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Three teams are making their season debuts in the Top 25 this week.
– No. 23 Liberty is ranked for the first time since 2020, when the Flames were ranked for eight weeks and peaked at No. 17 in the final poll of the season.
– No. 24 Oregon State becomes the latest Power 5 school to snap a long absence from the rankings. The Beavers had not been ranked since they were No. 25 in the 2013 preseason poll. They had not been ranked in the regular season since 2012, when they finished 20th.
Earlier this year Kansas broke a 13-year rankings drought, which had been the longest in Power 5. Then Illinois broke the next-longest dry spell, moving into the rankings for the first time since 2011.
Rutgers currently holds the longest AP Top 25 drought among Power 5 teams, dating back to 2012. Vanderbilt is next. The Commodores have not been ranked since the 2013 season.
– No. 25 UCF is ranked for the first time since Sept. 27, 2020.
OUT
SEC East rivals Kentucky and South Carolina both dropped out of the poll after absorbing their third losses of the season. The Gamecocks are out after just one week ranked. The Wildcats are unranked for the first time this season.
Cincinnati also dropped out of the rankings after losing to UCF.
CONFERENCE CALL
SEC – 5 (Nos. 1, 2, 6, 11, 15).
ACC – 5 (Nos. 5, 17, 20, 21, 22).
Pac-12 – 5 (Nos. 8, 9, 10, 12, 24).
Big Ten – 4 (Nos. 2, 4, 14, 16).
Big 12 – 3 (Nos. 7, 13, 18).
American – 2 (Nos. 19, 25).
Independent – 1 (No. 23).
RANKED vs. RANKED
Big weekend in the SEC as both division leads will be up for grabs.
No. 6 Alabama at No. 15 LSU. First ranked matchup for the Crimson Tide and Tigers since that 2019 1 vs. 2 game.
No. 20 Wake Forest at No. 21 NC State. For the second straight year, the Demon Deacons and Wolfpack will meet as ranked opponents.
