How Top 25 should look: Georgia Tech worthy of ranking
SEC action was roaring, an ACC shake-up continues and the top teams in the Big Ten remained on cruise control on Saturday.
The top of the AP Top 25 poll doesn’t figure to change too much, but Clemson, South Carolina and Notre Dame could suffer precipitous drops or even be on the outside looking in after falling in upset losses.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart, whose team survived a trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, with a 44-41 overtime win over Tennessee, said fans in the SEC should get used to tightly contested games.
“I don’t know what is going in college football today, but this league is tough,” Smart said. “Every Saturday, games are going to be like that.
“I told our team, ‘I would not be shocked at all if it’s a four-quarter game and it comes down to one possession, which it did.”
Georgia Tech’s first win over Clemson since 2014 came down to the wire, too, and coach Brent Key reminded everyone it was no easy feat, as the Tigers took No. 3 LSU to the final seconds in an opening week game.
“That’s a dang good football team, I mean, Dabo (Swinney) has been there 17 years now, nine conference championships, two national championships,” said Key, who has a Football Bowl Subdivision-best 12th win as an underdog since 2022, per ESPN.
“It was not going to be an easy feat, they never are. They got really good players. … We got pretty good players too.”
The Yellow Jackets’ win should be enough to get them into the Top 25 for the first time in more than a year (Sept. 9, 2024).
Here’s a look at how the AP Top 25 poll should look:
1. Ohio State (3-0)
Defeated Ohio, 37-9
2. Penn State (3-0)
Defeated Villanova, 52-6
3. LSU (3-0)
Defeated Florida, 20-10
4. Oregon (3-0)
Won at Northwestern, 34-14
5. Miami (3-0)
Defeated South Florida, 49-12
6. Georgia (3-0)
Won at Tennessee, 44-41 (OT)
7. Illinois (3-0)
Defeated Western Michigan, 38-0
8. Florida State (2-0)
Did not play
9. Texas (2-1)
Defeated UTEP, 27-10
10. Oklahoma (3-0)
Defeated Temple, 42-3
11. Texas A&M (3-0)
Won at Notre Dame, 41-40
12. Ole Miss (3-0)
Defeated Arkansas, 41-35
13. Alabama (2-1)
Defeated Wisconsin, 38-14
14. Iowa State (4-0)
Won at Arkansas State, 24-16
15. Tennessee (2-1)
Lost to No. 6 Georgia, 44-41 (OT)
16. Utah (3-0)
Defeated Wyoming, 31-6
17. Texas Tech (3-0)
Defeated Oregon State, 45-14
18. Indiana (3-0)
Defeated Indiana State, 73-0
19. Michigan (2-1)
Defeated Central Michigan, 63-3
20. Auburn (3-0)
Defeated South Alabama, 31-15
21. Missouri (3-0)
Defeated Louisiana, 52-10
22. Georgia Tech (3-0)
Defeated No. 12 Clemson, 24-21
23. Southern Cal (3-0)
Won at Purdue, 33-17
24. Vanderbilt (3-0)
Won at South Carolina, 31-7
25. Notre Dame (0-2)
Lost to No. 16 Texas A&M, 41-40
Just missed:
BYU (2-0), Did not play
TCU (3-0), Defeated Abilene Christian, 42-21
Mississippi State (3-0), Defeated Alcorn State, 63-0
South Carolina (2-1), Lost to Vanderbilt, 31-7
Arizona State (2-1), Defeated Texas State, 34-15
Michigan State (3-0), Defeated Youngstown State, 41-24
Louisville (2-0), Defeated James Madison, 28-14
About the Author
Mike is in his eighth season covering SEC and Georgia athletics for AJC-DawgNation and has 30 years of collegiate sports multimedia experience, 25 of them in the SEC including beat writer stops at Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee and now Georgia. Mike was named the National FWAA Beat Writer of the Year in January, 2018.
