After a season-high seven ranked teams lost, including previously undefeated Boston College, the back half of the AP college football poll got a makeover Sunday. Five teams entered the Top 25, including No. 17 Kentucky for the first time since 2007 and No. 22 Duke.
At the top it was mostly status quo, with Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, and Ohio State staying Nos. 1-4. LSU moved up to No. 5, swapping places with Oklahoma after the Sooners needed overtime to get by Army. Alabama received a season-high 60 first-place votes, while Clemson had one.
Kentucky (4-0) is unbeaten and 2-0 in the Southeastern Conference for the first time since 1977. The last time the Wildcats were ranked was Nov. 11, 2007. Kentucky reached No. 8 under coach Rich Brooks that season and upset No. 1 and eventual national champion LSU, but finished unranked.
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Duke is ranked for the first time since October 2015, giving the football poll a basketball feel. The Wildcats and Blue Devils were last ranked at the same in September 1957.
The Atlantic Coast Conference has three ranked teams in the Top 25 for the third time in four regular-season polls. No. 3 Clemson has played mostly as advertised and No. 16 Miami is slowly creeping back up the rankings after a lopsided opening loss to LSU sent the Hurricanes tumbling out of the top 10.
Florida State lasted one week in the rankings and now Virginia Tech is out after maybe the most stunning result of the season so far. The Hokies lost, 49-35, at previously winless Old Dominion. Boston College seemed to be emerging as a possible dark horse, but the Eagles also lasted only week.
BC lost, 30-13, at Purdue on Saturday after being No. 23 last week. Quarterback Anthony Brown was 13 for 27 for 96 yards and four interceptions, and running back AJ Dillon was held to 59 yards on 19 carries.
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No. 14 Michigan is back where it started the season, moving up five spots this week. Miami also jumped five places, but that movement had as much to do with the teams around the Wolverines and Hurricanes losing. The seven ranked teams that lost Saturday were positioned between No. 13 and No. 23 in the rankings.
Among the losers, No. 23 Mississippi State, pounded by Kentucky, and No. 19 Oregon, which let a victory slip away against No. 7 Stanford, managed to remain ranked. The Bulldogs dropped nine spots. The Ducks moved up one.
No. 24 California slipped into the rankings for the first time since October 2015 during an off week. The Bears have wins against BYU and North Carolina.