Now one-third of the way through the college football regular season, Ohio State continues to find itself still No. 3 overall in both the AP and USA TODAY Coaches Polls.
The final rankings for the month of September may come as a surprise to some Buckeye fans, given last night's 52-21 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers served as an arguably more impressive win than any on Alabama's resume so far. The Crimson Tide held steady at No. 2 in each poll after losing the top spot in the Coaches Poll last week, while Georgia conceded minimal ground at No. 1 overall despite a far-from-comfortable win over Kent State yesterday by a final score of 39-22.
Perhaps more surprisingly, Michigan remains ranked ahead of Clemson despite the latter's thrilling overtime victory on the road against a Wake Forest team that managed to stay in the Coaches Poll even after the loss. By contrast, the Wolverines played a back-and-forth game against Maryland at home yesterday in which Michigan missed covering the spread by double-digits after entering the afternoon with the worst strength-of-schedule rating at the FBS level.
Regarding other Big Ten teams, Penn State inched closer into the top 10 by moving up three spots in the AP and Coaches Polls, while Minnesota debuted in the rankings for the first time this season at No. 21 in the AP and No. 23 in the Coaches after nearly shutting out Michigan State on the road yesterday. Meanwhile in the SEC, the Tennessee Volunteers re-entered the top 10 of either poll for the first time since 2016 after defeating Florida at home.
The AP Poll's biggest movers included Texas A&M climbing back up six spots on the heels of back-to-back wins against top-25 opponents in Miami and Arkansas. The Razorbacks themselves fell 10 ranks following their loss to the Aggies, while Oklahoma fell 12 spots all the way out of the AP Top 10 down to No. 18 overall.
As for the Coaches Poll, the Golden Gophers gained the most ground by jumping up nine spots to No. 23, while Oklahoma's shortcoming against Kansas State saw the Sooners drop 10 ranks to No. 16 overall.
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GEORGIA | 4–0 | 1,565 (55) | vs Kent State W 39-22 |
| 2 | ALABAMA | 4–0 | 1,487 (4) | vs Vanderbilt W 55-3 |
| 3 | OHIO STATE | 4–0 | 1,483 (4) | vs Wisconsin W 52-21 |
| 4 | MICHIGAN | 4–0 | 1,354 | vs Maryland W 34-27 |
| 5 | CLEMSON | 4–0 | 1,311 | @ Wake Forest W 51-45 |
| 6 | USC | 4–0 | 1,236 | @ Oregon State W 17-14 |
| 7 | KENTUCKY | 4–0 | 1,127 | vs Northern Illinois W 31-23 |
| 8 | TENNESSEE | 4–0 | 1,119 | vs Florida W 38-33 |
| 9 | OKLAHOMA STATE | 3–0 | 1,081 | vs Arkansas-Pine Bluff W 63-7 |
| 10 | NORTH CAROLINA STATE | 4–0 | 920 | vs UConn W 41-10 |
| 11 | PENN STATE | 4–0 | 876 | vs Central Michigan W 33-14 |
| 12 | UTAH | 3–1 | 760 | @ Arizona State W 34-13 |
| 13 | OREGON | 3–1 | 727 | @ Washington State W 44-41 |
| 14 | OLE MISS | 4–0 | 691 | vs Tulsa W 35-27 |
| 15 | WASHINGTON | 4–0 | 657 | vs Stanford W 40-22 |
| 16 | BAYLOR | 3–1 | 550 | @ Iowa State W 31-24 |
| 17 | TEXAS A&M | 3–1 | 543 | vs Arkansas W 23-21 |
| 18 | OKLAHOMA | 3–1 | 529 | vs Kansas State L 41-34 |
| 19 | BYU | 3–1 | 482 | vs Wyoming W 38-24 |
| 20 | ARKANSAS | 3–1 | 457 | @ Texas A&M L 23-21 |
| 21 | MINNESOTA | 4–0 | 288 | @ Michigan State W 34-7 |
| 22 | WAKE FOREST | 3–1 | 265 | vs Clemson L 51-45 |
| 23 | FLORIDA STATE | 4–0 | 244 | vs Boston College W 44-14 |
| 24 | PITTSBURGH | 3–1 | 209 | vs Rhode Island W 45-24 |
| 25 | KANSAS STATE | 3–1 | 166 | @ Oklahoma W 41-34 |
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS | 1st VOTES | PREV | CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GEORGIA | 4–0 | 1563 | 34 | 1 | — |
| 2 | ALABAMA | 4–0 | 1558 | 26 | 2 | — |
| 3 | OHIO STATE | 4–0 | 1486 | 4 | 3 | — |
| 4 | MICHIGAN | 4–0 | 1379 | – | 4 | — |
| 5 | CLEMSON | 4–0 | 1339 | – | 5 | — |
| 6 | SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA | 4–0 | 1226 | – | 7 | +1 |
| 7 | OKLAHOMA STATE | 3–0 | 1176 | – | 8 | +1 |
| 8 | KENTUCKY | 4–0 | 1136 | – | 9 | +1 |
| 9 | TENNESSEE | 4–0 | 1077 | – | 12 | +3 |
| 10 | NC STATE | 4–0 | 1015 | – | 11 | +1 |
| 11 | MISSISSIPPI | 4–0 | 864 | – | 13 | +2 |
| 12 | PENN STATE | 4–0 | 824 | – | 15 | +3 |
| 13 | UTAH | 3–1 | 822 | – | 14 | +1 |
| 14 | BAYLOR | 3–1 | 638 | – | 17 | +3 |
| 15 | OREGON | 3–1 | 622 | – | 18 | +3 |
| 16 | OKLAHOMA | 3–1 | 601 | – | 6 | -10 |
| 17 | TEXAS A&M | 3–1 | 574 | – | 20 | +3 |
| 18 | WASHINGTON | 4–0 | 539 | – | 24 | +6 |
| 19 | ARKANSAS | 3–1 | 509 | – | 10 | -9 |
| 20 | BRIGHAM YOUNG | 3–1 | 359 | – | 23 | +3 |
| 21 | WAKE FOREST | 3–1 | 352 | – | 16 | -5 |
| 22 | FLORIDA STATE | 4–0 | 252 | – | NR | +5 |
| 23 | MINNESOTA | 4–0 | 238 | – | NR | +9 |
| 24 | PITTSBURGH | 3–1 | 223 | – | NR | +2 |
| 25 | SYRACUSE | 4–0 | 74 | – | NR | +7 |
