Tennessee and NC State end Top 10 droughts in AP college football poll

Tennessee and NC State broke into the top 10 of The Associated Press college football poll Sunday, and Florida State is back in the rankings for the first time in four years.

Georgia remained No. 1 and received 55 of 63 first-place votes in the Top 25, presented by Regions Bank. No. 2 Alabama (four first-place votes), No. 3 Ohio State (four first-place votes), No. 4 Michigan and No. 5 Clemson all held their places.

Oklahoma's upset loss to Kansas State created room for teams to move up, like USC to No. 6 and Kentucky to No. 7.

Tennessee moved up three spots to No. 8, its best ranking since 2006 and first top-10 appearance since a few weeks at ninth in the first half of 2016. That was the last time the Volunteers started 4-0. The Vols knocked Florida Gators out of the rankings by snapping a five-game losing streak in the rivalry.

Oklahoma State remained at nine and NC State jumped two spots to No. 10. The Wolfpack have their best ranking since they were 10th in 2002.

Texas and Miami both dropped out of the rankings after being beaten by unranked teams to fall to 2-2. The Longhorns blew a 14-point lead second-half lead and lost in overtime at Texas Tech. while Miami, which started the season at No. 16, was upended by four-touchdown underdog Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders.

While the Hurricanes and Gators slipping out, No. 23 Florida State (4-0) moved in. The Seminoles are off to their best start since 2015 and in the AP Top 25 for the first time since beginning the 2018 season No. 19, snapping a streak of 69 straight polls unranked.

POLL POINTS

Florida State's poll drought was remarkable considering how the Seminoles have been a Top 25 staple since the late 1970s.

Florida State's streak of 211 straight weeks ranked