By: The Associated Press Posted:
College football has never experienced a Saturday like this.
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College football has never experienced a Saturday like this.
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College football has never experienced a Saturday like this.
Five of the top seven teams in the AP Top 25 — No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Texas — lost on the same day in the regular season for the first time in history.
That chaos is sure to shuffle the poll, starting at the top.
No. 3 Miami may have the clearest path to the top spot for the first time since 2002 after beating rival Florida State in a double-overtime thriller.
The biggest questions include how far Georgia, Notre Dame and Indiana might fall after close losses.
No. 1 Georgia lost 27-24 to Auburn and No. 2 Notre Dame lost 28-24 to BYU, marking the first time Nos. 1 and 2 lost on the same day in the regular season since 2012. And Indiana’s 22-game winning streak ended in gut-wrenching fashion against No. 4 Ohio State.
Here’s what to know:
Notre Dame-BYU could have unfolded differently
By MAURA CAREY
Notre Dame’s last chance to beat BYU fell incomplete in the end zone, but according to the Big 12, there was an officiating mistake and there was time for one last attempt in the 28-24 upset.
“Following the Big 12’s review of the final play of Saturday’s Notre Dame-BYU game, it was determined that time remained on the clock when the ball hit the ground and the play was incorrectly cleared by the replay officiating crew,” the Big 12 said in a statement. “The Conference will conduct a complete review of its end-of-game officiating process in advance of next week’s games.”
Who decides the rankings?
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AP Top 25 voters are writers and broadcasters who cover college football.
AP employees do not vote, but they do choose the voters, and they seek wide representation from all over the country. This season, there are 69 voters.
The focus begins with voter representation in states with a Bowl Subdivision school, and the total number of voters from each state increases with the number of FBS teams. There are also spots reserved for national voters.
The AP allows broad latitude for voters to determine their rankings. They are urged to base their votes on performance, not reputation or preseason speculation (except, of course, for the always provocative preseason poll); to avoid regional bias, for or against; to pay attention to head-to-head results; and to make significant changes if desired.
A historic week in the Top 25
By ERIC OLSON
After a weekend never before seen for teams in The Associated Press Top 25, a major shake-up is on tap.
Five of the top seven teams in the rankings — No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Texas — lost on the same day in the regular season for the first time in the history of the poll that began in 1936. It’s the first time Nos. 1 and 2 lost on the same day in the regular season since 2012 and eight Top 25 teams lost in all.
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