No. 2 Ohio State and No. 5 Indiana held their spots in the AP Top 25 college football poll Sunday, setting up the third top-five matchup in the Big Ten this season for the Buckeyes.
Oregon remained No. 1 for a fifth consecutive week and is the unanimous choice for the third time. The Buckeyes are followed by No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Penn State and Indiana in an unchanged top five.
Tennessee’s loss to Georgia and BYU being upset by Kansas shook up the rest of the top 10. The Bulldogs jumped three spots to No. 8 after having their streak of 60 top-10 appearances in a row snapped last week. The Volunteers dropped four spots to No. 10 and the Cougars fell seven places to No. 14 after their unbeaten season was ended at home by the Jayhawks.
The rest of the top 10 includes No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 7 Alabama and No. 9 Ole Miss.
The Big Ten and SEC hold nine of the top 10 spots, with Notre Dame the only team from outside those conferences. Miami from the ACC at No. 11 is otherwise the highest ranked team from a conference other than the Big Ten and SEC, followed by No. 12 Boise State from the Mountain West. BYU is the top-ranked Big 12 team at No. 14.
|
Rank
|
Team
|
Record
|
Prev.
|
Matt’s vote
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 Oregon |
11-0
|
1
|
1
|
|
2
|
 Ohio State |
9-1
|
2
|
2
|
|
3
|
 Texas |
9-1
|
3
|
4
|
|
4
|
 Penn State |
9-1
|
4
|
5
|
|
5
|
 Indiana |
10-0
|
5
|
3
|
|
6
|
 Notre Dame |
9-1
|
8
|
10
|
|
7
|
 Alabama |
8-2
|
9
|
6
|
|
8
|
 Georgia |
8-2
|
11
|
8
|
|
9
|
 Ole Miss |
8-2
|
10
|
7
|
|
10
|
 Tennessee |
8-2
|
6
|
9
|
|
11
|
 Miami |
9-1
|
12
|
11
|
|
12
|
 Boise State |
9-1
|
13
|
14
|
|
13
|
 SMU |
9-1
|
14
|
13
|
|
14
|
 BYU |
9-1
|
7
|
12
|
|
15
|
 Texas A&M |
8-2
|
15
|
15
|
|
16
|
 Colorado |
8-2
|
18
|
18
|
|
17
|
 Clemson |
8-2
|
17
|
17
|
|
18
|
 Army |
9-0
|
16
|
16
|
|
19
|
 South Carolina |
7-3
|
23
|
19
|
|
20
|
 Tulane |
9-2
|
25
|
21
|
|
21
|
 Arizona State |
8-2
|
NR
|
20
|
|
22
|
 Iowa State |
8-2
|
NR
|
22
|
|
23
|
 UNLV |
8-2
|
NR
|
NR
|
|
24
|
 Illinois |
7-3
|
NR
|
25
|
|
25
|
 Washington State |
8-2
|
19
|
NR
|
|
NR
|
 Kansas State |
7-3
|
20
|
23
|
|
NR
|
 Missouri |
7-3
|
24
|
24
|
Others receiving votes: Missouri 56, Memphis 38, Kansas State 36, Syracuse 21, Louisville 15, Pittsburgh 6, LSU 6, Louisiana 5, Vanderbilt 4, Colorado State 2, Duke 2, James Madison 2, Georgia Tech 1
The Buckeyes cruised past Northwestern on Saturday and the Hoosiers were off, leading into Indiana’s biggest regular-season game ever. The only other top-five matchup in Indiana history was in the 1968 Rose Bowl, when the fourth-ranked Hoosiers lost to No. 1 USC.
Meanwhile, the Buckeyes will be playing their third top-five matchup this season after losing at Oregon and winning at Penn State on the road. This will be Ohio State’s 46th top-five matchup all-time — including bowls and conference title games — four fewer than Oklahoma for the most. Ohio State is 23-21-1 in such games.
The Buckeyes will also become the first team since LSU in 2011 to play three top-five matchups in a regular season. It will be the eighth time in AP poll history, dating to 1936, that a team has played in three top-five matchups in the regular season. The fifth AP top-five matchup of the regular season ties 1996 and 1943 for the most.
Indiana comes into the game 1-70 against AP top-five teams, beating only Purdue in 1967. Ohio State is 36-46-6.
Required reading
- Mandel’s Final Thoughts: Playoff bracket, bubble and Big 12 race have new main characters
- What we learned about the CFP in Week 12: Georgia’s still alive, an SEC-Big Ten debate looms
- College Football Playoff 2024 projections: Colorado favored to win Big 12, earn bye
(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
