Top 7 teams hold steady in AP Top 25 college football poll; Washington Huskies debut at No. 18

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Sunday, September 18, 2022

Washingtonmade its season debut in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday at No. 18, and Penn Stateand Oregonmoved into the top 15 after all three had decisive nonconference victories.

A weekend filled with blowouts by highly ranked teams kept the top 10 almost unchanged.

No. 1 Georgiapicked up six more first-place votes in the AP Top 25. The Bulldogs are up to 59 first-place votes and 1,569 points.

No. 2 Alabamareceived three first-place votes, and No. 3Ohio Stategot one.

No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Clemson, No. 6 Oklahomaand No. 7 USCall held their spots. The only change in the top 10 was No. 8 Kentuckyflip-flopping with No. 9 Oklahoma. Arkansasstayed at No. 10.

The top 10 teams, most playing overmatched nonconference opponents, won their games Saturday by a combined 521-120.

The shuffling came in the next 10.

No. 11 Tennesseemoved up four spots. Penn State jumped eight to No. 14 after routing Auburn on the road. No. 15 Oregon moved up 10 spots after handily defeating BYU, which slipped seven places to No. 19.

Washington beat previously ranked Michigan State 39-28 to earn a ranking for the first time since the 2021 preseason poll. Washington has had two brief stays in the AP Top 25 the past two seasons but has been mostly unranked since the early part of the 2019 season.

"To get this win now is just going to continue to put this belief in our guys," first-year Washington coach Kalen DeBoer told reporters after the game. "It's only going to get better for us as we go to work in practice."

Michigan State dropped all the way out after being No. 11.

Ole Miss moved up four spots to No. 16, and No. 20 Florida slipped a couple of spots after barely getting past South Florida at home.

At the bottom of the rankings, Miami dropped 12 spots and landed at No. 25 after losing at Texas A&M. The Aggies rose one spot to No. 23.

POLL POINTS

The 10-0 weekend from the top 10 was the first instance in which they all played and won since Week 2 of the 2019 season. Overall, the AP Top 25 teams won 22 games, the most since 24 teams won in Week 1 of 2019.

Washington's leap into the poll from unranked to No. 18 was the best for the program since September 1989, when the Huskies beat Texas A&M and went from outside the rankings to No. 15.

CONFERENCE CALL

The Pac-12 has its most ranked teams since the first regular-season poll of 2021, when it had five.

SEC -- 8 (Nos. 1, 2, 8, 10, 11, 16, 20, 23)

ACC -- 5 (Nos. 5, 12, 21, 24, 25)

Big 12 -- 4 (Nos. 6, 9, 17, 22)

Pac-12 -- 4 (Nos. 7, 13, 15, 18)

Big Ten -- 3 (Nos. 3, 4, 14)

Independents -- 1 (No. 19).

RANKED vs. RANKED

No. 5 Clemson at No. 21 Wake Forest. For the first time since 1950, the Tigers and Demon Deacons will meet as ranked teams.

No. 20 Florida at No. 11 Tennessee. For the first time since 2017, the teams that used to own the SEC East are both ranked when they play.

No. 10 Arkansas vs. No. 23 Texas A&M at Arlington, Texas. It's not getting any easier for the Aggies.

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