My AP Top 25 rankings: K-State, Baylor, UNC climb as Syracuse, Cincinnati tumble
Next week’s game between Georgia and Tennessee will have special meaning in this space, as it will be a matchup of the top two teams in my college football rankings.
I have been voting Tennessee at No. 1 ever since the Volunteers beat Alabama and they have continued to play at an elite level ever since, including on Saturday when they made Kentucky look like a FCS team. Georgia has been holding steady at No. 2, and its opening victory over Oregon continues to look better and better.
Filling in the top spot on my ballot won’t be difficult next weekend. Whichever team wins at Sanford Stadium will be No. 1.
I didn’t make a ton of big changes in my top 25 this week. The top 10 stayed mostly the same, but I did bump TCU up to No. 6 and dropped Alabama to No. 7. My reasoning: The Horned Frogs have a better resume. This late in the season, any undefeated team from a major conference should be ranked ahead of a team with a loss.
Wake Forest and Oklahoma State dropped out of my top 10. They were replaced by USC and Utah.
Kansas State was my biggest climber this week. The Wildcats surged all the way up to No. 13 after they defeated Oklahoma State 48-0. It’s rare for any team to beat a top 10 opponent by nearly 50 points, and hold them scoreless in the process, so they deserved a big bump. Chris Klieman’s team controls its own destiny in the Big 12 and can secure a berth in the conference championship game with a strong finish to the regular season.
Three new top 25 teams
Say hello to Baylor, North Carolina and Oregon State.
All three of these teams were in my rankings earlier this season and dropped out after some ugly losses, but they return this week following some solid victories. I think the Bears might be the best team in the nation with three losses. The Tar Heels have put together a nice string of wins, and so have the Beavers. I was probably too slow to rank North Carolina and have them at No. 17 this week.
Saying goodbye
Three new teams means we had to bid farewell to three squads from last week’s rankings.
Cincinnati, South Carolina and Syracuse are the teams on the way out. I considered leaving the Bearcats and the Orange in my rankings, but neither of them have won enough impressive games to merit inclusion. I regret ever voting for South Carolina. The Gamecocks have looked bad in several games this season, including against Missouri on Saturday.
On deck
If I ranked 30 teams instead of 25 I would strongly consider the following teams: Cincinnati, East Carolina, Maryland, NC State, Syracuse and UCF.
They can each break into my rankings if they win their next game.
Kellis Robinett’s Top 25
1. Tennessee (1)
2. Georgia (2)
3. Ohio State (3)
4. Clemson (4)
5. Michigan (5)
6. TCU (7)
7. Alabama (6)
8. Oregon (8)
9. USC (11)
10. Utah (12)
11. UCLA (16)
12. Ole Miss (15)
13. Kansas State (23)
14. Illinois (13)
15. Penn State (14)
16. Tulane (20)
17. North Carolina (NR)
18. LSU (21)
19. Wake Forest (9)
20. Oklahoma State (10)
21. Baylor (NR)
22. Texas (24)
23. Kentucky (19)
24. Oregon State (NR)
25. UTSA (25)
Last week’s ranking in parentheses.
This story was originally published October 30, 2022 at 7:51 AM with the headline "My AP Top 25 rankings: K-State, Baylor, UNC climb as Syracuse, Cincinnati tumble."