Alabama moved up just one spot after a historic SEC victory to find itself just outside the top five heading into a huge game against Georgia at home next weekend.
Alabama moved from No. 7 to No. 6 in the poll after beating the then No. 1 seed. 16 Mississippi State 56-23. It was the most points a ranked home team had given up in a regulation game in SEC history. Alabama jumped undefeated Indiana which fell to No. 7. The loss dropped the Bulldogs one spot to No. 17.
Alabama gets No. 2 Georgia at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday. The Crimson Tide won the final two regular season games against Georgia, although they lost the SEC championship game to the Bulldogs last year.
Other notable moves included Florida falling from No. 8 to No. 16 after a 45-17 loss to Missouri. Conversely, the Tigers moved up 11 spots to #14 from #25. Iowa fell six spots to No. 20 after losing 31-14 to No. 6 Ohio State.
The only newcomer in the top 25 club is Pittsburgh after a 5-0 start and a win Friday night against Virginia Tech. Despite winning in overtime against South Carolina, Kentucky fell out of the top 25.
Texas remained the No. 1 team, receiving 61 of 70 first-place votes during a bye week. The Longhorns will host Oklahoma in the Red River rivalry next week. Georgia (6), Miami (2) and Indiana (1) are the other teams to receive at least one first-place vote.
AP Top 25 Poll for Week 5
- Texas (61)
- Georgia (6)
- Notre Dame
- Miami (2)
- Ohio State
- Alabama
- Indiana (1)
- BYU
- Ole Mademoiselle
- LSU
- Texas Technology
- Utah
- Oregon
- Missouri
- Tennessee
- Florida
- Mississippi State
- Oklahoma State
- U.S.C.
- Iowa
- UCLA
- Houston
- Boise State
- EMS
- Pittsburgh
Others receive votes:
Kentucky 160, Wake Forest 142, Wisconsin 88, Duke 83, Northwestern 59, Nebraska 48, Minnesota 19, Arizona 19, James Madison 12, North Dakota State 7
Surprise, Bama does not sneak into the top 5
After dominating Mississippi State, I expected to see Alabama in the top five and had to hastily rewrite the beginning of my story when that wasn’t the case. It’s a bit surprising that the Tide aren’t in the top five yet. Texas being above Alabama makes sense. The Longhorns, after all, had two of the best wins of the season against Ohio State and Tennessee.
But Notre Dame struggled with a not-great North Carolina team before ultimately bowing out. The Fighting Irish have no wins in the top 25. Why is Notre Dame automatically ranked above an undefeated team with better wins?
You can also easily make arguments about Ohio State (undefeated vs. one loss) and Miami (weak schedule). There’s certainly not a huge difference between being No. 6 and No. 5. But given the resume, Alabama should be in the top 5.
The two Big 12 odds
The Big 12 is well-positioned to attract multiple playoff teams over five weeks, with three teams ranked in the top 15. BYU leads the way at No. 8, with No. 11 Texas Tech and No. 12 Utah not far behind. All are undefeated and all have a path to the College Football Playoff. Utah and BYU face off on November 7, while Texas Tech also does not play in the regular season.
Interestingly, Utah has the best playoff odds (58.1%) out of the three, according to CBS Sports projections. Texas Tech has a 40.8 percent chance of doing so, while BYU has just a 23.8 percent chance. CBS Sports’ projections are the inverse of how AP Poll voters voted in Week 5.
Gn sports
