NEW ORLEANS — No. 2 Ohio State gained some ground on No. 1 LSU in The Associated Press college football poll and Oregon dropped out of the top 10 after being upset by Arizona State.
The Tigers remained No. 1 for the fifth straight week in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank, receiving 50 first-places votes. The Buckeyes got nine first-place votes, up from five last week. No. 3 Clemson received three first-place votes. No. 4 Georgia and No. 5 Alabama also held their spots.
Ohio State is coming off a 28-17 victory over Penn State that dropped the Nittany Lions two spots to No. 11.
Oregon dropped eight spots to No. 14 after losing 31-28 at Arizona State. That allowed Utah to move up a spot to No. 6 and Oklahoma to No. 7. Florida, Minnesota and Michigan round out the top 10.
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POLL POINTS
Alabama has now been ranked for 209 consecutive weeks, starting with the 2008 preseason poll, tying Florida (Sept. 9, 1990-Oct. 5, 2002) for the third-longest streak in poll history. Nebraska has the longest streak at 348 weeks (21 years, Oct. 12, 1981-Sept. 22, 2002) and Florida State is second with 211 weeks (12 years, Sept. 24, 1989-Nov. 11, 2001).
The Tide should tie Bobby Bowden's Seminoles this season and surpass them in next year's preseason poll. There are typically 16 polls in a season, counting preseason and final. At that rate, Alabama would pass the record Nebraska set under coach Tom Osborne in Week 5 of the 2029 season.
FYI, Nick Saban would be about a month shy of his 78th birthday.
IN
— No. 24 Navy jumped into the rankings, knocking out American Athletic Conference rival SMU.
— No. 25 Southern California finished its regular season by beating rival UCLA and jumping back into the rankings. The Trojans have had two previous one-week stays in the poll this season.
OUT
— Texas A&M fell out after a brief return to the AP Top 25. The Aggies lost for the fourth time, this time to Georgia. All of A&M's losses have come against teams ranked in the current top 16. It gets no easier for the Aggies next week. They will face No. 1 LSU and become the first team in the history of the AP poll, which dates to 1936, to face a No. 1 three times in one season. Playing the No. 1 team twice in one season has happened 30 times previously, and that's including seven teams that played one of those games in the postseason.
Texas A&M lost to No. 1 Clemson 24-10 in September and to No. 1 Alabama 47-28 in October.
CONFERNCE CALL
Big Ten — 6 (Nos. 2, 9, 10, 12, 13, 19).
SEC — 5 (Nos. 1, 4, 5, 8, 16).
American — 3 (Nos. 17, 18, 24).
Big 12 — 3 (Nos. 7, 11, 21).
Pac 12 — 3 (Nos. 6, 14, 25).
ACC — 2 (Nos. 3, 23).
Mountain West — 1 (No. 20).
Sun Belt — 1 (No. 22).
Independent — 1 (No. 15).
RANKED vs. RANKED
No. 2 Ohio State at No. 10 Michigan. Is THIS the year Jim Harbaugh finally breaks through against the Buckeyes?
No. 5 Alabama at No. 16 Auburn. All eyes on Alabama backup quarterback Mac Jones in the Iron Bowl.
No. 7 Oklahoma at No. 21 Oklahoma State. Bedlam is for bragging rights and the Sooners' playoff hopes.
No. 13 Wisconsin at No. 9 Minnesota. The winner goes to the Big Ten championship game as West Division champion.
No. 18 Cincinnati at No. 17 Memphis. The Tigers need a victory to clinch the AAC West — and a rematch at home with the Bearcats the next week.
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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/
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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/APTop25CollegeFootballPoll and https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
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