Penn State stands pat after bye in AP college football rankings, but there’s a new No. 1 & 2
Penn State kept its grasp on the 10th spot in the latest AP college football rankings released Sunday amid a shakeup at the top.
No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Ohio State each moved up a spot after big wins, while No. 3 Alabama fell two spots after squeaking past Texas A&M. The Nittany Lions’ next opponent, Michigan, swapped spots with No. 4 Clemson to round out the top five.
The Nittany Lions were the only top 10 team on a bye this week. They return to the field Saturday to face the No. 5 Wolverines on the road at noon on Fox.
Tennessee moved up two spots to No. 6 after handily defeating LSU, while USC and Oklahoma State both fell one place after their wins. Ole Miss stood pat at No. 9 after its rout of Vanderbilt.
UCLA and Mississippi State made the biggest jumps — seven spots — after their wins. Utah and Kentucky took the largest plunge, each dropping nine spots after losses.
Penn State received 974 voting points, 15 more than last week. The Nittany Lions are 67 points ahead of No. 11 UCLA and 87 points behind Ole Miss. The gap between Ole Miss and Penn State shrunk by 22 points from last week.
The Big Ten has four teams in the poll: Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Illinois. The No. 24 Illini are ranked for the first time since 2011, the AP said. The complete rankings are below:
AP TOP 25
(Oct. 9, 2022)
1. Georgia (6-0), 1,535 (32 1st-place votes)
2. Ohio State (6-0), 1,507 (20)
3. Alabama (6-0), 1,489 (11)
4. Clemson (6-0), 1,348
5. Michigan (6-0), 1,319
6. Tennessee (5-0), 1,232
7. USC (6-0), 1,214
8. Oklahoma State (5-0), 1,150
9. Ole Miss (6-0), 1,061
10. Penn State (5-0), 974
11. UCLA (6-0), 907
12. Oregon (5-1), 893
13. TCU (5-0), 819
14. Wake Forest (5-1), 748
15. NC State (5-1), 746
16. Mississippi State (5-1), 589
17. Kansas State (5-1), 559
18. Syracuse (5-0), 393
19. Kansas (5-1), 330
20. Utah (4-2), 328
21. Cincinnati (5-1), 257
22. Texas (4-2), 150
22. Kentucky (4-2), 150
24. Illinois (5-1), 117
25. James Madison (5-0), 105
Others receiving votes: North Carolina 98, Baylor 91, Brigham Young 61, Coastal Carolina 61, Notre Dame 58, Florida 56, Tulane 42, Purdue 34, Florida State 18, South Carolina 12, Washington State 10, Minnesota 5, LSU 4, Maryland 4, San Jose State 1