College Football

Alabama out of the AP top 10 for the first time since 2015; Georgia remains No. 1

Published Sep. 17, 2023 3:01 p.m. ET

No. 13 Alabama is out of the top 10 of The Associated Press college football poll for the first time in eight years, and Georgia remained No. 1 on Sunday.

Georgia received 57 first-place votes in the AP Top 25. Michigan held its spot at No. 2 with two first-place votes. No. 3 Texas flipped spots with the No. 4 Florida State Seminoles. The Longhorns received three first-place votes and the Seminoles got one.

After scraping by South Florida on Saturday, Alabama (2-1) saw its streak of consecutive AP poll appearances ranked in the top 10 snapped at 128. That was the second-longest such streak in the history of the poll behind Miami's 137 from 1985-93.

Is Ty Simpson or Jalen Milroe the answer for Alabama's Quarterback woes?

The Crimson Tide are out of the top 10 for the first time since Sept. 27, 2015. The Tide dropped out of the top 10 that September after losing at Ole Miss but moved back in Oct. 3 and went on to win a national championship.

The ugly 17-3 win against USF marked Alabama's first game against a non-Power Five conference opponent since 2007 in which the Tide failed to score at least 20 points. In its previous 42 games against non-Power Five opponents, Alabama was unbeaten, with an average margin of victory of 40 points.

The rest of the top 10 included No. 6 Ohio State, No. 7 Penn State, No. 8 Washington, No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 10 Oregon.

The Buckeyes will visit the Fighting Irish next Saturday as the centerpiece of a huge schedule of ranked vs. ranked games.

Alabama still has the longest streak in the country of consecutive weeks being ranked, with 249.

That's the second-best of all time but still a long way behind the record. Nebraska, under Tom Osborne, was ranked for 348 straight weeks from 1981-2002.

The next best active streak behind Alabama belongs to Ohio State at 182, though the Buckeyes were not eligible for the first few regular-season polls of the 2020 season.

Does Ohio State have a LEGIT defense under Jim Knowles?

Georgia's streak is at 102. Michigan is fourth best at 34 and Utah has the fifth-longest active Top 25 streak at 25.

Kansas State was the only team to fall out of the ranking this week after losing at Missouri on a 61-yard field goal as time expired.

No. 25 Florida moved back in for the first time since Sept. 24 of last season after upsetting Tennessee.

The Vols dropped 12 spots to No. 23.

With the Gators back in the AP Top 25, Florida State, Miami and Florida are all ranked for the first time since Sept. 17, 2017.

The only two ranked teams in the Big 12 this week are the ones leaving after this season, Texas and Oklahoma.

Though, to be fair, Colorado and Utah will be joining from the Pac-12 and the Utes are No. 11 and Buffaloes No. 19, after winning a double-overtime thriller against Colorado State.

No. 18 Colorado Buffaloes vs. Colorado State Rams Highlights

Pac-12 — 8 (Nos. 5, 8, 10, 11, 14, 19, 21, 22).

SEC — 6 (Nos. 1, 12, 13, 15, 23, 25).

ACC — 4 (Nos. 4, 17, 18, 20).

Big Ten — 4 (Nos. 2, 6, 7, 24).

Big 12 — 2 (Nos. 3, 16).

Independent — 1 (No. 9).

It doesn't get much better than this slate of games.

No. 6 Ohio State at No. 9 Notre Dame. For the second straight year, it's a top-10 matchup.

No. 15 Ole Miss at No. 13 Alabama. Tide leads series 9-3 when both are ranked.

No. 22 UCLA at No. 11 Utah. The second meeting with both teams ranked. The first was last year.

No. 19 Colorado at No. 10 Oregon. First regular-season meeting with both teams ranked.

No. 14 Oregon State at No. 21 Washington State. The Beavers and Cougars, the Pac-12's left-behinds, have played 98 times but never before when both teams were ranked.

No. 24 Iowa at No. 7 Penn State. Three of the last four meetings came when both were ranked.

Here are the full rankings:

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Texas
4. Florida State
5. USC
6. Ohio State
7. Penn State
8. Washington
9. Notre Dame
10. Oregon
11. Utah
12. LSU
13. Alabama
14. Oregon State
15. Ole Miss
16. Oklahoma
17. North Carolina
18. Duke
19. Colorado
20. Miami
21. Washington State
22. UCLA
23. Tennessee
24. Iowa
25. Florida