SEC occupies six of the top seven spots in the AP Top 25, while Notre Dame drops

After the first shakeup of the college football season, the Southeastern Conference secured six of the top seven spots in the AP Top 25 – a first in the rankings’ 88-year history – and Notre Dame plummeted to 18th place on Sunday after a surprise home loss.

Georgia received 54 of a possible 63 first-place finishes to retain its No. 1 spot. No. 2 Texas moved up one spot after dominating defending champion Michigan on the court, receiving four first-place finishes. The Longhorns have their best finish since they finished second in 2009.

The Wolverines had fallen to 17th place.

Ohio State (No. 3) of the Big Ten slipped one spot. Then four other SEC teams dropped. Alabama remained at No. 4 and Mississippi moved up one spot to No. 5.

Missouri moved up three spots to No. 6 and Tennessee made a big jump from No. 14 to No. 7 after beating North Carolina State in Charlotte.

With the SEC bigger (16 teams) – and seemingly better – than ever with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma, the circumstances for an early-season takeover have never been more favorable.

Not only is the number of top six teams in a conference a record for a poll, but no single league has ever held five of the top seven spots.

These teams will begin playing each other in the coming weeks, so it’s unlikely the SEC will be able to sustain this. Still, it’s a clear example of what’s possible in the era of superconferences.

Especially after the first big upset of the college football season. Notre Dame’s 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois was the first loss by a top-5 team to an unranked team since the 2022 season, when Purdue defeated then-No. 2 Iowa on Nov. 5, 2022.

The Huskies’ win, the first by a Mid-American Conference team in league history ranked in the top five, moved Northern Illinois up to No. 25 in the rankings. NIU is in the rankings for the first time since 2013 and is the first team from a non-Power Four conference to be ranked this season.

Rounding out the top 10 are No. 8 Penn State and No. 9 Oregon of the Big Ten, as well as No. 10 Miami. The Ducks slip two spots after a wild comeback win over Boise State.

Poll Points: Northern Illinois is one of four teams that rose in the rankings this week for the first time this season, led by Nebraska at No. 23.

The Cornhuskers are back in the rankings for the first time since 2019 after easily defeating Colorado at home. That was a short stay, however. After starting the season ranked 24th, the Huskers lost in Week 2, fell out of the rankings, and have disappeared ever since.

The last season Nebraska was consistently ranked was 2016, but even that season ended unranked for the Huskers. They haven’t finished a season ranked since 2012. That’s the goal of second-year coach Matt Rhule and rookie quarterback Dylan Raiola.

Just a reminder: Nebraska still holds the record for the longest streak of poll appearances with 348 under coach Tom Osborne from 1981 to 2002. The second-best streak is Alabama’s active 264 consecutive weeks in the rankings.

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

No. 21 Iowa State essentially switched places with its Cy Hawk rivals with the win over Iowa.

Last week, Georgia Tech appeared in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2015, ending one of the longest droughts among power conference teams. The Yellow Jackets lasted just a week after their loss at Syracuse, but another Atlantic Coast Conference team ended its own long drought.

Boston College ranks 24th for the first time since 2018.

Conference Call The only other time a conference included four of the top five teams was the SEC on Oct. 19, 2014, when Mississippi State was No. 1, Ole Miss was No. 3, Alabama was No. 4 and Auburn was No. 5.

SEC – 8 (Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 15, 16).

Big Ten – 6 (Nos. 3, 8, 9, 11, 17, 23).

Big 12 – 5 (Nos. 12, 13, 14, 20, 21).

ACC – 4 (Nos. 10, 19, 22, 24).

MAC – 1 (No. 25).

Independent – ​​1 (No. 18).

No. 20 Arizona vs. No. 14 Kansas State, Thursday. A Big 12 game that isn’t actually a Big 12 game. This is an out-of-conference game that was already set before the re-settlement.

No. 24 Boston College vs. No. 6 Missouri, Saturday. An unexpected ACC-SEC duel.