Louisiana Leads 10 New Teams in AP Top 25 Poll
Louisiana-Lafayette and Appalachian State were among 10 new teams ranked Sunday in the first regular-season Associated Press college football poll, which was stripped of the teams not yet scheduled to play a fall season.
There was no change at the very top: Preseason No. 1 Clemson received 60 of 61 first-place votes this week.
After all Division I teams were eligible to be voted on for the preseason Top 25, the panel of 61 voters was permitted to consider only teams playing in the fall now that the season has started.
That meant preseason No. 2 Ohio State, No. 7 Penn State and No. 9 Oregon, along with six other Big Ten and Pac-12 teams, dropped out of the rankings. The Big Ten, Pac-12, Mid-American Conference and Mountain West have delayed their seasons, but the Big Ten is taking some steps toward a possible mid-October start.
With those teams gone, Alabama moved up to No. 2. Oklahoma is No. 3, followed by No. 4 Georgia and No. 5 Florida. Defending champion LSU, with one first-place vote, is No. 6.
Among the new teams in the rankings were Sun Belt powerhouses Louisiana-Lafayette at No. 19 and Appalachian State at No. 24. The Ragin’ Cajuns pulled off maybe the biggest upset of the weekend, winning at Iowa State 31-14 on Saturday. The Cyclones had been ranked No. 23 and are the one team currently scheduled to play to fall out of the rankings after being in the preseason Top 25.
Louisiana-Lafayette was last ranked in 1943.
Full Top 25:
- Clemson
- Alabama
- Oklahoma
- Georgia
- Florida
- LSU
- Notre Dame
- Auburn
- Texas
- Texas A&M
- Oklahoma State
- North Carolina
- Cincinnati
- UCF
- Tennessee
- Memphis
- Miami (FL)
- Louisville
- Louisiana-Lafayette
- Virginia Tech
- Brigham Young
- Army
- Kentucky
- Appalachian State
- Pittsburgh
Others Receiving Votes: Baylor 146, West Virginia 81, Georgia Tech 69, TCU 49, Virginia 39, Arkansas State 33, SMU 32, Iowa State 14, Mississippi State 14, Boise State 6, South Florida 6, Ole Miss 5, Texas Tech 5, UAB 4, Missouri 3, Air Force 2, Florida State 2, Marshall 2, Houston 1
