A wild weekend in college football saw five unbeaten teams fall, including last week’s No.3 team, Alabama, the highest-ranked team to lose this season.
Tennessee moved up to No.3 behind No.1 Georgia and No.2 Ohio State in the AP Top 25 college football poll after its historic 52-49 victory over now No.6 Alabama.
Tennessee ended its 15-game losing streak against Alabama spectacularly as Chase McGrath kicked the game-winning 40-yard field goal with no time remaining.
Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker and receiver Jalin Hyatt were unstoppable Saturday.
Hooker finished with 385 yards passing, five touchdowns, and one interception, while Hyatt caught all five of Hooker’s touchdown passes and had 207 yards receiving. Hyatt’s five touchdown catches are a new school record.
Tennessee’s No.3 ranking is its highest in the AP poll since opening the 2005 season in the same spot.
Alabama will reflect on the defeat and regret many errors, including 17 penalties and a few drops in critical moments.
The Crimson Tide’s slide to No.6 brings an end to its streak of 40 straight appearances in the top five of the AP poll. It was the longest such active streak in the country.
The Tide’s latest top-five run is only the third longest of the Nick Saban era. Alabama’s 68 straight top-five appearances from 2015-19 is the all-time AP poll record, and its string of 48 consecutive top-five rankings from 2011-2013 is tied for fourth.
Behind Tennessee is No.4 Michigan, which moved up one spot, switching places with No.5 Clemson after blowing out now No.16 Penn State, 41-17.
No.7 Mississippi moved up two spots, while No.9 UCLA and No.10 Oregon joined No.8 TCU, in breaking into the top ten.
Under first-year head coach Sonny Dykes, TCU is the highest-ranked and only undefeated team in the Big 12 after a 43-40 double-OT win against No.11 Oklahoma State.
Meanwhile, No.20 Texas snapped a three-game losing streak against Iowa State, winning 24-21, handing the Cyclones their fourth straight defeat behind quarterback Quinn Ewers.
Ewers threw for three touchdowns, including the go-ahead, 3-yard pass to Xavier Worthy with 4:43 minutes remaining. Bijan Robinson rushed for 135 yards, his fifth straight game exceeding 100, against the Big 12’s top defense.
The Longhorns clinched the victory on Anthony Cook’s forced fumble at the Texas 28-yard line that Jaylan Ford recovered to secure the win with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
Texas will go on the road next to face No.11 Oklahoma State on Saturday.
No.14 Syracuse is 6-0 for the first time since 1987, and only the third time since 1935, but they will face their toughest test yet with No.5 Clemson.
No.9 UCLA will travel to face No.10 Oregon in the first top-ten matchup between Pac-12 teams since 2016.
No.24 Mississippi State will go on the road to play No.6 Alabama, with both teams looking to bounce back from losses against top-25 opponents this weekend. MSU dropped a 27-17 contest to No.19 Kentucky.
No.8 TCU will play its fourth consecutive top-25 opponent when they host No.17 Kansas State.
Two teams are new in this week’s top 25 with No.22 North Carolina ranked for the first time this season, while No.25 Tulane (6-1) is ranked for the first time since 1998 when quarterback Shaun King led the Green Wave to an unbeaten season and a No.7 final AP Top 25 ranking.
UNC and Tulane are replacing Kansas, which has lost two straight games after snapping a poll drought of 13 years, and James Madison, which is out after becoming the first team to be ranked in its first season as an FBS member.
The Jayhawks lost a 52-42 shootout on the road against Oklahoma, while the Dukes lost 45-38 on the road at Sun Belt rival Georgia Southern.
Full AP Top 25 (First-Place Votes):
- Georgia (31), 7-0 Last Week: 1
- Ohio State (17), 6-0 Last Week: 2
- Tennessee (15) 6-0 Last Week: 6
- Michigan 7-0 Last Week: 5
- Clemson 7-0 Last Week: 4
- Alabama, 6-1 Last Week: 3
- Mississippi 7-0 Last Week: 9
- TCU 6-0 Last Week: 13
- UCLA 6-0 Last Week: 11
- Oregon 5-1 Last Week: 12
- Oklahoma State 5-1 Last Week: 8
- Southern California 6-1 Last Week: 7
- Wake Forest 5-1 Last Week: 14
- Syracuse 6-0 Last Week: 18
- Utah 5-2 Last Week: 20
- Penn State 5-1 Last Week: 22
- Kansas State 5-1 Last Week: 17
- Illinois 6-1 Last Week: 24
- Kentucky 5-2 Last Week: 22
- Texas 5-2 Last Week: 22
- Cincinnati 5-1 Last Week: 21
- North Carolina 6-1 Last Week NR
- NC State 5-2 Last Week: 15
- Mississippi State 5-2 Last Week: 16
- Tulane 6-1 Last Week: NR
Others receiving votes: Purdue 95, LSU 87, UCF 13, South Carolina 13, Kansas 12, Oregon State 6, James Madison 6, Maryland 5, South Alabama 4, Liberty 2, Minnesota 1, Florida State 1, Arkansas 1.
