss of the season.
Kansas State, which lost in overtime to Texas to fall to 6-3.
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