Alabama Now Unanimous No. 1; Northwestern to 11


Alabama is now a unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll.

Alabama is now a unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll, and Northwestern moved up to No. 11 on Sunday for its best ranking in 24 years.

For the second straight week, the top eight teams in the poll held their spots. The Crimson Tide received all 62 first-place votes after beating Kentucky 63-3, making Alabama the first unanimous No. 1 this season and the first team to do it in the regular season since 2018.

Notre Dame was No. 2, followed by Ohio State, Clemson and Texas A&M. Florida was No. 6, and No. 7 Cincinnati and No. 8 BYU also held their spots.

The rest of the top 10 was No. 9 Miami and Oregon.

Northwestern moved up eight spots after beating Wisconsin 17-7 to improve to 5-0. The Badgers slipped eight spots to 18th.

The Wildcats were last ranked this highly in 1996. The year after their surprising run to the Rose Bowl, coach Gary Barnett’s team reached a high of No. 10.

No. 12 Indiana dropped three spots after putting a scare into Ohio State in the Big Ten’s other top-25 matchup Saturday. The Buckeyes beat the Hoosiers 42-35 after leading 35-7.

1. Alabama (62)
2. Notre Dame
3. Ohio State
4. Clemson
5. Texas A&M
6. Florida
7. Cincinnati
8. BYU
9. Oregon
10. Miami (FL)
11. Northwestern
12. Indiana
13. Georgia
14. Oklahoma
15. Iowa State
16. Coastal Carolina
17. Marshall
18. Wisconsin
19. USC
20. Texas
21. Oklahoma State
22. Auburn
23. Louisiana
24. Tulsa
25. North Carolina

Others receiving votes:

Washington 35, Liberty 31, Nevada 23, SMU 17, Iowa 15, Boise State 6, Florida Atlantic 5, Buffalo 3, San Jose State 3