It was clear there would be upheaval in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, but the stunner was that part of it occurred at the top.
LSU leapfrogged Alabama for the No. 1 spot in Sunday’s rankings, adding extra spice for the upcoming showdown between the teams on Nov. 9.
The Tigers (1,476) inched ahead of the Crimson Tide by two points despite receiving fewer first-place votes (17 to Alabama’s 21). No. 3 Ohio State (close behind at 1,468) received 17 first-place votes and No. 4 Clemson (1,406) received seven.
According to the AP, the two-point margin at the top of the poll is the closest since No. 1 Florida State was two ahead of No. 2 Auburn on Oct. 5, 2014.
LSU and Alabama both have byes this weekend prior to their crucial contest in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The game will be the first regular-season matchup between teams ranked 1 and 2 since top-ranked LSU beat Alabama 9-6 in overtime in 2011.
There shouldn’t be a shakeup next Sunday. Ohio State and No. 5 Penn State are also off, while Clemson is playing FCS program Wofford.
The expected turmoil involving programs such as Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Auburn and Wisconsin did occur after each team lost Saturday.
Oklahoma dropped from fifth to 10th after suffering a stunning loss to Kansas State, which moved into the poll at No. 23.
Auburn put up a fight before losing to LSU and dropped out of the Top 10 to No. 11.
Notre Dame plummeted eight spots to No. 16 after being whipped by Michigan, which soared five spots to No. 14.
Wisconsin fell five spots to No. 18 after being pounded by Ohio State.
Florida, which had a bye, moved up one spot to No. 6. Fast-rising Oregon is No. 7 after rallying to beat Washington State.
Georgia is No. 8 and Utah is No. 9.
Undefeated Baylor sits at No. 12, and unbeaten Minnesota moved up four spots to No. 13. SMU is No. 15.
Cincinnati is in the 17th spot. Iowa (No. 19) and Appalachian State round out the top 20.
Boise State is No. 21. Wake Forest is 23rd with Memphis (No. 24) and San Diego State (No. 25) breaking into the poll.
Kansas State and Memphis were both in the rankings earlier this season. This is San Diego State’s first ranking since 2017.
Dropping out were Texas (No. 15 last week), Iowa State (No. 23) and Arizona State (No. 24).
The Big Ten has six teams in the rankings and the SEC has five. The American Athletic Conference has three, while the Mountain West (two) has the same number of ranked teams as the ACC and Pac-12.
