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Oregon ranked first for the first time since 2012; Vanderbilt enters the election, Michigan drops out

Posted on by L. Dreeye
Oregon ranked first for the first time since 2012; Vanderbilt enters the election, Michigan drops out

Eric Olson
| Associated Press

Oregon became the fourth team this season to finish No. 1 in the Associated Press college football rankings, rising to No. 1 Sunday for the first time in 12 years after Texas lost at home to Georgia.

Vanderbilt made its first appearance since the 2013 season as a No. 25 seed, and defending national champion Michigan was eliminated after its second straight loss, dropping to 4-3.

Undefeated Oregon followed its one-point home win over Ohio State with a 35-0 rout of Purdue for the first time in 32 years and received 59 of 61 first-place votes.

Georgia, which had won three straight games after losing to Alabama, moved up three points to second with a 30-15 win over former No. 1 Texas. The Bulldogs received two other first-place votes.

No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Penn State were idle Saturday and held their spots. Texas dropped to fifth after being held 28 points below its average by Georgia.

Miami won a wild game in Louisville to remain sixth, while Tennessee moved up four spots to seventh with a win over Alabama. LSU, Clemson and Iowa State round out the top 10.

No team has held first place for more than three weeks in a row this season. Georgia topped the preseason rankings, but a one-point win over unranked Kentucky in Week 3 knocked the Bulldogs out of contention. Texas took over for two weeks, then fell to Alabama following the Crimson Tide’s win over Georgia.

Alabama spent a week in first place, upset by Vanderbilt after beating Georgia. This allowed Texas to return to the top for two weeks.

Chip Kelly coached the only Oregon State team to reach first place. The 2012 Ducks, led by Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota, were in first place for one week in November 2012 after a 10-0 start with a losing record. Stanford. The 2010 team that lost to Auburn in the BCS title game spent six weeks in first place.

Voting points

For the first time since 2012, four teams will play in a first-place match in the same season. Oregon was among the four that year. The others were Southern California, Alabama and Notre Dame. Other seasons since 2000 that featured four or more No. 1 teams were 2007 (4), 2008 (6), and 2010 (4).

Tennessee’s 24-17 win over Alabama produced the biggest change in the poll. “Volunteers” jumped from 11th to 7th place. The Crimson Tide dropped eight spots to 15th, their lowest ranking since 2010.

Texas’ loss to Georgia was the first loss at home by a No. 1 team against a top-five opponent since Miami beat Florida State 17-16 in 1991.

Entry and exit

Vanderbilt’s previous ranking was 24th in the final poll for the 2013 season. The Commodores, who beat Ball State to improve to 5-2, are off to their best start since opening 5-0 in 2008. It was also the last time Vandy was ranked in the regular season.

Michigan, which scored its fewest points in a game since 2014 in a 21-7 loss to Illinois, has been ranked in 54 straight polls since 2021.