AP Top 25: Washington enters top five, USC tumbles after Notre Dame loss

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Washington moved up to No. 5 on Sunday in The Associated Press college football poll, the Huskies’ best ranking in six years, after a thrilling victory against Oregon. Unbeaten Air Force was ranked for the first time since 2019.

The top four teams in the country were unchanged after No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Florida State all won Saturday in blowout fashion. The Bulldogs received 43 first-place votes, Michigan got 16, and Ohio State and Florida State each had one.

Washington received two first-place votes and jumped two spots past No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 7 Penn State, giving the Huskies their best ranking since reaching No. 5 on Oct. 8, 2017. The last time Washington was ranked this highly this late in the season was 2016, when the Huskies made the College Football Playoff.

That was the last time any Pac-12 team reached the four-team playoff.

Washington beat Oregon 36-33 when the Ducks missed a field goal on the game’s final play. Oregon dropped one spot to No. 9, flip-flopping with No. 8 Texas.

North Carolina moved up two spots to a season-high No. 10 after beating Miami 41-31.

Southern California dropped eight spots to No. 18 after suffering its first loss of the season at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish jumped six places to No. 15.

No. 22 Air Force vaulted into the rankings by beating rival Wyoming to stay undefeated.

Here are the full rankings: 

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Ohio State
4. Florida State
5. Washington
6. Oklahoma
7. Penn State
8. Texas
9. Oregon
10. North Carolina
11. Alabama
12. Oregon State
13. Ole Miss
14. Utah
15. Notre Dame
16. Duke
17. Tennessee
18. USC
19. LSU
20. Missouri
21. Louisville
22. Air Force
23. Tulane
24. Iowa
25. UCLA























Reporting by The Associated Press.