Clemson adds first-place votes in AP top 25

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Sun Oct 01 14:06:27 GMT-04:00 2017

Clemson has made quite the case for the No. 1 spot, but they still have some work to do according to the college football pollsters.

The Tigers improved by way of nine more first-place votes in the Associated Press top 25 Sunday, to total 17, trailing Alabama's 44 votes. Oklahoma, which had a first-place votes in each of the last couple polls, did not receive one, and ranked third, ahead of Penn State and Georgia.

With the 31-17 win at No. 12 Virginia Tech Saturday night, Clemson became the first team to defeat three teams ranked in the AP top-15 by the end of September.

While Alabama's quality of wins haven't matched that, the Crimson Tide have opened SEC play by outscoring Ole Miss and Vanderbilt 125-3 combined. They beat a preseason top-5-ranked Florida State team in week one, which dropped out of the polls completely this week after struggling at Wake Forest (1-2).

Three of Clemson's wins are currently ranked in the top-25, starting with Auburn (12), then Virginia Tech (16) and Louisville (17).

Rounding out the ACC ranked teams, Miami moved up one spot to No. 13 and NC State cracked the top 25 at No. 24.

The first College Football Playoff committee rankings come out at the end of the month on Oct. 31.

Full Associated Press Top 25 – Oct. 1

Record Pts Prv

1. Alabama (44) 5-0 1506 1

2. Clemson (17) 5-0 1475 2

3. Oklahoma 4-0 1392 3

4. Penn St. 5-0 1325 4

5. Georgia 5-0 1237 7

6. Washington 5-0 1218 6

7. Michigan 4-0 1115 8

8. TCU 4-0 1079 9

9. Wisconsin 4-0 1028 10

10. Ohio St. 4-1 1016 11

11. Washington St. 5-0 980 16

12. Auburn 4-1 802 13

13. Miami 3-0 782 14

14. Southern Cal 4-1 713 5

15. Oklahoma St. 4-1 664 15

16. Virginia Tech 4-1 549 12

17. Louisville 4-1 507 17

18. South Florida 5-0 440 18

19. San Diego St. 5-0 373 19

20. Utah 4-0 358 20

21. Florida 3-1 349 21

21. Notre Dame 4-1 349 22

23. West Virginia 3-1 221 23

24. NC State 4-1 149 -

25. UCF 3-0 120 -

Others receiving votes: Oregon 19, Florida St. 15, Texas Tech 10, Georgia Tech 10, Stanford 8, Navy 7, Kansas St. 3, Texas A&M 2, Memphis 2, Troy 1, Maryland 1.