College football’s rivalry week is officially underway as the Oregon Ducks moved to No. 5 in The Associated Press’ Top 25 rankings.
Ohio State, Indiana and Texas A&M remained the top three teams for a sixth straight week, and Georgia was No. 4 for the second week in a row.
Oregon jumped over idle Mississippi to No. 5, its highest ranking since it was No. 3 in the October 5 poll. The Ducks strengthened their College Football Playoff resume with a 15-point victory over then-No. 16 Southern California, extending their winning streak to five games.
Mississippi was followed by Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Alabama, the latter of whom is clinging to playoff hopes entering Saturday’s Iron Bowl against Auburn.
Another 9-2 team, Miami, hopes to keep its CFP hopes alive on Saturday against No. 24 Pittsburgh (8-3, 6-1).
Ohio State is No. 1 for a 13th straight week going into its game at No. 15 Michigan. The Buckeyes received 58 first-place votes and were 53 points ahead of Indiana, which was listed first on seven voters’ ballots. Texas A&M got the remaining first-place vote.
Head coach Sherrone Moore of the Michigan Wolverines leads his team off the field after warm-up before the game against the Maryland Terrapins. Michigan won to improve to 9-2
Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer watches as his Crimson Tide beats Eastern Illinois
Pittsburgh, which has three losses, was one spot behind the two-loss Yellow Jackets. No. 25 SMU re-entered the poll for the first time since September 2.
No. 20 James Madison of the Sun Belt Conference remained the highest-ranked Group of Five team in the AP poll. The Dukes, up one spot from a week ago, came from behind to beat Washington State 24-20.
Meanwhile, No. 21 North Texas of the American Conference was one spot ahead of Tulane. The Green Wave were the only Group of Five team in the CFP selection committee’s rankings last week, at No. 24.
The vastly more consequential College Football Playoff rankings are due out on Tuesday.
Other teams thought to be on the bubble are Vanderbilt, Utah and even Michigan if the 9-2 Wolverines can do the unthinkable and upset the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday in Ann Arbor.
Tulane earned the highest ranking of any non-power conference team in last week’s CFP rankings, coming in at No. 24 overall and No. 12 seed in the playoff bracket.
Tulane kept its playoff hopes alive this week with a 37-13 win against Temple. The Green Wave is in position to clinch a spot in the American Conference championship game with a win next week.
North Texas and Navy are still in the running, too. Previously ranked Memphis and South Florida are out of the picture, with three losses apiece.
Georgia Tech could´ve clinched its first ACC championship game appearance since 2014 with a win over Pitt on Saturday, but the Yellow Jackets´ home finale went sour.
Pitt got off to a hot start with a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter. Georgia Tech climbed back and cut the deficit to 35-28 in the fourth, but Pitt answered back with a late touchdown to solidify its 42-28 win.
The results benefit SMU and Virginia´s playoff chances. Either team could clinch a spot in the ACC championship game with a win next week.