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Indiana cracks AP Top 5 as historic season continues, Louisville moves up

The Indiana Hoosiers are now ranked in the top five after starting 10-0 for the first time in program history. Notre Dame moved up after pummeling Florida State.
Credit: AP/AJ Mast
Indiana players celebrate after defeating Michigan in an NCAA college football game in Bloomington, Ind., Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024.

Oregon was the No. 1 team in The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll for the fourth straight week on Sunday as Penn State and Indiana climbed into the top five, Georgia and Miami dropped out of the top 10 and losses by four other ranked teams shuffled the rankings with a month left in the regular season.

No team this season has held the top spot for more consecutive weeks than Oregon, which pulled away from Maryland to improve to 10-0 over the weekend and is a unanimous No. 1 for the second straight week.

Ohio State moved up one spot to No. 2 and Texas got a two-rung bump to No. 3. Penn State was No. 4, one point ahead of No. 5 Indiana, with Tennessee just three points behind at No. 6.

Penn State, No. 6 last week, returned to the top five after its comfortable win over Washington. The Hoosiers, who beat Michigan 20-15 for their school-record 10th win and first win by fewer than 14 points, moved up from No. 8 and have their highest ranking since they were No. 4 in the final poll of the 1967 season.

Following Tennessee in the top 10 were BYU, Notre Dame, Alabama and Mississippi. The SEC has four teams in the top 10 and nine overall in the AP Top 25 while the Big Ten's four ranked teams are all in the top five.

Georgia and Miami plummeted. The Bulldogs lost 28-10 at Mississippi and went from No. 2 to No. 11, marking the first time they've been out of the top 10 since late in the 2020 season. The Hurricanes' 28-23 loss at Georgia Tech sent them from No. 4 to No. 12.

How those losses impact their bids for a College Football Playoff spot will be known on Tuesday night when the selection committee releases its second rankings. Georgia is the fifth-highest ranked Southeastern Conference team in the AP poll, and Miami remains the highest-ranked Atlantic Coast Conference team.

AP College Football Poll, Week 12

The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 9, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:

Record Pts         Prv

1. Oregon (62)   10-0      1550     1

2. Ohio St.          8-1         1484     3

3. Texas               8-1         1409     5

4. Penn St.         8-1         1274     6

5. Indiana           10-0      1273     8

6. Tennessee     8-1         1270     7

7. BYU  9-0         1161     9

8. Notre Dame  8-1         1095     10

9. Alabama        7-2         1036     11

10. Mississippi  8-2         966        16

11. Georgia        7-2         964        2

12. Miami           9-1         907        4

13. Boise St.      8-1         839        12

14. SMU              8-1         788        13

15. Texas A&M  7-2         674        15

16. Army             9-0         533        18

17. Clemson     7-2         524        19

18. Colorado     7-2         463        21

19. Washington St.        8-1         456        20

20. Kansas St.  7-2         333        22

21. LSU               6-3         265        14

22. Louisville     6-3         240        25

23. South Carolina         6-3         203        -

24. Missouri       7-2         176        -

25. Tulane          8-2         98          -

Others receiving votes: Iowa St. 92, Arizona St. 35, Pittsburgh 18, Louisiana-Lafayette 14, UNLV 10.

Poll points

Mississippi earned the biggest promotion, from No. 16 to No. 10. The Rebels turned in a dominant defensive performance against Carson Beck and the Bulldogs a week after Jaxson Dart set school passing records in a blowout of Arkansas.

LSU had its playoff hopes snuffed with its 42-13 home loss to Alabama. The Tigers dropped from No. 14 to No. 21.

No. 18 Colorado controls its own destiny in the playoff chase. The Buffaloes are alone in second place in the Big 12, one game behind unbeaten BYU, and the conference's second-highest ranked team in the AP poll. They don't meet in the regular season. If both run the table, they would play in the conference championship game.

Boise State slipped one spot to No. 13 and remains the highest-ranked Group of Five team following its 28-21 win over a three-win Nevada.

In-and-out

No. 23 South Carolina, which has beaten ranked Texas A&M and Vanderbilt teams in consecutive weeks, is in the Top 25 for the first time since the end of the 2022 season.

No. 24 Missouri beat Oklahoma on a late fumble return for a touchdown and is back after a one-week absence.

No. 25 Tulane, winner of seven straight, made its Top 25 debut under first-year coach Jon Sumrall.

Iowa State, Pittsburgh and Vanderbilt dropped out.

The Cyclones' second straight loss came against a Kansas team that entered with two wins. Pittsburgh, beaten soundly by SMU a week earlier, lost at home to Virginia. Vanderbilt has lost two of its last three.

Conference call

SEC — 9 (Nos. 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, 15, 21, 23, 24).

ACC — 4 (Nos. 12, 14, 17, 22).

Big Ten — 4 (Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5).

Big 12 — 3 (Nos. 7, 18, 20).

AAC — 2 (Nos. 16, 25).

Mountain West — 1 (No. 13).

Pac-12 — 1 (No. 19).

Independent — 1 (No. 8).

Ranked vs. ranked

—No. 6 Tennessee at No. 11 Georgia: Volunteers QB Nico Iamaleava is expected to be back after not playing the second half against Mississippi State. Vols haven't scored more than 21 points during their seven-game losing streak against the Bulldogs.

—No. 24 Missouri at No. 23 South Carolina: Tigers have won five straight in the series. Gamecocks have a chance to beat a third straight ranked opponent.

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