AP Top 25: Notre Dame & Clemson Plummet, Vanderbilt On the Rise? More ...Middle East

The AP Top 25 poll saw arguably its greatest shake-up yet after another wild weekend of college football action.

While Ohio State, Penn State, and LSU remained as the Top 3 squads, only two teams stayed in their previously held spots from there (Illinois at No. 9 & Tennessee at No. 15). The most glaring change in the Top 10 came in the No. 8 spot. Not only was Notre Dame replaced by a Texas team that has struggled to impress, but they stumbled all the way to No. 24.

The Irish are 0-2 on the season after entering the year in the Top 6. They first lost a tight contest to Miami on the road before returning to host Texas A&M in South Bend. Marcel Reed proceeded to drop 390 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Aggies, while running back Le’Veon Moss found the endzone three times. One of those five scores came with just 13 seconds left on the clock to secure the 41-40 win for Texas A&M.

To be sure, it’s always shocking to see a 0-2 squad anywhere in the Top 25, but Notre Dame is getting the benefit of the doubt with both Miami and Texas A&M ranked in the Top 10. Next week presents a prime bounce-back opportunity against the Purdue Boilermakers, but then they have to head to the SEC to face an Arkansas team that just made Ole Miss work. Could the Irish be on the outside looking in of the AP Top 25 sooner than later?

Notre Dame’s shortcomings opened the door for Florida State to maintain its impressive rise. Starting the year unranked, the Seminoles have now moved to No. 7 despite not suiting up this past weekend. Meanwhile, Oklahoma, Iowa State, Ole Miss, and Alabama also used some Week 3 wins to continue their climb up the ladder.

The Crimson Tide specifically impressed with their easy 31-17 victory over Wisconsin. Could this have helped create the momentum they need to re-establish themselves as a league elite? The next few weeks will present them with one of the toughest schedules in college football. First up is a meeting with Georgia before battling Vanderbilt, Missouri, and Tennessee – aka three AP Top 25 teams. Yikes!

Speaking of Vandy, the Commodores upset South Carolina on their home turf 31-7. They are now 3-0 to start the season with a point differential of +90! As for the Gamecocks, they could be in some real trouble. Star quarterback LaNorris Sellers was forced to leave the game with a concussion, and his status for this weekend’s pivotal game against Missouri is up in the air. If the Gamecocks want any chance of competing for the College Football Playoff, this might as well be a must-win.

Vanderbilt also represents one of three previously unranked teams to crack the AP Top 25! Georgia Tech made its way onto the list with a last-second, walk-off field goal against the Clemson Tigers. The loss for Clemson pushed them out of the poll entirely after entering the year as the No. 4-ranked team in the country. Quarterback Cade Klubnik was also long seen as a Heisman favorite.

USC also joined Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech after going unranked for the first few weeks. With that said, the Trojans are still looking for that marquee win, as their 3-0 start has come against Purdue, Georgia Southern, and Montana State. Their schedule will ramp up pretty significantly from here, with meetings against Michigan State, Illinois, and Michigan, respectively.

College Football AP Top 25 Poll: Week 3

To see the other teams that received votes, be sure to check out the entire AP Top 25 Poll.

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