COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State is No. 2 in The Associated Press college football poll, surging three spots Sunday past No. 3 Alabama and No. 4 Cincinnati in a close vote.
Georgia is a unanimous No. 1 in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank for the seventh consecutive week, but for the second week in a row, No. 2 has changed.
Alabama slipped past Cincinnati last week and then Ohio State leapfrogged them both after routing Michigan State 56-7 on Saturday. The Buckeyes received 1,434 points from the media panel. The Crimson Tide had 1,423 and the Bearcats got 1,416.
Notre Dame is up to a season-high No. 5 and Michigan will go into its game against Ohio State next Saturday ranked No. 6. The winner of Buckeyes-Wolverines will play in the Big Ten championship game.
Oklahoma State moved to a season-high No. 7 and is one of three teams from the Big 12 residing in the back half of the top 10, along with No. 9 Baylor and No. 10 Oklahoma.
The Cowboys host the Sooners next Saturday in a game that will help decide the Big 12 championship participants. Oklahoma State has clinched a spot and Baylor and Oklahoma are still alive.
Mississippi rounds out the top 10 at No. 8.
POLL POINTS
Michigan State was one of two teams ranked in the top 10 last week to get blown out Saturday.
The Spartans dropped five spots to 12th after losing to Ohio State and Oregon fell from fourth to 11th after getting pounded 38-7 by Utah. The Utes moved up eight spots to No. 16.
The last time two top-10 teams lost by 30 or more points on the same day was Sept. 22, 1984, when No. 15 Florida State beat No. 4 Miami 38-3 and No. 1 Nebraska beat No. 8 UCLA 42-3.
— For the first time this season no teams fell out of the rankings.
Four ranked teams lost in total, with Wake Forest and Arkansas joining Oregon and Michigan State. The Demon Deacons were the only ranked team to lose to an unranked team. Wake’s lopsided loss at Clemson dropped the Deacs eight spots to No. 21.
No. 25 Arkansas fell four spots after losing at Alabama by a touchdown, narrowly keeping Clemson from returning to the Top 25 for the first time since the last weekend of September. The Razorbacks received 105 points to Clemson’s 101.
CONFERENCE CALL
SEC — 5 (Nos. 1, 3, 8, 14, 25).
Big Ten — 5 (Nos. 2, 6, 12, 17, 18).
ACC — 3 (Nos. 20, 21, 24).
Big 12 — 3 (Nos. 7, 9, 10).
ac-12 — 2 (Nos. 11, 16).
American — 2 (Nos. 4, 19).
Conference USA — 1 (No. 15).
Mountain West — 1 (No. 22).
Sun Belt — 1 (No. 23).
Independent — 2 (Nos. 5, 13).
RANKED vs. RANKED
— No. 2 Ohio State at No. 6 Michigan. For the 24th time, The Game will be a top-10 matchup.
— No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 7 Oklahoma State. Bedlam will be a top-10 matchup for the third time. The last time was 2015 and the Sooners won by 35.
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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.appodcasts.com
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