No. 21 Duke and No. 22 Colorado moved into the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll Tuesday after scoring the biggest upsets of the opening weekend of the season, and No. 4 Florida State jumped into the top five after its resounding victory over LSU in Week 1’s marquee game.
Georgia remained No. 1 with 58 first-place votes and Michigan held steady at No. 2 with two first-place votes.
No. 3 Alabama moved up a spot and Florida State climbed four places and received the remaining three first-place votes after beating LSU 45-24. The Seminoles are in the top five for the first time since the beginning of the 2017 season.
Ohio State rounded out the top five in the AP’s first regular-season poll of the season.
LSU dropped nine spots to No. 15. Clemson, which was upset at Duke, fell 16 places to No. 25. TCU, which lost to Colorado, dropped all the way out of the rankings after being No. 17 in the preseason.
Colorado’s victory as a three-touchdown underdog at TCU in coach Deion Sanders’ debut was the story of the weekend, and now the Buffaloes are ranked for the first time since a brief stay during the 2020 season. The Buffs were also ranked for two weeks in 2018, but have only finished a season in the Top 25 once (2016) in the past 20 seasons.
“I don’t care about no ranking,” Sanders said. “I care about how we practice tomorrow. That’s what I’m caring about right now. Ranking don’t have a record, does it? Ranking don’t have a record.”
Sanders, the former NFL star and Florida State All-American, took over a team that went 1-11 last season and did an unprecedented roster makeover, with nearly 90 new players and 58 of them transfers. The new-look Buffs came away with a 45-42 victory on the road against the program that played in the national title game last season.
Duke capped the long Labor Day weekend of college football by knocking off Clemson28-7 on Monday night in Durham, North Carolina. It was the Blue Devils’ first victory against a team ranked in the top 10 since 1989 against a Clemson team ranked seventh.
In Year 2 under coach Mike Elko, perennial basketball powerhouse Duke is ranked for the first time in the AP college football poll since a one-week stint in 2018.
That season was also the last time Florida State made an appearance in the preseason Top 25. The Seminoles quickly faded that year, slipping into the worst stretch the program has had since the 1970s.
These Seminoles opened with their most impressive victory since coach Jimbo Fisher left for Texas A&M late in the 2017 season.
Coach Mike Norvell’s team broke through last season, going 10-3 and finishing No. 11 in the country. The victory over LSU was the Seminoles’ first against a team ranked in the top five since October 2014 at home against No. 5 Notre Dame.
POLL POINTS
Having Florida State near the top of the AP poll is a familiar sight, just not as much recently. The last time FSU was ranked this highly during the regular season was when it reached No. 2 in September 2016.
The Seminoles had one of the greatest stretches in college football history under coach Bobby Bowden from the late 1980s into the early 2000s. That included a record 14 straight seasons finishing in the top five and two national titles.
The Seminoles went three consecutive seasons (2019-2021) never being ranked, the longest streak of futility for the program since the mid-1970s, before turning it around in 2022.
Florida State’s top-five ranking was its 240th since 1980, second only to Alabama with 281.
RANKED vs. RANKED
No. 11 Texas at No. 3 Alabama. The game in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will be the first regular-season meeting between Texas and Alabama with both ranked.
No. 20 Ole Miss at No. 24 Tulane. The 64th meeting in the series will be the first since 1956 where both teams are ranked.
A final decision on Thomas’ availability isn’t expected until game time, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel, but he is listed as doubtful on the SEC availability report.
Thomas suffered the injury while returning a fumble 71 yards for a touchdown during the Sooners’ Nov. 1 win over Tennessee.
Oklahoma’s best defensive player, Thomas has a team-leading 6.5 sacks this season along with two forced fumbles and the scoop-and-score fumble recovery.
Starting cornerback Gentry Williams is also doubtful to play against the Crimson Tide. He is set to miss a third straight game with a shoulder injury suffered Oct. 18 against South Carolina.
Wisconsin will start true freshman quarterback Carter Smith at No. 2 Indiana on Saturday, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel, replacing Danny O’Neil after the sophomore was carted off the field with a right leg injury last week.
O’Neil was injured on a 21-yard keeper during the first quarter of last Saturday’s 13-10 win over then-No. 23 Washington. He had a towel over his head as he was carted to the locker room.
Smith made his season debut following O’Neil’s injury, completing 3 of 12 passes for 8 yards while rushing for 47 yards and a touchdown.
Also available to the Badgers at quarterback is senior Hunter Simmons, who is 48-for-95 for 485 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions this season.
For Indiana, wide receiver Elijah Sarratt is doubtful to play, sources said. Sarratt, who is tied for the Big Ten lead with 10 touchdown receptions, injured his hamstring against Maryland on Nov. 1 and missed the Penn State game last week.
With Indiana having a bye next week, Sarratt is on track to return against Purdue on Nov. 28.
Quarterback issues have hindered Wisconsin all season and throughout coach Luke Fickell’s three-year tenure.
Billy Edwards Jr. was Wisconsin’s first-team quarterback at the start of the season, but he sprained his knee in the second quarter of the Badgers’ opener and has played only one full series since.
Tanner Mordecai missed 3½ games with a broken hand in 2023. Miami transfer Tyler Van Dyke tore his ACL in the third game of the 2024 season.
Wisconsin’s intended season-opening starting quarterback has been available for the entirety of only 11 of the 34 games the Badgers have played since the beginning of the 2023 season. The last time Fickell had his season-opening starting quarterback healthy for a full game was in a 27-13 victory over South Dakota on Sept. 7, 2024.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava will not play Saturday against No. 1 Ohio State because of a concussion, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Iamaleava was injured during last week’s loss to Nebraska. He began experiencing concussion symptoms after the game, according to On3, which first reported that Iamaleava would not play.
With Iamaleava out, redshirt sophomore Luke Duncan will make his first career start. Duncan has not attempted a pass in college as he tries to take down the top-ranked Buckeyes.
Iamaleava has thrown for 1,659 yards with 12 touchdowns and 7 interceptions in his first year with the Bruins after transferring from Tennessee.
He led UCLA to three straight wins in October, including a victory over then-No. 7 Penn State, but the Bruins (3-6) have lost two straight and need to win out to become bowl eligible.