Penn State moves up to No. 3 in the AP college football poll as Oregon showdown awaits
No. 23 Syracuse enters the Top 25 for the first time since Oct. 30, 2022, after winning nine games for the first time since 2018 under first-year coach Fran Brown.
Penn State climbed one spot Sunday to No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll as Ohio State, Miami, and Clemson plunged after their losses during a wild weekend. Eight of the top 10 teams moved up one spot and Oregon was No. 1 for the seventh straight week.
The shake-up creates two top-five matchups in conference championship games coming up on Saturday, a day before the College Football Playoff bracket is announced. Oregon, the nation’s only unbeaten team at 12-0, will face Penn State (11-1) for the Big Ten championship on Saturday at 8 p.m. in Indianapolis. No. 2 Texas (11-1) will play No. 5 Georgia (10-2) in the Southeastern Conference game in Atlanta, a rematch of their top-five meeting in October won by the Bulldogs.
No. 4 Notre Dame, 11-1 and a winner of 10 straight, won’t play again until the College Football Playoff.
Ohio State, which lost for the fourth straight time to Michigan and was knocked out of the Big Ten title game, dropped five spots to No. 7, behind Tennessee.
SMU is No. 8 and followed by Indiana and Boise State. The Broncos are in the top 10 for the first time since 2011 and the highest-ranked Group of Five team, two spots ahead of No. 12 Arizona State, the highest-ranked Big 12 team.
If the Broncos win the Mountain West title and are one of the top four-seeded conference champions in the final CFP rankings, they would receive a bye to the quarterfinals.
Miami’s loss at Syracuse cost the Hurricanes a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, and possibly the CFP, and dropped them six spots to No. 14. Clemson, which plays SMU in the ACC game, lost at South Carolina and fell six places to No. 18.
South Carolina has won six straight — four against ranked opponents — and earned a three-rung promotion to No. 13. Mississippi remained No. 15 and was followed by Iowa State and BYU.
Poll points
Ohio State’s 13-10 loss to Michigan marked the fifth time this season a top-five team lost to an unranked opponent, the most since it happened five times in 2017.
Miami’s 42-38 loss to Syracuse was the 12th by a top-10 team against an unranked opponent, the most since there were 12 such losses in 2021.
It’s been 10 years since South Carolina was ranked higher than in-state rival Clemson. In 2014, the Gamecocks were No. 13 following a 3-1 start and finished 7-6 and unranked in Steve Spurrier’s last full season as coach.
Notre Dame has its highest ranking since it was No. 4 on Dec. 22, 2020.
In and out
No. 23 Syracuse enters the Top 25 for the first time since Oct. 30, 2022, after winning nine games for the first time since 2018 under first-year coach Fran Brown. The win over Miami was its first over a top-10 opponent since 2017.
No. 25 Memphis, which was last ranked in October 2020, knocked off Tulane as a double-digit road underdog and has 10 wins for the second straight year.
Tulane, which plays at No. 24 Army in the American Athletic Conference title game, went from No. 18 to out of the rankings.
Texas A&M, No. 20 last week, was bounced after losing at home to Texas and dropping its last three SEC games.
Conference call
SEC — 7 (Nos. 2, 5, 6, 11, 13, 15, 22).
Big Ten — 5 (Nos. 1, 3, 7, 8, 21).
ACC — 4 (Nos. 8, 14, 18, 23).
Big 12 — 4 (Nos. 12, 16, 17, 20).
AAC — 2 (Nos. 24, 25).
Mountain West — 2 (Nos. 10, 19).
Independent — 1 (No. 4).
Ranked vs. ranked
No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 3 Penn State in Indianapolis, Big Ten championship.
No. 2 Texas vs. No. 5 Georgia in Atlanta, Southeastern Conference championship.
No. 8 SMU vs. No. 18 Clemson in Charlotte, North Carolina, Atlantic Coast Conference championship.
No. 10 Boise State vs. No. 19 UNLV in Boise, Idaho, Mountain West championship.
No. 12 Arizona State vs. No. 16 Iowa State in Arlington, Texas, Big 12 championship.