Illinois drops 7 spots to No. 21 in the AP poll after its 2nd loss, while Georgia is a nearly unanimous No. 1

Georgia tightened its hold on No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday, with TCU climbing to No. 4 and Alabama dropping to No. 10.

Illinois (7-2) fell seven spots to No. 21 after a 23-15 home loss to Michigan State that ended the Illini’s six-game winning streak. Notre Dame (6-3) reentered the rankings at No. 20 after upsetting Clemson 35-14.

The Bulldogs had their strongest support of the season after manhandling Tennessee in a 1-2 matchup Saturday. Georgia received 62 of 63 first-place votes from the AP Top 25 media panel.

No. 2 Ohio State got the other first-place vote. Michigan moved up a spot to No. 3 and TCU jumped three spots to its highest ranking since late in the 2017 season.

No. 5 Tennessee fell three spots after losing on the road to the defending national champion Bulldogs.

For the first time in the College Football Playoff era, Alabama and Clemson lost on the same day, and both tumbled in the rankings. The Crimson Tide (7-2) fell to LSU by a point in overtime and dropped to No. 10 — their worst ranking since 2015.

LSU jumped eight spots to No. 7, the Tigers’ best ranking since they started No. 6 in 2020. That was when they stumbled out of the gate a season after winning the national title.

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Oregon reached a season-high No. 6, and Pac-12 rivals USC (No. 8) and UCLA (No. 9) finished out the top 10.

Clemson fell seven spots to a season-low No. 12 after losing to Notre Dame. Last year the Tigers fell all the way out of the Top 25 for the first time since 2011.

Alabama held on to its streak of weeks ranked in the top 10, now up to 120 straight polls. That’s the second-longest streak in the history of the AP poll behind Miami (1985-93).

• No. 18 Texas yo-yoed back into the rankings this week and still has a chance to win the Big 12.
• No. 20 Notre Dame went from preseason No. 5 to unranked by Week 3. After taking a circuitous road, the Irish are back to being ranked.
• No. 24 Washington had a moment in September, then stumbled on the road. The Huskies are real tough at home, and that has been good enough.
• No. 25 Florida State was ranked for a week in October before a three-game losing streak. The Seminoles might stick around this time.

• ACC rivals Syracuse and Wake Forest departed the rankings after absorbing second straight losses. The Demon Deacons are unranked for the first time this season.
• Oklahoma State is also out of the Top 25 for the first time this season.
• Oregon State had a one-week stay after breaking a nine-season Top 25 drought.

• SEC — 5 (Nos. 1, 5, 7, 10, 11).
• Pac-12 — 5 (Nos. 6, 8, 9, 13, 24).
• ACC — 4 (Nos. 12, 15, 17, 25).
• Big Ten — 4 (Nos. 2, 3, 14, 21).
• Big 12 — 3 (Nos. 4, 18, 23).
• American — 2 (Nos. 16, 22).
• Independents — 2 (Nos. 19, 20).

• No. 10 Alabama at No. 11 Mississippi.
• No. 24 Washington at No. 6 Oregon.
• No. 4 TCU at No. 18 Texas.
• No. 22 UCF at No. 16 Tulane.