AP Top 25: LSU at No. 18; USC No. 10; UCLA slips to No. 12

By Ralph D. Russo

Associated Press

Oct. 23, 2022 11:17 AM PT

LSU re-entered the Associated Press College Football poll at No. 18 on Sunday, and No. 25 South Carolina earned a ranking for the first time in four seasons.

The first six teams in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank held their spots after either winning or not playing this past weekend.

Georgia is No. 1 for the third straight week, with No. 2 Ohio State gaining ground after it blew out Iowa. The Bulldogs, who were idle, received 31 first-place votes and 1,530 points, and the Buckeyes got 18 first-place votes and 1,513 points.

No. 3 Tennessee received 13 first-place votes. No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Clemson and No. 6 Alabama also held their spots, with the Tigers receiving a first-place vote.

No. 7 TCU moved up a spot after remaining unbeaten with a second-half comeback against Kansas State. Oregon jumped two spots to a season-high No. 8 after routing UCLA.

No. 9 Oklahoma State and USC round out the top 10.

LSU, in its first season under coach Brian Kelly, handed Mississippi its first loss of the season in emphatic fashion and moved back into the rankings ahead of its game against Alabama on Nov. 5 in Baton Rouge, La.

The Tigers were ranked for a week earlier this month before losing to Tennessee. They improved to 6-2 by outscoring Ole Miss 42-3 after falling behind by 14 in the first half.

South Carolina, under second-year coach Shane Beamer, is ranked for the first time since a one-week stint after the opening weekend of the 2018 season. The Gamecocks beat Texas A&M to improve to 5-2. They have not been ranked this late in a season since 2013.

Poll points

LSU moving into the rankings before its off week ensures that Tigers-Tide will be a matchup of ranked teams for the first time since the SEC West rivals played a 1 vs. 2 game in 2019.

Alabama is off next week, too.

The Tigers backslid after winning the national title in ‘19 and were unranked when they played the Crimson Tide each of the last two seasons.

That snapped a string of 14 straight seasons in which LSU and Alabama were both ranked when they played.

LSU and Tulane are both ranked for the first time since 1998, though the Louisiana schools were heading in different directions when they overlapped that season.

For two weeks at the beginning of October the Tigers and Green Wave were in the Top 25, but LSU fell out the next week and finished 4-7. The Green Wave went on to an unbeaten season and finished No. 7.

Out

Texas is unranked again after blowing a second-half lead at Oklahoma State. The Longhorns fell to 4-3.
Mississippi State once again had the misfortune of catching Alabama immediately after a Tide loss and was knocked out of the rankings. The Bulldogs did score a touchdown in Tuscaloosa for the first time since 2014. It came on the last play of the game.

Conference call

SEC — 7 (Nos. 1, 3, 6, 15, 17, 19, 25).

ACC — 5 (Nos. 5, 11, 16, 21, 24).

Big Ten — 4 (Nos. 2, 4, 13, 17)

Pac-12 — 4 (Nos. 8, 10, 12, 14).

Big 12 — 3 (Nos. 7, 9, 23).

American — 2 (Nos. 20, 22).

Ranked vs. ranked

After having a total of 11 games matching ranked teams the past two weeks, the next slate is not quite so juicy.

No. 2 Ohio State at No. 13 Penn State. Sixth straight meeting with both ranked. The Buckeyes have won the previous five.
No. 19 Kentucky at No. 3 Tennessee. Last time the Wildcats and Volunteers were both ranked when they played was 1951.
No. 9 Oklahoma State at No. 22 Kansas State. The second meeting out of 65 matchups with both ranked. The first was 2011, when the Cowboys won 52-45.

The top 25

1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
3. Tennessee
4. Michigan
5. Clemson
6. Alabama
7. TCU
8. Oregon
9. Oklahoma State
10. USC
10. Wake Forest
12. UCLA
13. Penn State
14. Utah
15. Mississippi
16. Syracuse
17. Illinois
18. LSU
19. Kentucky
20. Cincinnati
21. North Carolina
22. Kansas State
23. Tulane
24. North Carolina State
25. South Carolina