September 30, 2024

Re-Rank: Alabama takes top spot in NCAA 1-134 after toppling Georgia

Correction: A previous version of the chart had two teams in the wrong order.

Alabama takes over as the new No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports NCAA Re-Rank 1-134 after Saturday night’s memorable win against Georgia.

The Crimson Tide make a four-spot jump from last week while the Bulldogs drop four spots to No. 5. This pair sandwiches No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Tennessee.

Alabama leads the Longhorns by just a hair. Texas has a very good road win against Michigan and a second Power Four victory against Mississippi State in the program’s SEC debut. The Crimson Tide’s win on Saturday is the best by any team so far this season, however, and they also won at Wisconsin in non-conference play. In addition, Alabama’s win against Western Kentucky trumps the Longhorns’ Group of Five wins against Colorado State, Texas-San Antonio and Louisiana-Monroe.

The high-quality road loss locks in Georgia as the highest-ranked one-loss team and keeps the Bulldogs ahead of several unbeaten Power Four contenders in No. 6 Oregon, No. 7 Penn State, No. 8 Miami, No. 9 Iowa State and No. 10 Missouri.

MISERY INDEX: Mississippi’s playoff hopes fall flat after spending big

HIGHS AND LOWS: Alabama-Georgia classic leads Week 5 winners and losers

Another projected SEC contender suffered a steeper drop. After losing 20-17 to Kentucky, Mississippi falls from No. 6 to No. 15. Over in the Big 12, Utah is down seven spots to No. 16 after losing to Arizona.

There are two new faces making a move into the top 25. One is No. 24 Rutgers, which moved to 4-0 for the first time since 2012 after pulling out a narrow win against Washington. Next is No. 25 Indiana, which is 5-0 for the first time since 1967 after beating Maryland in its Big Ten opener.

All the players and the plays: Sign up for USA TODAY’s Sport’s newsletter.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY