Vols tie Buckeyes at No. 2 in AP poll, face No. 1 Georgia next

Tennessee moved into a tie with Ohio State for No. 2 in the Associated Press college football poll Sunday to set up a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup with top-ranked Georgia next weekend.

Georgia-Tennessee will be the 25th regular-season game matching the top two teams in the AP poll and the third straight involving SEC teams. Neither the Bulldogs nor the Volunteers have ever played in a 1-2 game in the regular season.

Georgia remained No. 1 for the fourth straight week, receiving 30 first-place votes and 1,528 points.

The Volunteers moved up a spot, receiving 18 first-place votes and 1,500 points to match Ohio State. The Buckeyes received 15 first-place votes.

First-place votes in parentheses.

On Saturday, Tennessee routed Kentucky 44-6 and Ohio State won 44-31 at Penn State.

Tennessee has not been ranked this high since it was No. 2 in 2001, a season when the Vols finished fourth.

No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Clemson, No. 6 Alabama, No. 7 TCU and No. 8 Oregon held their spots in the rankings. USC moved up a spot to ninth and No. 10 UCLA gave the Pac-12 three teams in the top 10 for the first time since November 2016.

The first College Football Playoff rankings of the season will be released Tuesday night.

POLL POINTS

The last two 1-2 regular-season games both involved Alabama and LSU.

The Tigers were No. 1 in 2019 when they beat the second-ranked Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on the way to an SEC and national championship.

In 2011, the top-ranked Tigers won at No. 2 Alabama in overtime and the two SEC West rivals played again in the BCS national championship game. The Tide won the rematch and finished No. 1.

Including postseason games, this will be the 53rd game matching AP's No. 1 and No. 2 since the poll began in 1936.

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