Georgia Moves to No. 1 in AP Poll After Alabama Struggles vs. Texas

The Bulldogs were one of the few teams that got out of Saturday’s madness unscathed.

After a wild weekend in college football, there’s a new No. 1 in the Associated Press’s Top 25 poll: Georgia. 

The Bulldogs were one of the few top programs in the country to escape Week 2 unscathed. For the second weekend in a row, quarterback Stetson Bennett played mistake-free and Georgia cruised to a shutout of Stamford. 

However, the result for the new No. 1 in the AP poll was not the norm during a particularly wacky Saturday around the sport. In one of the more thrilling matchups of the weekend, former No. 1 Alabama narrowly held off an upset bid from Texas to win 20–19. Still, the slim margin of victory wasn’t enough for voters to justify keeping the Crimson Tide in the top spot.

While the Longhorns couldn’t get the job done, a number of other underdogs were able to knock off some of the best teams in the country. Appalachian State beat No. 6 Texas A&M in College Station and Marshall powered past No. 8 Notre Dame in South Bend. 

Week 2 also featured a few matchups between ranked teams, many of which were tightly contested. No. 21 BYU upset No. 9 Baylor in overtime and No. 24 Tennessee did the same to No. 17 Pittsburgh earlier in the afternoon. No. 20 Kentucky also beat out No. 12 Florida just a week after the Gators pulled off a major upset of Utah.

Ohio State, Michigan and Clemson all cruised in their respective matchups, allowing them to hold their positions in the rankings.

As college football heads into Week 3, here’s how the teams are ranked, according to the new AP poll.

1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Michigan
5. Clemson
6. Oklahoma
7. USC
8. Oklahoma State
9. Kentucky
10. Arkansas
11. Michigan State
12. BYU
13. Miami
14. Utah
15. Tennessee
16. NC State
17. Baylor
18. Florida
19. Wake Forest
20. Ole Miss
21. Texas
22. Penn State
23. Pitt
24. Texas A&M
25. Oregon
    

Others receiving votes:

Marshall 85, Cincinnati 80, Appalachian State 80, Kansas State 77, North Carolina 71, Mississippi State 43, Florida State 42, Oregon State 42, Minnesota 37, Washington State 30, Notre Dame 23, Air Force 19, Texas Tech 17, Wisconsin 7, Auburn 4, Iowa State 4, Purdue 1