For the first time in 12 years, Oregon has moved up to the No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press top 25 poll. This came off of the teams 35-0 road win over Purdue.
The last time the Ducks had the top ranking was during the 2012 season when Chip Kelly was the head coach and Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota was under center. The team started 10-0 and had the number one ranking for a single week in November before losing to Stanford the following week.
However, there were other changes in the poll that could change the landscape of college football. The biggest one was the Tennessee Volunteers, who moved up four places to No. 7 after a 27-14 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide. In contrast, the Crimson Tide have dropped to No. 15 in the polls after losing their second straight game. This is the lowest they have ranked since 2010.
The other notable change is the Texas Longhorns, who dropped from No. 1 to No. 5 after a 30-15 loss to Georgia. The loss was an ugly one for the Longhorns as they benched junior quarterback Quinn Ewers for freshman quarterback Arch Manning during the game. The Longhorns had been tipped by many to stay at the top after their 34-3 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners. However, their defeat means that this season will be the first since 2012 that four teams will play a regular season game as the top team.
While the AP polls do change every week, there has never been consistent movement at the top. With conference realignment coming into effect this season, good programs play each other more often which can lead to chaos. This will only become more of a factor as the season progresses, with arguments centering around who deserves to make the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff becoming more prominent in the coming weeks.
https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
