BYU, Utes climb in AP poll after winning weekend

UTAH’S RANKS: The BYU Cougars climbed one spot to rank 11 after beating TCU Saturday. The Utes climbed two spots to 13 after their victory over Baylor.

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Georgia moved up one spot to No. 4 in The Associated Press poll Sunday, Oklahoma returned to the top 10 and North Texas, ranked for the first time since 1959, is among three Group of Five teams in the Top 25.

Ohio State, Indiana and Texas A&M were the top three teams for the fifth straight week. Georgia earned its highest ranking since the first week of September and Mississippi was back in the top five after spending three weeks there at midseason.

Oregon and Texas Tech were tied for No. 6, and Oklahoma rose three spots to No. 8 following its win at Alabama. The Sooners were last in the top 10, at No. 6, the second week of October.

Notre Dame remained No. 9 after a 22-point win at Pittsburgh and Alabama dropped six spots to No. 10 after the Sooners ended its eight-game win streak.

Ohio State, which rolled past UCLA to improve to 10-0 for the fourth time in seven seasons, received 57 of 66 first-place votes. Indiana, which beat Wisconsin to go 11-0 for the first time, got eight first-place votes. Texas A&M, whose comeback from a 27-point deficit to beat South Carolina was its largest ever, got one first-place vote, three less than last week.

Georgia’s 35-10 win over Texas was its sixth straight and second over a top-10 opponent. Mississippi, which lost at Georgia a month ago, defeated Florida and is more than 100 points behind the Bulldogs at No. 5.

The Group of Five hadn’t had three teams in the Top 25 since four appeared in last season’s final poll.

The Sun Belt Conference’s James Madison blew out Appalachian State and moved up three spots to No. 21. North Texas is next at No. 22. The Mean Green of the American Conference clobbered UAB 53-24 on the road and have matched their best start in program history.

The last time UNT was 9-1 was in 1959, when the team then known as the Eagles was ranked two straight weeks in November, reaching No. 16. That team lost to New Mexico State in the Sun Bowl to finish 9-2. This year’s UNT team already is eligible for a second straight bowl game and is in the thick of the race for the Group of Five’s automatic CFP bid.

In and out

— No. 22 North Texas’ first appearance in the poll in 66 years ends the longest drought by a Bowl Subdivision team.

— No. 23 Missouri returned after a one-week absence following a win over Mississippi State in which Ahmad Hardy became the first player since 2022 to rush for 300 yards.

— No. 24 Tulane has won two straight since losing to UTSA and is ranked for the first time this season.

— No. 25 Houston, fifth among teams also receiving votes last week and idle, were ranked for one week in October.

Louisville (19), Cincinnati (22), Pittsburgh (23) and South Florida (25) dropped out.

Poll points

— Voters did what the CFP selection committee did last week, jumping Miami over Georgia Tech to make the Hurricanes the highest-ranked Atlantic Coast Conference team. Miami easily beat North Carolina State and moved up two spots to No. 14. Georgia Tech, which needed a field goal in the final seconds to edge one-win Boston College, slipped a spot to No. 15.

— No. 13 Utah has outscored three opponents by a combined 153-49 since losing at BYU and has its highest ranking of the season.

— No. 17 Texas took the biggest plunge, dropping seven spots.

Conference call

SEC (9): Nos. 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12, 17, 20, 23.

Big Ten (5): Nos. 1, 2, T-6, 16, 18.

Big 12 (4): Nos. T-6, 11, 13, 25.

ACC (3): Nos. 14, 15, 19.

American (2): Nos. 22, 24.

Sun Belt (1): No. 21.

Independent (1): No. 9.

Ranked vs. ranked

No. 16 Southern California (8-2, 6-1 Big Ten, No. 17 CFP) at No. 6 Oregon (9-1, 6-1, No. 8 CFP): Winner strengthens its position for a CFP at-large bid and keeps alive slim hopes of sneaking into the Big Ten championship game.

No. 23 Missouri (7-3, 3-3 SEC) at No. 8 Oklahoma (8-2, 4-2, No. 11 CFP): Sooners did wonders for their playoff resume by knocking off Alabama on the road and now go for a fifth win over a Top 25 opponent.