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Here are the 5 biggest winners and losers of college football this week
Here are the 5 biggest winners and losers of college football this week
Meredith Cash,Meredith CashOct 15, 2019, 23:02 IST
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
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Major wins for the then-No. 5 LSU Tigers, then-No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners, and then-No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions and a big loss for the previously undefeated and third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs shook up the top 10 of this week's college footballAP Top 25 Poll.
Twelve teams in the rankings remain undefeated on the season, including each of the top seven teams.
The SEC and Big Ten lead all conferences with six teams apiece in the top 25, while the Pac-12 boasts four ranked teams and the Big 12 has three ranked teams.
Here are the five biggest winners and losers for Week 8 of the college football season.
Though the Alabama Crimson Tide are sitting pretty atop the AP Top 25 Poll for the third consecutive week, the rest of the rankings saw some considerable shifts heading into Week 8.
Most notably, the then-No. 5 LSU Tigers, then-No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners, and then-No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions all secured big wins to move up in the poll. The Georgia Bulldogs, meanwhile, fell out of the top five after suffering a surprising upset at the hands of the unranked South Carolina Gamecocks.
Check out the five biggest winners and losers of college football this week:
▲ No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners — Up 1 spot in the AP Top 25 Poll
Heisman favorite Jalen Hurts put on a clinic against the then-No. 11 Texas Longhorns in one of the biggest rivalry games in all of college football. The Alabama quarterback-turned-Sooner recorded 235 passing yards, three touchdowns, and 131 rushing yards to secure Oklahoma's 34-27 victory and lift the Sooners into the top five of the AP Poll.
▲ No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions — Up 3 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
The Nittany Lions marched into the sea of black and yellow at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday and took down the then-No. 17 Iowa Hawkeyes on their home turf. The 17-12 victory was enough to catapult Penn State up three spots in the rankings to number seven.
▲ No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers — Up 2 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
The Badgers put the beat down on the lowly Michigan State Spartans, holding Mark Dantonio's downtrodden squad scoreless and to just 149 total yards. The Wisconsin offense also racked up 38 points — including 21 in the fourth quarter — in the lopsided affair, good enough to rise two spots in this week's AP Poll.
▲ No. 2 LSU Tigers — Up 3 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
The Tigers held off Dan Mullen's Florida squad in the only top-10 showdown in college football this week. Quarterback Joe Burrow erupted for 3 touchdowns and 293 yards on 21-for-24 passing to help lead then-No. 5 LSU to a 42-28 victory and the second spot in the AP Poll.
▶︎ No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide — Same spot in the AP Top 25 Poll
The Crimson Tide are sitting pretty atop the AP Poll for the third consecutive week. Stud quarterback Tua Tagovailoa led Alabama into College Station, Texas, to face their toughest test of the season to that point in the then-No. 24 Texas A&M Aggies. Four touchdowns and 293 passing yards were enough to secure the 47-28 victory and keep the Crimson Tide undefeated heading into Week 8.
▼ No. 9 Florida Gators — Dropped 2 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
Despite an impressive 310-yard, three-touchdown performance from quarterback Kyle Trask, the then-No. 7 Florida Gators couldn't overcome the strength of this season's LSU squad. The Gators' 28-42 loss — their first of the season — knocked the team down two spots to number nine in the rankings this week.
▼ No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs — Dropped 7 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
The unranked South Carolina Gamecocks never looked back after jumping out to a quick 7-3 lead over the then-No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs in the first quarter of their matchup on Saturday. The Bulldogs managed to tie the game with the clock winding down in regulation. However, a missed field goal gave South Carolina the major road upset and knocked Georgia back seven spots to number 10 in the AP Poll.
▼ No. 15 Texas Longhorns — Dropped 4 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
Though they kept it close throughout, the Texas Longhorns couldn't keep up with Jalen Hurts and the then-No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners in Saturday's Red River Rivalry game. As a result, Tom Herman's team dropped four places to number 15 in the rankings this week.
▼ No. 23 Iowa Hawkeyes — Dropped 6 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
Despite playing in front of a raucous home crowd, the then-No. 17 Iowa Hawkeyes couldn't pull off the upset over the Nittany Lions, who remain undefeated on the season. Iowa, however, picked up its second loss and fell out of the top 20 of the AP Poll.
▼ Texas A&M Aggies — Dropped out of the AP Top 25 Poll
The advantage of Kyle Field and College Station wasn't enough to keep the then-No. 24 Aggies in the game for very long against Tua Tagovailoa and the juggernaut that is the Crimson Tide offense. By the second half, Alabama had racked up a double-digit lead and ran away with it to the tune of a 47-28 final score. Texas A&M fell out of the AP Poll rankings and to an even 3-3 on the season.
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