The brand new AP High 25 ballot can have one more debate for who’s No. 1 as voters flip of their ballots after a thunderous Week 5 slate.. And whereas we’re projecting a number of — three or extra — groups to obtain first-place votes, Saturday evening’s assertion win in Tuscaloosa has Alabama poised to be the third No. 1 workforce within the nation of the 2024 season.
Should you contemplate that Georgia’s 13 first-place votes from final week’s balloting are possible gone, these voters who considered the Bulldogs as the perfect workforce within the nation — forward of Texas and Ohio State — are going to assume extremely of how Alabama went wire-to-wire towards the Bulldogs in one of many largest video games of the yr to this point. From there, all it could take is a few dozen of the 44 voters who had Texas at No. 1 final week to swap that out for Alabama given the energy of the win in comparison with the Longhorns’ finest win — earlier this yr on the highway over Michigan.
The controversy for No. 1 can be extra distinctive if it hadn’t already turn out to be one of many main storylines within the AP high 25 ballot this season. When Texas first jumped Georgia for No. 1 within the wake of its win in Ann Arbor, the Longhorns did so by carrying nearly a dozen extra first-place votes (35-to-23). Alabama’s climb to No. 1, as we’re projecting, would carry maybe a fair tighter vote cut up. Sadly for Texas, typically you do not drop within the rankings as a lot as you get jumped, and it is laborious to think about a rankings booster extra highly effective than what the Crimson Tide did to Georgia on Saturday evening.
Elsewhere within the rankings, we are going to see fallout from the a number of ranked-on-ranked video games on the Week 5 schedule in addition to a significant shakeup within the wake of Ole Miss‘ beautiful upset loss to Kentucky and far, far more.
This is how we undertaking the brand new AP High 25 to take care of Week 5:
1. Alabama (Final week — 4): It was by no means destined to be as simple because it seemed within the first half, however the Crimson Tide completed the job in thrilling vogue. The dramatics of the second solely assist energy a transfer to No. 1.
2. Texas (1): Arch Manning totaled three touchdowns (two passing, one dashing) and the Longhorns poured it on late after a sloppy begin to document their first-ever SEC win towards Mississippi State. It is not that Texas might be punished for its 35-13 win — although it was nearer than the oddsmakers anticipated — as a lot because it lacked the punch of Alabama’s win within the debate for No. 1.
3. Ohio State (3): Will the Buckeyes have greater than 5 first-place votes after beating Michigan State by 31 factors? Ohio State has had precisely 5 first-place votes in every of the final 4 weeks, and whereas there’s a credit score to these voters’ resiliency, it’s curious why the Buckeyes haven’t attracted extra first-place consideration whereas dealing with their enterprise through the first month of the season.
4. Tennessee (5): The Volunteers had been off in Week 5 and might be again in motion subsequent week at Arkansas.
5. Oregon (8): The Geese bought examined on the highway towards UCLA and responded effectively, leaping out to an early lead and defending it the remainder of the way in which to enhance to 4-0 total on the yr.
6. Penn State (9): There are a lot of issues that Penn State will get to work on shifting ahead, however the Nittany Lions handed their first Large Ten convention check with a 21-7 win towards Illinois.
7. Miami (7): Controversy surrounds the ending of the Hurricanes’ 38-34 win towards Virginia Tech, however how a lot will that present up within the ballots? Miami seemingly ought to lose some voter help for a sport that was a lot nearer than anticipated, however it’s unlikely to be sufficient for any sort of main shakeup amongst these undefeated groups within the again half of the highest 10.
8. Georgia (2): It’ll be actually powerful to drop Georgia out of the highest 10 after the Bulldogs’ epic, second-half comeback effort that led to even holding a late lead within the closing minutes of an in depth loss in Tuscaloosa.
9. Missouri (11): The Tigers had been off in Week 5 and might be again in motion subsequent week at Texas A&M.
10. Michigan (12): The highest one-loss workforce within the nation one week in the past will not transfer an excessive amount of after a 27-24 win towards Minnesota. The Wolverines will not be the highest one-loss workforce within the nation anymore however should not see an excessive amount of adjustment within the reshuffling.
11. USC (13): The Trojans had been in bother early towards Wisconsin however confirmed great resilience in outscoring the Badgers 28-0 after halftime in a 17-point win.
12. LSU (14): No main adjustments for LSU after caring for enterprise towards South Alabama.
13. Ole Miss (6): When a workforce is undefeated, it will get judged by the way it seems to be within the wins. However as soon as voters have to begin stacking one-loss groups towards one another, they need to present a sure high quality of win to seize tiebreakers for high spots on the poll. Now at 4-1 after a house loss to Kentucky, the Rebels’ finest win is at Wake Forest, which misplaced at house to Louisiana on Saturday. There might be alternatives to climb again into the highest 10 and showcase a kind nearer to these early season blowout wins, however this isn’t a top-10 profile for the time being.
14. Notre Dame (16): The Combating Irish took benefit of early Louisville turnovers and rode their protection to one more house win towards an ACC opponent, holding off a late Cardinals cost in a 31-24 win.
15. Clemson (17): Cade Klubnik continues to shine towards each opponent because the season-opening loss to Georgia. This time it was 5 whole touchdowns (4 passing, one dashing) in a 40-14 win towards Stanford.
16. Iowa State (18): It took some time for the Cyclones to seek out the top zone towards Houston, however the protection by no means allowed the consequence to be unsure in what was finally a 20-0 win for Iowa State to enhance to 4-0.
17. Oklahoma (21): The Sooners’ first-ever SEC win got here in dramatic vogue, rallying late from a double-digit, fourth-quarter deficit to stun Auburn 27-21 in Jordan-Hare Stadium. It will not produce an enormous leap within the rankings, however the win might go a great distance in serving to Oklahoma’s season-long outlook after making a quarterback change this week.
18. Illinois (19): It is doable Illinois will get jumped by BYU given the Cougars are undefeated, however it’s laborious to penalize the Combating Illini an excessive amount of given their 4-1 begin and the way aggressive the workforce was in a tricky highway atmosphere at Penn State.
19. BYU (22): Kilani Sitake now has BYU at 5-0 for the third time in 5 seasons after a 34-28 highway win at Baylor to enhance to 2-0 in Large 12 play. The Cougars wanted a late defensive stand to carry on after almost blowing a 31-14 halftime lead, however an interception from security Crew Wakley with 59 seconds left sealed the victory.
20. Kansas State (23): A powerful bounce again for Kansas State after final week’s highway loss to BYU brings some optimism for the workforce shifting ahead. Quarterback Avery Johnson totaled 5 touchdowns (three passing, two dashing) within the 42-20 win towards Oklahoma State, which will get the Wildcats again on monitor and sends the Cowboys reeling within the rankings.
21. Utah (10): The Utes fell to Arizona late Saturday evening and are assured to take a tumble now sitting at 4-1. The continued absence of Cam Rising and unknown of his standing makes rating Utah not possible. For one half towards Baylor they seemed like among the finest groups within the nation however since have been restricted offensively. Some voters might drop Utah off the poll totally, however not sufficient to see a drop from top-10 all the way in which to unranked.
22. Texas A&M (24): It looks like each Texas A&M-Arkansas sport goes to deliver dramatics as of late, and Saturday’s 21-17 win for the Aggies was no totally different. The win does not do sufficient to result in an enormous leap, however it provides worth to a profile that was beforehand anchored solely by a win at Florida.
23. Boise State (25): The Broncos beat Washington State 45-24. The Cougars had been No. 26 final week and simply two factors shy of Boise State.
24. Indiana (NR): The Hoosiers are 5-0 for the primary time since 1967 and now have a pair of convention wins after pulling away late towards Maryland. There are tough video games deeper on the schedule, but when Indiana continues to function at its present stage, we may very well be a workforce that continues to rise within the rankings over the following couple of weeks.
25. UNLV (NR): After every week of storylines that prompt drama behind the scenes, the Rebels completely smashed Fresno State of their Mountain West opener. The 59-14 closing highlights a workforce that is simply superb after shifting Hajj-Malik Williams in as the brand new quarterback. After being one of many high groups simply outdoors the highest 25, the additional consideration ought to energy a stumble upon the rankings.
Projected to drop out: No. 15 Louisville, No. 20 Oklahoma State
