Utah dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten and so did Florida State.
The two losses led to a shake-up in The Associated Press’ Top 25 college football poll.
Ohio State (8-0) strengthened its season-long hold on the top spot, adding 11 first-place votes in Sunday’s balloting after rolling over Rutgers.
Baylor (7-0) remained at No. 2, but lost five first-place votes and now total seven. Clemson (7-0) climbed three spots to No. 3 and has six first-place votes.
LSU (7-0) moved up a spot and received five first-place votes following its win over Western Kentucky. TCU (7-0) dropped a spot to No. 5 despite not playing over the weekend.
No. 7 Alabama (7-1), a spot behind Michigan State (8-0) in the poll, was the only one-loss team to receive a first-place vote after holding off Tennessee.
Utah (6-1) had been gaining on Ohio State, receiving 16 first-place votes last week while moving up to No. 3, their highest regular-season ranking.
Considered a contender for the College Football Playoff, Utah was no match for unranked Southern California, losing 42-24 as Cameron Smith returned one of his three interceptions 54 yards for a touchdown.
The loss dropped the Utes 10 spots to No. 13 and made them a long shot for a CFB spot.
Florida State (6-1) didn’t last long in the top 10, falling eight spots to No. 17.
The Seminoles were on the short end of the season’s second bizarre special teams ending, losing to Georgia Tech 22-16 after Lance Austin scooped up a blocked field goal and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown on the game’s final play.
MOVING UP
• Michigan State moved up a spot to No. 6 after rolling over Indiana.
• Stanford moved up two spots to No. 8 after beating Washington.
• Notre Dame returned to the top 10, climbing two spots to No. 9 during its bye week.
• Iowa is in the top 10, too, up two spots to No. 10.
• No. 11 Florida and No. 12 Oklahoma State each moved up two places.
• No. 14 Oklahoma climbed three spots after crushing Texas Tech.
• The three AAC unbeatens each moved up: Memphis up two to 16, Houston up three to No. 18, Temple up one to No. 21
• No. 19 Mississippi moved up four spots after knocking off Texas A&M 23-3
• No. 22 Duke moved up one spot; No. 23 Pittsburgh climbed two.
FALLING DOWN
• In addition to Utah, Florida State and TCU dropping, Toledo fell one place to No. 20 despite beating UMass.
MOVING IN
• UCLA is back in the poll at No. 24 after knocking off California 40-24 last Thursday. The Bruins climbed as high as No. 7 before consecutive losses to Arizona State and Stanford dropped them from the Top 25.
• Mississippi State returns after beating Kentucky.
FALLING OUT
• Texas A&M dropped out from No. 15 after its loss to Mississippi
• Cal is out after its loss to UCLA.
RANKED VS. RANKED
Temple (7-0) is off to its best start in history, and the No. 19 Owls will host No. 9 Notre Dame (6-1) on Saturday night in Philadelphia, at Lincoln Financial Field.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.