Oklahoma's Rise in Latest AP Top 25 College Football Poll Spurs Debate: What's Next for the Sooners?

2023-10-08 21:41:42

By Matt Brown, Seth Emerson and Justin Williams

Oklahoma made a big move in the latest AP Top 25 college football poll, leaping seven spots to No. 5 following its win once morest Texas, which fell six spots to No. 9. Here’s what you need to know regarding the new rankings:

After a rare unranked finish in 2022, Oklahoma has surged back into familiar territory in the top five, a bar it cleared in 14 of the previous 16 seasons for at least a week.
No. 1 Georgia is back up to 50 first-place votes a week following falling to 35, strengthening its hold on the top spot following a blowout win once morest Kentucky, which fell four spots to No. 24. No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Florida State also received first-place votes.
Notre Dame plummeted 11 spots to No. 21 following losing to Louisville, which rose 11 spots to No. 14.
Miami hung onto the final spot in the Top 25 despite its last-minute meltdown once morest Georgia Tech.
UCLA (No. 18) and Kansas (No. 23) moved into the poll, while Missouri and Fresno State fell out.

Full AP Top 25 following Week 6

1. Georgia (50)
2.Michigan (11)
3. Ohio State (1)
4. Florida State (1)
5. Oklahoma (5)
6. Penn State
7. Washington
8. Oregon
9. Texas
10. USC
11. Alabama
12. North Carolina
13. Be Miss
14. Louisville
15. Oregon State
16. Utah
17. Duke
18. UCLA
19 (tie). Washington State
19 (tie). Tennessee
21. Notre Dame
22. LSU
23. Kansas
24. Kentucky
25. Miami

Others receiving votes: Missouri 69, Wyoming 42, Air Force 41, Wisconsin 41, Tulane 27, West Virginia 26, Clemson 17, Maryland 9, Iowa 7, James Madison 7, Texas A&M 5

How high can Oklahoma climb?

Do the Sooners deserve the top spot following Saturday’s dramatic 34-30 win over No. 3 Texas? The trendy take this time last week was to put Texas at No. 1, and not without merit. Then Dillon Gabriel and Co. went into the Cotton Bowl with major “Horns down” energy and quieted the Oklahoma doubters.

Still, No. 1 seems a tad hasty for Oklahoma. It clearly would have been for the Longhorns, and Georgia used Saturday’s game once morest a good, top-20 Kentucky team to remind everyone to chill out regarding dropping the Bulldogs in the rankings. But I’d make the case to put the Sooners at No. 2, replacing Texas in the top five and ahead of Michigan, Ohio State and Florida State. Michigan has bulldozed every team it has played but faces similar questions regarding quality of competition; the Buckeyes and Seminoles have both looked vulnerable at times, and their best wins are now once morest teams with two losses. Oklahoma, the clear class of an admittedly diminished Big 12, has the best quality win in the country.

The remaining slate is a double-edged sword for the Sooners. Texas was by far the biggest matchup on a schedule that features only one future opponent currently ranked in the Top 25, a road trip to Kansas. That gives them little opportunity for the type of statement wins the other top-10 programs have coming up, but it also means Oklahoma might skate by above the fray while the rest bloody each other’s noses. At least until a potential Red River rematch in the Big 12 championship. — Justin Williams, college football writer

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What Georgia did to justify staying No. 1

If anybody was wavering on keeping Georgia No. 1 on their ballot, they finally got a good reason to keep the Bulldogs there. Against a ranked Kentucky team, Carson Beck and company delivered a wire-to-wire beatdown, lending credence to the theory the Bulldogs were just sleepwalking and are capable of being as good as the last two years.

Even with the slow starts, Georgia is now one of only two teams ranked in the top 10 nationally in both offensive and defensive yards per play (Oregon is the other). Georgia is also No. 10 nationally in scoring offense and scoring defense. That’s the balance — or complementary football, as Kirby Smart calls it — that the 2021 and 2022 teams had.

It doesn’t mean Georgia is definitely on its way to a three-peat, and yes, the schedule for the first six games has to be considered. But the schedule doesn’t get that much harder in the next six games, and the way Georgia played on Saturday was a statement that it’s rounding into form. — Seth Emerson, Georgia writer

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How will Week 7 impact the rankings?

No. 10 USC at No. 21 Notre Dame may be in prime time, but following the Irish lost once more, it’s clear the 3:30 p.m. ET rivalry showdown between No. 7 Washington and No. 8 Oregon in Seattle is the biggest game of the week, a matchup of two of the nation’s best quarterbacks and most explosive offenses. It’s the ninth time the Huskies and Ducks will meet while both ranked in the AP poll (Oregon is 6-2 in such games, though Washington won last year) but actually the first time it’s a matchup of two top-10 teams. The winner can make a case for a spot in the top five.

There’s a strong undercard in the Pac-12 too with No. 18 UCLA visiting No. 15 Oregon State in a game that will give one of the two a second conference loss, severely hindering their conference title chances.

Elsewhere, a week before hosting Penn State, No. 3 Ohio State has to go to Purdue, which has a history of playing spoiler once morest the Buckeyes. Unranked Purdue teams have beaten top-10 Buckeyes teams four times, including in 2018 and 2009. — Matt Brown, college football deputy managing editor