AP Top 25 Reality Check: No. 1 rarely slips after winning the rankings | College soccer
Alabama quarterback Bryce Young looks for a receiver during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Florida on Saturday September 18, 2021 in Gainesville, Fla. (AP Photo / John Raoux)
Georgia quarterback JT Daniels (18) throws a pass against South Carolina in the first half of an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021 in Athens, Georgia (AP Photo / Butch Dill)
RALPH D. RUSSO AP college football writer
The teams that started the season were all in the top four on Saturday, none of them in a particularly impressive way.
The result on Sunday was that Oklahoma, Clemson and Ohio State were lost for the second time this season in the Associated Press college football poll. The fourth-placed Sooners slipped one place. The ninth-placed Tigers fell three. The No. 10 Buckeyes dropped one.
The exception among the powerhouses was No. 1 Alabama. Not particularly surprising. Alabama was tested for the first time this season but still beat Florida No. 11 on the road.
Beating a ranked team rarely costs # 1 first place. The top-ranked team in the AP poll, which dates back to 1936, was dropped after winning 76 times. Only eight of them were No. 1 against a ranked team, and the last time was 38 years ago.
Penn State fans will likely remember when the top-ranked Nittany Lions beat No. 21 Ohio State 63-14 on October 29, 1994, dropping back to No. 2 in the poll, behind Nebraska, which was then No. 3. No. 2 Colorado 24-7.
Georgia is currently number 2 behind the Crimson Tide and hasn’t made up any ground this week.
Is there a reason for the Bulldogs to be # 1? Secure.
Both Alabama and Georgia have a narrow win against a ranked opponent (Clemson for Georgia and Florida for Alabama) and an easy win against another Power Five team (South Carolina for Georgia and Miami for Alabama).
