Notre Dame, Michigan Will Head into Saturday Showdown Atop Poll

Notre Dame and Michigan retained the top two spots in the Associated Press college football poll heading into Saturday’s showdown in Ann Arbor, Mich. Neither played last week.

The Fighting Irish received 37 first-place votes, 22 more than Michigan. Third-ranked Miami was No. 1 on five ballots, with the other three first-place votes from sportswriters and broadcasters going to No. 4 Nebraska.

Rounding out the top 10 are Auburn, Oklahoma, Clemson, Colorado, Arkansas and Illinois.

There were no changes in the top five, but Oklahoma moved up two spots after beating Baylor, 33-7, Clemson rose three places by downing Florida State, 34-23, and Colorado went from No. 9 to No. 8 after a 45-20 victory over Colorado State. Arkansas and Illinois did not play.

Syracuse, which beat Temple, 43-3, jumped three spots to No. 11. Next are West Virginia, USC, Pittsburgh, Washington, Alabama, Tennessee, Houston and North Carolina State.

UCLA dropped from No. 6 to No. 20 after its 24-6 loss to Tennessee, which had not been ranked.

Penn State, No. 12 last week, dropped out of the rankings after losing to Virginia, 14-6. Florida State, which dropped to 0-2 for the first time since 1976, is unranked for the first time in three years after being No. 16 last week.

In the United Press International poll, Notre Dame is No. 1, followed by Miami, Nebraska, Auburn, Michigan, Clemson, Colorado, Arkansas, West Virginia and Syracuse.