There was little change at the top of the AP Top 25 college football rankings in Week 3, but a more interesting week than expected set the stage for an eventful Week 4 led by No. 6 Ohio State and No. 6 Notre Dame 9. Here’s what you need to know about the latest survey:
Complete AP Top 25
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
Should Georgia still be number 1?
It depends on the criteria each voter is using at that point in the season. If I were still a voter – and I’m not – I would lean more heavily on this year’s results and seriously consider putting Notre Dame, Washington and Penn State in my top three, followed by Florida State and Texas. These were the teams that performed best in a small sample this season when measuring competition and performance. Georgia has faded a bit in its first three games, as have Ohio State and Michigan.
But if you picked Georgia at the top at the start of the year, it’s understandable that it stays there. The style points weren’t great against South Carolina, but you play to win the game, right? Georgia stepped up when it needed to, outscoring South Carolina 21-0 in the second half. If a voter wants to show respect to the two-time defending champion and wait for an actual loss before dumping him, that’s a justifiable move. Also, the survey is just for fun; If Georgia loses on the field, the selection committee will dump the Bulldogs. (Well, probably.) – Emerson
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How will Week 4 impact the AP Poll?
Week 3 offered plenty of intrigue, but there were no matchups between teams ranked in the AP Top 25. In fact, there were only three ranked fights in total in the first three weeks.
Week 4? There are six, led by the top 10 showdown in South Bend:
- No. 6 Ohio State at No. 9 Notre Dame
- No. 24 Iowa and No. 7 Penn State
- No. 22 UCLA at No. 11 Utah
- No. 19 Colorado and No. 10 Oregon
- No. 15 Ole Miss at No. 13 Alabama
- No. 14 Oregon State and No. 21 Washington State
And that doesn’t even include No. 3 Florida State’s Clemson, which is ranked No. 1 in the coaches’ poll but is first-team in the AP poll.
The Pac-12 still has eight ranked teams, six of which play each other. In the meantime, Alabama gets a chance to right things and regain respect – and possibly a spot back in the top 10 – if it can fend off Ole Miss at home.
While we probably won’t learn much about No. 1 Georgia (vs. UAB) and No. 2 Michigan (vs. Rutgers), we could learn a lot more about the rest of the top 25 in a week that has the potential for a reshuffle the ranking is better than any other this season. – Brown
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Required reading
(Photo: Steve Limentani / ISI Photos / Getty Images)