Alabama holds steady in the AP Top 25 after a fourth quarter comeback against USF

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After the first shake-up of the college football season, the Southeastern Conference grabbed six of the top seven spots in the AP Top 25, a first in the 88-year history of the rankings. Georgia received 54 out of a possible 63 first-place votes to keep a firm hold on number 1. Number 2 Texas jumped a spot after dominating defending national champion Michigan on the road and received four first-place votes. number 3 Ohio State slipped a spot. Then came number 4 Alabama, number 5 Mississippi, number 6 Missouri and number 7 Tennessee from the SEC. Notre Dame tumbled to 18th after being upset by Northern Illinois.

With the SEC bigger (16 teams) — and seemingly better — than ever given the additions of Texas and Oklahoma — the circumstances were right for an early season takeover like never before.

Not only is six of the top seven teams from one conference a record for a poll, but never before had a single league held as many as five of the top seven places.

Those teams will start playing each other in the coming weeks so it is unlikely the SEC can keep this up, but it's a stark example of what's possible in the super conference era.

Especially after the first huge upset of the college football season. Notre Dame's 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois marked the first time a top-five team lost to an unranked team since the 2022 season, when Purdue knocked off then-number 2 Iowa on November 5, 2022.

The Huskies' victory, the first top-five win for a Mid-American Conference team in league history, landed Northern Illinois at number 25 in the rankings. NIU is ranked for the first time since 2013 and is the first team from non-Power Four conference to be ranked this season.

Rounding out the top 10 were number 8 Penn State and number 9 Oregon of the Big Ten and Number 10 Miami. The Ducks slip two spots after a wild, comeback victory against Boise State.

Poll points

Northern Illinois is one of four teams to move into the rankings this week for the first time this season, most notably Nebraska at Number 23.

The Cornhuskers are ranked for the first time since 2019 after easily handling Colorado at home. That was a brief stay. After starting that season ranked number 24, the Huskers lost in Week 2, fell out the rankings and have been gone ever since.

The last sustained season in the rankings for Nebraska was 2016, though even that season ended with the Huskers unranked. They have not finished a season ranked since 2012. That's what second-year coach Matt Rhule and freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola are aiming for.

Just a reminder: Nebraska still owns the record for the longest streak of poll appearances with 348 under coach Tom Osborne from 1981-2002. The second-best streak is Alabama's active 264 straight weeks ranked.

In and out

The turnover came from the bottom of the rankings, where Kansas, Iowa, Georgia Tech and North Carolina State all fell out after losses.

Number 21 Iowa State essentially switched places with its Cy-Hawk rivals by beating Iowa.

Last week, Georgia Tech made its first appearance in the AP Top 25 since 2015, snapping one of the longest active droughts among power conference teams. The Yellow Jackets lasted only a week after losing at Syracuse, but another Atlantic Coast Conference team snapped its own lengthy drought.

Number 24 Boston College is ranked for the first time since 2018.

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