AP Top 25: Clemson, Ohio State slip; Penn State jumps to 6th

Updated Sep. 19, 2021 2:04 p.m. ET

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Clemson and Ohio State slipped to the back of the top 10 in The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday and Penn State jumped four spots to No. 6 after another weekend in which lots of ranked teams had issues.

Even No. 1 Alabama.

The defending national champion Crimson Tide remained an overwhelming No. 1 after

No. 2 Georgia, which had no problem with South Carolina, received the other three first-place votes in the

No. 3 Oregon moved up a spot and No. 4 Oklahoma slipped one after a close victory over Nebraska.

Iowa was No. 5 for a second straight week and Penn State has its best ranking since the Nittany Lions were fifth on Nov. 3, 2019.

No. 9 Clemson and No. 10 Ohio State both won Saturday, but neither looked typically dominant. The Tigers

Clemson was last ranked this low early in 2015, when the Tigers started the season in the low teens but ended up playing for the national championship.

For Ohio State, 11th has been its lowest rankings since the 2014 season, when a Week 2 loss to Virginia Tech sent the Buckeyes tumbling as far as No. 23. They never lost again that season and won the national title.

The last time Clemson and Ohio State were both ranked below No. 8 was Nov. 2, 2014, when Ohio State was 13th and Clemson was 19th.

POLL POINTS

Six ranked teams lost Saturday, though none in the top 10, raising to 19 the total number of ranked teams to lose through the first three weeks of the season.

That's the most through three weeks of a season in the history of the poll, according to ESPN's stats and info.

The number is padded by 10 ranked teams losing to ranked teams. Also, only one top-10 team has lost to an unranked team: North Carolina was preseason No. 10 when it opened with a loss to Virginia Tech.

It's been a volatile first few weeks of the 2021 season, though not quite as crazy and unpredictable as it might look at first glance.

A total of 35 teams have been ranked through three regular-season polls.

IN

— No. 20 Michigan State is off to an impressive start in Year 2 under coach Mel Tucker, 3-0 by an average margin of 23 points. The

— No. 22 Fresno State won maybe the weekend's most thrilling game,

No. 24 UCLA dropped 11 spots after its first loss of the season.

— No. 25 Kansas State is off to a 3-0 start after beating Nevada 38-17. The Wildcats were ranked briefly in 2020 and then stumbled to a 4-5 finish.

OUT

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— Arizona State is out for the first time this season after

— Miami is out for the first time this season after falling to 1-2.

CONFERENCE CALL

SEC — 7 (Nos. 1, 2, 7, 11, 13, 16, 23).

Big Ten — 6 (Nos. 5, 6, 10, 18, 19, 20).

Big 12 — 3 (Nos. 4, 14, 25).

ACC — 2 (Nos. 9, 21).

Pac-12 — 2 (Nos. 3, 24).

American — 1 (No. 8).

Mountain West — 1 (No. 22).

Sun Belt — 1 (No. 17).

Independents — 2 (Nos. 12, 15).

RANKED vs. RANKED

No. 12 Notre Dame vs. No. 18 Wisconsin at Soldier Field in Chicago. Toughest test yet for an Irish team that is unbeaten but far from perfect.

No. 7 Texas A&M vs. No. 16 Arkansas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Last time this was a ranked matchup was 2016.

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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://APpodcast.com

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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25

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