Michigan State Enters Top 10 In Coaches Poll
Michigan State football has entered the Top 10 of the USA Today Sports AFCA Coaches Poll after opening the season 2-0 in Year 3 of the Mel Tucker era.
The Spartans moved up two spots to No. 9 in the latest poll after defeating Mid-American Conference foe Akron, 52-0, on Saturday. Michigan State pounded the Zips with their run game, stacking up 260 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns.
The Top 5 of the Coaches Poll remained unchanged from Week 2 to Week 3.
Despite a getting a colossal scare from Texas, No. 1 Alabama remains on top of the poll despite squeaking out a 20-19 win over the Longhorns in the closing seconds in Austin.
The Crimson Tide received 39 out of 65 first-place votes, and are followed by No. 2 Georiga and No. 3 Ohio State. The Bulldogs received 25 first-place votes, while the Buckeyes garnered one first place vote of their own.
No. 4 Clemson and No. 5 Michigan held their spots as well after wins over Furman and Hawaii, respectively.
No. 6 Oklahoma moved up one spot, No. 7 Oklahoma State moved up three spots and No. 8 USC made a four-spot jump, hopping the Spartans in the rankings following a 41-28 win over Stanford.
No. 10 Kentucky rounds out the Top 10 after the Wildcats upset Florida in The Swamp in Week 2 by the score of 26-16. The Gators dropped two spots to No. 21 following that result.
Joining Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State as representatives out of the Big Ten is No. 23 Penn State, which entered the poll for the first time this season following its 2-0 start to year.
Wisconsin, which was ranked No. 18 a week ago, fell out of the rankings after being upset at home by Washington State. The Badgers fall among "Others receiving votes" along with Minnesota.
Biggest Rise
There was a ton of movement after an upset-filled Week 2 of college football. No. 14 BYU made an 11-spot jump after defeating Baylor, 26-20, in overtime in Provo. Kentucky moved up 10 spots with it's win over Florida, and No. 16 Tennessee also made a 10-spot leap after a 34-27 win over Pittsburgh in overtime.
Biggest Fall
Notre Dame was ranked No. 9 in last week's poll, but the Fighting Irish have fallen out of the rankings after a home loss to Marshall dropped them to 0-2 to start the season.
No. 22 Texas A&M went from College Football Playoff dark horse to barely holding on to a Top 25 ranking after a 17-14 upset loss to Appalachian State. The Aggies plummeted 16 spots with that loss.
No. 19 Baylor and No. 25 Pittsburgh each fell 11 spots after losses to BYU and Tennessee, respectively.
