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AP top 25 football: Michigan State up to No. 5; Wake Forest in top 10 for first time

Michigan State players celebrate with the Paul Bunyan trophy after defeating Michigan.
Michigan State players celebrate with the Paul Bunyan trophy after defeating Michigan on Saturday in East Lansing, Mich. Michigan State won 37-33.
(Al Goldis / Associated Press)
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Michigan State moved up to No. 5 in the Associated Press college football poll and Wake Forest became a top-10 team on Sunday for the first time in school history.

Georgia is a unanimous No. 1 for the fourth straight week in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank. The rest of the top four was unchanged from last week, with Cincinnati at No. 2, Alabama at No. 3 and Oklahoma at No. 4.

Star running back Kenneth Walker and the Spartans jumped three spots by beating Michigan in the weekend’s biggest game. The last time Michigan State broke into the top five was 2015 when the Spartans made the College Football Playoff.

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The first CFP selection committee rankings of the season will be released Tuesday night.

In the AP poll, Ohio State slipped a spot to No. 6 despite holding off Penn State and Oregon was No. 7.

No. 8 Notre Dame, Michigan and Wake Forest rounded out the top 10.

Baylor coach Dave Aranda continued to raise his stock as a potential USC candidate with a win over Texas, while Luke Fickell remains a tough target.

Oct. 31, 2021

1. Georgia
2. Cincinnati
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma
5. Michigan State
6. Ohio State
7. Oregon
8. Notre Dame
9. Michigan
10. Wake Forest
11. Oklahoma State
12. Auburn
13. Texas A&M
14. Baylor
15. Mississippi
16. Texas, San Antonio
17. Brigham Young
18. Kentucky
19. Iowa
20. Houston
21. Coastal Carolina
22. Penn State
23. Southern Methodist
24. Louisiana-Lafayette
25. Fresno State

Others receiving votes:

Pittsburgh 117, North Carolina State 104, Wisconsin 91, Mississippi State 79, Arkansas 72, Minnesota 51, San Diego State 50, Appalachian State 23, Utah 11, Iowa State 9, Nevada 2.

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