LSU Drops Out of AP Top 25 Poll for First Time Since 2017


LSU is out of the AP college football poll for the first time since 2017 and is the first defending national champion to drop from the rankings in nine years.

LSU is out of The Associated Press college football poll for the first time since 2017 and is the first defending national champion to drop from the rankings in nine years.

No. 1 Clemson, No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia held steady at the top of the rankings Sunday, setting up a top-three matchup Saturday when the Crimson Tide hosts the Bulldogs.

Clemson received 59 first-place votes. Alabama got two and Georgia one. Notre Dame moved up to No. 4 and North Carolina is No. 5.

LSU dropped out from No. 17 after falling to 1-2 with a 45-41 loss at previously winless Missouri. The Tigers had been ranked in 43 straight polls, dating to Nov. 5, 2017. That was the seventh-longest active streak in the nation.

The last defending national champion to be unranked was Auburn in 2011. Following Cam Newton’s departure, the Tigers spent much of the ’11 season outside the Top 25, finishing 8-5 and unranked.

Full AP Top 25:

  1. Clemson
  2. Alabama
  3. Georgia
  4. Notre Dame
  5. North Carolina
  6. Ohio State
  7. Oklahoma State
  8. Cincinnati
  9. Penn State
  10. Florida
  11. Texas A&M
  12. Oregon
  13. Miami (FL)
  14. Auburn
  15. Brigham Young
  16. Wisconsin
  17. SMU
  18. Tennessee
  19. Michigan
  20. Iowa State
  21. Louisiana-Lafayette
  22. Kansas State
  23. Virginia Tech
  24. Minnesota
  25. USC

Others receiving votes: Marshall 106, North Carolina State 87, Oklahoma 71, Tulsa 62, UCF 57, Boston College 43, Coastal Carolina 38, UAB 29, Utah 29, Iowa 28, West Virginia 25, Army 21, Memphis 12, Air Force 12, Ole Miss 6, Arizona State 6, Texas 5, Houston 5, LSU 5, Washington 4, Missouri 2, TCU 2, Virginia 2, Louisiana Tech 2, Indiana 1