By RALPH D. RUSSO, AP College Football Author
LSU re-entered The Associated Press College Football poll at No. 18 on Sunday and No. 25 South Carolina earned a rating for the primary time in 4 seasons.
The primary six teams within the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank held their spots after either winning and never playing this past weekend.
Georgia is No. 1 for the third straight week, with No. 2 Ohio State gaining ground after it blew out Iowa. The Bulldogs, who were idle, received 31 first-place votes and 1,530 points, and the Buckeyes got 18 first-place votes and 1,513 points.
No. 3 Tennessee received 13 first-place votes. No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Clemson and No. 6 Alabama also held their spots, with the Tigers receiving a first-place vote.
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No. 7 TCU moved up a spot after remaining unbeaten with a second-half comeback against Kansas State. Oregon jumped two spots to a season-high No. 8 after routing UCLA.
Oklahoma State is No. 9, followed by Southern California and Wake Forest in a tie at No. 10.
LSU, in its first season under coach Brian Kelly, handed Mississippi its first lack of the season in emphatic fashion and moved back into the rankings ahead of its game against Alabama on Nov. 5 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The Tigers were ranked for every week earlier this month before losing to Tennessee. They improved to 6-2 by outscoring Ole Miss 42-3 after falling behind by 14 in the primary half.
South Carolina, under second-year coach Shane Beamer, is ranked for the primary time since a one-week stint after the opening weekend of the 2018 season. The Gamecocks beat Texas A&M to enhance to 5-2. They’ve not been ranked this late in a season since 2013.
LSU moving into the rankings before its off week ensures that Tigers-Tide might be a matchup of ranked teams for the primary time for the reason that SEC West rivals played a 1 vs. 2 game in 2019.
Alabama is off next week, too.
The Tigers backslid after winning the national title in ’19 and were unranked after they played the Crimson Tide each of the last two seasons.
That snapped a string of 14 straight seasons during which LSU and Alabama were each ranked after they played.
—LSU and Tulane are each ranked for the primary time since 1998, though the Louisiana schools were heading in several directions after they overlapped that season.
For 2 weeks in the beginning of October the Tigers and Green Wave were within the Top 25, but LSU fell out the subsequent week and finished 4-7. The Green Wave went on to an unbeaten season and finished No. 7.
—Texas is unranked again after blowing a second-half lead at Oklahoma State. The Longhorns fell to 4-3.
—Mississippi State once more had the misfortune of catching Alabama immediately after a Tide loss and was knocked out of the rankings. The Bulldogs did rating a touchdown in Tuscaloosa for the primary time since 2014. It got here on the last play of the sport.
SEC — 7 (Nos. 1, 3, 6, 15, 17, 19, 25).
ACC — 5 (Nos. 5, 11, 16, 21, 24).
Big Ten — 4 (Nos. 2, 4, 13, 17)
Pac-12 — 4 (Nos. 8, 10, 12, 14).
Big 12 — 3 (Nos. 7, 9, 23).
American — 2 (Nos. 20, 22).
After having a complete of 11 games matching ranked teams the past two weeks, the subsequent slate just isn’t quite so juicy.
—No. 2 Ohio State at No. 13 Penn State. Sixth straight meeting with each ranked. The Buckeyes have won the previous five.
—No. 19 Kentucky at No. 3 Tennessee. Last time the Wildcats and Volunteers were each ranked after they played was 1951.
—No. 9 Oklahoma State at No. 22 Kansas State. The second meeting out of 65 matchups with each ranked. The primary was 2011, when the Cowboys won 52-45.
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