Clemson climbs to No. 3 in latest AP Poll

CLEMSON, SC – OCTOBER 01: Jordan Leggett #16 of the Clemson Tigers reacts after his fourth quarter go-ahead touchdown against the Louisville Cardinals (Getty Images)

 

Clemson has positioned itself for another run in the College Football Playoff thanks to Saturday’s 42-36 win against Louisville. The Tigers supplanted the Cardinals as the No. 3 team in this week’s AP poll after holding down the No. 5 spot for the past couple weeks.

The Tigers still trail No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Ohio State, which both had easy wins in Week 5.

Despite the loss, Louisville didn’t fall far. The Cardinals, who climbed to No. 3 after beating Florida State two weeks ago, dropped to No. 7 this week. While winning the ACC becomes a little tougher with the loss, the Cardinals are still within striking distance of the College Football Playoff’s top four.

The ACC and SEC both have six teams ranked. This is the first time since 2006 the ACC has had six teams ranked.

Washington made the biggest jump of any team in the top 5 moving from No. 10 to No. 5 courtesy of the stunning 44-6 win against Stanford.

Michigan, which defeated Wisconsin 14-7, remained at No. 4 and Houston, which beat UConn, was No. 6.

The biggest surprise of the poll might be Colorado, which, after beating Oregon State this past weekend, appeared into the poll at No. 21. It’s the Buffs first national ranking since November 2005. However, after being ranked that year, they lost consecutive games to Iowa State, Nebraska and Texas and coach Gary Barnett was fired.

Overall, five teams — No. 17 North Carolina, No. 20 Oklahoma, Colorado, No. 22 West Virginia, No. 25 Virginia Tech — appeared in this week’s poll that weren’t in last week’s poll.

 

Here’s this week’s poll:

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Michigan
5. Washington
6. Houston
7. Louisville
8. Texas A&M
9. Tennessee
10. Miami
11. Wisconsin
12. Nebraska
13. Baylor
14. Ole Miss
15. Stanford
16. Arkansas
17. North Carolina
18. Florida
19. Boise State
20. Oklahoma
21. Colorado
22. West Virginia
23. Florida State
24. Utah
25. Virginia Tech