Who Are The Biggest Movers In The Latest College Football Rankings?
Week One of the college football season is complete. The weekend, which spanned multiple days due to the Labor Day Holiday, provided lots of exciting action. Several teams showed up in a huge way to move up the rankings, while a few others looked very disappointing. Let’s take a look at the teams that made the biggest jumps in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.
College Football Teams Trending Down
-16 Clemson
The Clemson Tigers (25) fell a whopping 16 spots after their 28-7 drubbing by Atlantic Coast Conference rival Duke on Monday night. In the game, Clemson moved the ball, but turned it over three times and missed two field goals. It was an extremely disappointing performance, especially for a program that is supposed to have an explosive offense this year. Head coach Dabo Swinney has not won a national championship there since 2018, so he will have his hands full trying to fix things.
-9 LSU
LSU (14) is another high-profile program that also struggled on national tv. Just a year after a missed extra point that would have sent the game to overtime against Florida State, the Tigers were blown out in the second half this year. After leading the game on Sunday night 14-7 in the second quarter, LSU was outscored 38-10 the rest of the game.
Teams Trending Up
+4 Florida State, North Carolina
As for teams that are trending in the right direction, both Florida State (4) and North Carolina (17) moved up four spots each. FSU dismantled LSU in the second half as quarterback Jordan Travis accounted for five touchdowns. The Seminoles finally made it back to the AP Top 25 ahead of Week One for the first time since 2018.
North Carolina earned a marquee victory over South Carolina in the Battle of the Carolinas. The Tar Heels were impressive on both sides of the ball. Quarterback Drake Maye threw for 269 yards, while the defense recorded nine sacks.
+3 Tennessee, Notre Dame
Both Tennessee (9) and Notre Dame (10) moved up three spots each as teams ahead of them fell. Tennessee opened their season with a dominant 49-13 win over Virginia. Notre Dame is now 2-0 after blowout wins over Navy and Tennessee State to start the 2023 season.
+2 Washington, Utah, Oregon, Oregon State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss
+1 Alabama, Kansas State
The Alabama Crimson Tide (3) moved up one spot as their three quarterbacks each contributed to their 56-7 season opening win over Middle Tennessee. The top two of Georgia and Michigan remains unchanged, while previously ranked third Ohio State, has slid down to fifth.
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