Georgia Dominates AP Poll at No. 1 After Alabama Win
Bulldogs capture 66 first-place votes as Alabama slips to sixth ahead of rivalry slate
Georgia tightened its grip on college football’s top ranking after breaking a nearly two-decade drought in Tuscaloosa, securing 66 of 70 first-place votes in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.
The Bulldogs ended years of frustration at Bryant-Denny Stadium, earning their first road victory over the Crimson Tide since 2007. That same year marked Georgia’s last regular-season triumph against Alabama anywhere. The milestone win leaned heavily on backfield depth, as rotational running backs Dwight Philips Jr. and Bo Walker stepped up to combine for 189 rushing yards, while defensive lineman Joseph Jonah-Ajonye helped disrupt Alabama’s offense by forcing a pivotal first-half fumble.
Alabama fell to No. 6 following the defeat, setting up an immediate test of resilience with a road trip to Knoxville against No. 14 Tennessee on Saturday. Georgia heads back to Athens to host Auburn in the annual renewal of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.
Behind top-ranked Georgia, Notre Dame climbed to No. 2, followed by Miami at No. 3. The Big Ten features a top-five clash next weekend as fourth-ranked Ohio State travels to face No. 5 Indiana. BYU holds the No. 8 spot ahead of a home test against the second-ranked Fighting Irish, while Ole Miss sits at No. 9 and Texas Tech rounds out the top ten.
Several programs forced their way into the national rankings this week. Kentucky jumped directly to No. 15 under first-year head coach Will Stein, while Wake Forest entered at No. 21 and Northwestern claimed the final spot at No. 25. Those arrivals came at the expense of three established programs, as Oregon, Florida, and Pitt all tumbled out of the Top 25 after recent setbacks.
The upcoming schedule features six matchups between ranked opponents. Beyond the Ohio State-Indiana and Notre Dame-BYU showdowns, No. 9 Ole Miss hosts No. 13 Missouri, No. 16 Mississippi State visits No. 22 LSU in Baton Rouge, and No. 20 Houston hosts No. 18 Oklahoma State. Meanwhile, newly ranked Kentucky heads to Norman as a seven-point underdog against an unranked Oklahoma squad looking to build momentum.
