The Alabama Crimson Tide moved up to number three in the Associated Press Top 25 following Saturday’s defeat of Middle Tennessee. However, the big news could be Colorado and Duke which surged into the ranking following upset victories over TCU and Clemson. Duke is now number twenty-one and Colorado number twenty-two.
Number four ranked Florida State also climbed into the top-five with a resounding victory over LSU, which dropped from fifth to number fourteen. Georgia remained number one and Michigan held steady at number two. Ohio State dropped two places to round out the top five.
LSU dropped nine spots to number fifteen. Clemson, which was upset at Duke, fell 16 places to number twenty-five. TCU, which lost to Colorado, dropped all the way out of the rankings.
Colorado's victory as a three-touchdown underdog at TCU in coach Deion's Sanders debut was the story of the weekend, and now the Buffaloes are ranked for the first time since a brief stay in the 2020 season. The Buffs were also ranked for two weeks in 2018, but have only finished a season in the Top 25 once (2016) in the last 20 seasons.
"I don't care about no ranking," Sanders said. "I care about how we practice tomorrow. That's what I'm caring about right now. Ranking don't have a record, does it? Ranking don't have a record."
Sanders, the former NFL star and Florida State All-American, took over a team that went 1-11 last season and did an unprecedented roster makeover, with nearly 90 new players, 58 of them transfers. The new-look Buffs came away with a 45-42 victory on the road against the program that played in the national title game last season.
The rest of the top 10 was Southern California at No. 6, followed by Penn State, Washington, Tennessee and Notre Dame.
Duke capped the long Labor Day weekend of college football by knocking off Clemson 28-7 on Monday night in Durham, North Carolina. It was the Blue Devils' first victory against a team ranked in the top 10 since 1989 against a Clemson team ranked seventh.
In Year 2 under coach Mike Elko, perennial basketball powerhouse Duke is ranked for the first time in the AP college football poll since a one-week stint in 2018.
That season was also the last time Florida State made an appearance in the preseason Top 25. The Seminoles quickly faded that year, slipping into the worst stretch the program has had since the 1970s.
These Seminoles opened with their most impressive victory since coach Jimbo Fisher left for Texas A&M late in the 2017 season.
Coach Mike Norvell's team broke through last season, going 10-3 and finishing No. 11 in the country. The victory over LSU was the Seminoles' first against a team ranked in the top five since October 2014 at home against No. 5 Notre Dame.
