Ohio State Retains No. 3 Spot Within AP Poll and Coaches Poll in Final Rankings of September

By George Eisner on September 25, 2022 at 2:15 pm
Ohio State Buckeyes Black Football Helmet from Sept. 24th vs. Wisconsin Badgers
Ohio State Buckeyes
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Now one-third of the way through the college football regular season, Ohio State continues to find itself still No. 3 overall in both the AP and USA TODAY Coaches Polls.

The final rankings for the month of September may come as a surprise to some Buckeye fans, given last night's 52-21 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers served as an arguably more impressive win than any on Alabama's resume so far. The Crimson Tide held steady at No. 2 in each poll after losing the top spot in the Coaches Poll last week, while Georgia conceded minimal ground at No. 1 overall despite a far-from-comfortable win over Kent State yesterday by a final score of 39-22.

Perhaps more surprisingly, Michigan remains ranked ahead of Clemson despite the latter's thrilling overtime victory on the road against a Wake Forest team that managed to stay in the Coaches Poll even after the loss. By contrast, the Wolverines played a back-and-forth game against Maryland at home yesterday in which Michigan missed covering the spread by double-digits after entering the afternoon with the worst strength-of-schedule rating at the FBS level.

Regarding other Big Ten teams, Penn State inched closer into the top 10 by moving up three spots in the AP and Coaches Polls, while Minnesota debuted in the rankings for the first time this season at No. 21 in the AP and No. 23 in the Coaches after nearly shutting out Michigan State on the road yesterday. Meanwhile in the SEC, the Tennessee Volunteers re-entered the top 10 of either poll for the first time since 2016 after defeating Florida at home.

The AP Poll's biggest movers included Texas A&M climbing back up six spots on the heels of back-to-back wins against top-25 opponents in Miami and Arkansas. The Razorbacks themselves fell 10 ranks following their loss to the Aggies, while Oklahoma fell 12 spots all the way out of the AP Top 10 down to No. 18 overall.

As for the Coaches Poll, the Golden Gophers gained the most ground by jumping up nine spots to No. 23, while Oklahoma's shortcoming against Kansas State saw the Sooners drop 10 ranks to No. 16 overall.

AP TOP 25 Poll
RANK TEAM RECORD PTS RESULT
1 GEORGIA 4–0 1,565 (55) vs Kent State W 39-22
2 ALABAMA 4–0 1,487 (4) vs Vanderbilt W 55-3
3 OHIO STATE 4–0 1,483 (4) vs Wisconsin W 52-21
4 MICHIGAN 4–0 1,354 vs Maryland W 34-27
5 CLEMSON 4–0 1,311 @ Wake Forest W 51-45
6 USC 4–0 1,236 @ Oregon State W 17-14
7 KENTUCKY 4–0 1,127 vs Northern Illinois W 31-23
8 TENNESSEE 4–0 1,119 vs Florida W 38-33
9 OKLAHOMA STATE 3–0 1,081 vs Arkansas-Pine Bluff W 63-7
10 NORTH CAROLINA STATE 4–0 920 vs UConn W 41-10
11 PENN STATE 4–0 876 vs Central Michigan W 33-14
12 UTAH 3–1 760 @ Arizona State W 34-13
13 OREGON 3–1 727 @ Washington State W 44-41
14 OLE MISS 4–0 691 vs Tulsa W 35-27
15 WASHINGTON 4–0 657 vs Stanford W 40-22
16 BAYLOR 3–1 550 @ Iowa State W 31-24
17 TEXAS A&M 3–1 543 vs Arkansas W 23-21
18 OKLAHOMA 3–1 529 vs Kansas State L 41-34
19 BYU 3–1 482 vs Wyoming W 38-24
20 ARKANSAS 3–1 457 @ Texas A&M L 23-21
21 MINNESOTA 4–0 288 @ Michigan State W 34-7
22 WAKE FOREST 3–1 265 vs Clemson L 51-45
23 FLORIDA STATE 4–0 244 vs Boston College W 44-14
24 PITTSBURGH 3–1 209 vs Rhode Island W 45-24
25 KANSAS STATE 3–1 166 @ Oklahoma W 41-34
USA Today Coaches Poll
RANK TEAM RECORD PTS 1st VOTES PREV CHANGE
1 GEORGIA 4–0 1563 34 1
2 ALABAMA 4–0 1558 26 2
3 OHIO STATE 4–0 1486 4 3
4 MICHIGAN 4–0 1379 4
5 CLEMSON 4–0 1339 5
6 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 4–0 1226 7 +1
7 OKLAHOMA STATE 3–0 1176 8 +1
8 KENTUCKY 4–0 1136 9 +1
9 TENNESSEE 4–0 1077 12 +3
10 NC STATE 4–0 1015 11 +1
11 MISSISSIPPI 4–0 864 13 +2
12 PENN STATE 4–0 824 15 +3
13 UTAH 3–1 822 14 +1
14 BAYLOR 3–1 638 17 +3
15 OREGON 3–1 622 18 +3
16 OKLAHOMA 3–1 601 6 -10
17 TEXAS A&M 3–1 574 20 +3
18 WASHINGTON 4–0 539 24 +6
19 ARKANSAS 3–1 509 10 -9
20 BRIGHAM YOUNG 3–1 359 23 +3
21 WAKE FOREST 3–1 352 16 -5
22 FLORIDA STATE 4–0 252 NR +5
23 MINNESOTA 4–0 238 NR +9
24 PITTSBURGH 3–1 223 NR +2
25 SYRACUSE 4–0 74 NR +7
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