AP Top 25: Kansas, K-State enter college football poll
Kansas players celebrate with fans after their upset win over Oklahoma.
Charlie Riedel/AP
Oklahoma dropped four spots to No. 10, the top five teams held their places and Kansas and Kansas State both entered The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday.
Georgia is No. 1 for the 20th straight week, receiving 48 of 63 first-place votes, distancing itself from No. 2 Michigan after the Bulldogs walloped Florida on Saturday.
This is the 50th consecutive week that either Georgia or Alabama has been No. 1.
The Wolverines, who were off Saturday after a week of being in the news for an NCAA sign-stealing investigation, received nine first-place votes. No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Florida State each received three first-place votes.
Washington remained at No. 5, one spot ahead of Pac-12 rival Oregon. The Ducks moved up two spots to No. 6 after a dominant win at Utah, which dropped five spots to No. 18.
Texas stayed put at No. 7 while Alabama moved up to No. 8 and Penn State to ninth.
The Sooners lost for the first time this season and to Kansas for the first time since 1997, then tumbled in the rankings behind Big 12 rival Texas, which Oklahoma beat in a thriller three weeks ago.
Kansas reentered the rankings at No. 22 after one of the biggest victories in program history and Kansas State moved back in at No. 25 ahead of a big matchup at Texas next Saturday.
Air Force moved up two spots to No. 17, the Falcons’ best ranking since finishing No. 13 in 1998.
POLL POINTS
The Sunflower State rivals have a long history of bad football.
Kansas State turned one of the most hapless programs in the country around in the 1990s under Hall of Fame coach Bill Snyder, and the Wildcats have stayed competitive to varying degrees ever since, winning three Big 12 titles — including last season.
Historically, Kansas has had a few more runs of success, though the Jayhawks’ last conference championship came in the Big Eight in 1968. From 2010-20, Kansas was the standard for Power Five ineptitude, winning a total of 21 games.
That’s turned around in three seasons under coach Lance Leipold, who has the Jayhawks bowl eligible in consecutive seasons for just the second time in program history.
“It’s probably time for me to start talking about how proud I am of how far this program’s come,” Leipold said after the Oklahoma game. “That has to do with the players.”
Kansas’ 5-0 start to last season put the Jayhawks and Wildcats in the AP Top 25 together for two weeks, the first time since 2007 that had happened.
Other than that, there were 17 AP polls between 1995 and ‘96 that featured both Kansas and Kansas State. And that’s it.
With both teams sitting at 6-2 heading into the final month of the season, the Jayhawks and Wildcats have a solid chance to finish the season ranked for just the second time in the 87-year history of the AP poll.
In 1995, Kansas State was No. 7 and Kansas was ninth in the final Top 25.
OUT
Atlantic Coast Conference rivals North Carolina and Duke both dropped out of the rankings.
The Tar Heels have dropped two straight after falling to Georgia Tech and are unranked for the first time this season.
Duke had been ranked since beating Clemson in Week 1, but the Blue Devils lost two straight to fall to 5-3 on the season. Duke was shut out by Louisville on Saturday.
CONFERENCE CALL
SEC — 6 (Nos. 1, 8, 11, 13, 14, 19).
Pac-12 — 6 (Nos. 5, 6, 16, 18, 20, 24).
Big 12 — 4 (Nos. 7, 10, 22, 25).
Big Ten — 3 (Nos. 2, 3, 9).
ACC — 2 (Nos. 4, 15).
Mountain West — 1 (No. 17).
American — 1 (No. 21).
Sun Belt — 1 (No. 23).
Independent — 1 (No. 12).
RANKED vs. RANKED
No. 14 Missouri at No. 1 Georgia. First meeting with both teams ranked since 2014.
No. 5 Washington at No. 24 Southern California. Second straight year the Huskies and Trojans meet ranked, which hadn’t happened since 1994-95.
No. 25 Kansas State at No. 7 Texas. First top-25 matchup since 2012, when the Wildcats were No. 7 and Longhorns were No. 23.
No. 13 LSU at No. 8 Alabama. The 31st ranked-vs.-ranked matchup in the series, and the 18th since 2002.
THE TOP 25
1. Georgia (48 first-place votes) 8-0
2. Michigan (9) 8-0
3. Ohio St. (3) 8-0
4. Florida St. (3) 8-0
5. Washington 8-0
6. Oregon 7-1
7. Texas 7-1
8. Alabama 7-1
9. Penn St. 7-1
10. Oklahoma 7-1
11. Mississippi 7-1
12. Notre Dame 7-2
13. LSU 6-2
14. Missouri 7-1
15. Louisville 7-1
16. Oregon St. 6-2
17. Air Force 8-0
18. Utah 6-2
19. Tennessee 6-2
20. UCLA 6-2
21. Tulane 7-1
22. Kansas 6-2
23. James Madison 8-0
24. Southern Cal 7-2
25. Kansas St. 6-2