AP Top 25: LSU drops out of poll for first time since 2017

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 LSU 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, Auburn spent much of the ’11 season outside the Top 25, finishing 8-5 and unranked.

1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Georgia
4. Notre Dame
5. North Carolina
6. Ohio State
7. Oklahoma State
8. Cincinatti
9. Penn State
10. Florida
11. Texas A&M
12. Oregon
13. Miami (Fla.)
14. Auburn
15. Brigham Young
16. Wisconsin
17. Southern Methodist
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.