The coaches poll may have been decided by just a single point, but the AP poll was much more decisive. Mississippi State is the new number one in the latest Associated Press poll, and it is not very close. Mississippi State received 45 first-place votes to firmly move past No. 2 Florida State. The previously top-ranked Seminoles received 12 first-place votes to help stay narrowly ahead of No. 3 Ole Miss. Just two points in the voting separate Florida State from Ole Miss, but Mississippi State has a 65-point advantage over the Seminoles. Ole Miss received three first-place votes as well.
Baylor follows at fourth in this week’s AP poll. The Bears moved up one spot in this week’s ranking. So did Notre Dame, with the Irish moving into the top five. No. 6 Auburn fell four spots after losing at Mississippi State Saturday. The Tigers are one spot in front of No. 7 Alabama. The Crimson Tide did not move in this week’s AP poll. No. 8 Michigan State also stayed put with their ranking and remain in front of Oregon. The Ducks are the new No. 9 after moving up three spots this week. Oregon defeated Michigan State earlier in the season. Georgia moved up three spots to round out the top 10 in the AP poll this week.
No. 11 Oklahoma stayed put and finished ahead of TCU this week. TCU defeated Oklahoma the previous week but fell to Baylor. The Horned Frogs are one spot behind Oklahoma, ranked No. 12 in the AP poll. No. 16 Ohio State and No. 14 Kansas State each moved up two spots. No. 15 Oklahoma State is up one spot as well. Arizona took a fall of six spots down from No. 10 to No. 16. Arizona is followed by No. 17 Arizona State. No. 18 East Carolina continues to be in a good spot in the rankings and the Pirates moved up one spot this week. Nebraska (No. 19) and Utah (No. 20) complete the top 20. Utah debuted in the poll last week and moved up four spots while idle this week.
No. 21 Texas A&M took a big fall, dropping from No. 14 this week after a home loss to Ole Miss. No. 22 USC is back in the AP top 25 following a road win at Arizona. The Trojans are just ahead of No. 23 Stanford. Clemson (No. 26) and Marshall (No. 27) each enter the AP top 25 this week.