AP Top 25: Utah jumps to No. 4
Utah jumps up to No. 4 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, which also includes Stanford at No. 15, UCLA at No. 18 and Cal at No. 23. The four ranked teams are tied for third most of any conference with the Big 12 behind the SEC and Big Ten, both of which have five teams ranked.
Devontae Booker and the Utes’ defense stole the spotlight from Jared Goff and the Golden Bears Saturday night, as Booker gained 267 all-purpose yards and the defense forced six turnovers (including five Goff picks) to lead Utah to a 30-24 win over Cal. The win makes the Utes the last undefeated team in the Pac-12 and helped moved them up to No. 4 past Michigan State, which was again unimpressive in narrowly edging out a troubled Rutgers squad. Utah also received 16 first-place votes, the second-most of any team behind No. 1 Ohio State. Achieving its highest ranking since finishing the 2008 season No. 2 in the nation, Utah will put that newly-minted No. 4 on the line next weekend against an Arizona State squad that looks to have found its rhythm after upsetting UCLA and handling Colorado.
Thanks to Oklahoma’s loss to an inspired Texas team in the Red River Showdown, Stanford inched up one spot to 15th during its shortened bye week. This is the first time Stanford has been in the top 15 since being slotted 14th in the last weekend of September last season. The only undefeated team in conference play in the Pac-12 North, Stanford will try to defeat UCLA for an eighth straight time Thursday night on The Farm.
The Bruins also moved up during the bye week, slotting up two spots to No. 18 as a result of losses from teams above them. Jim Mora has never defeated Stanford during his time in Westwood as head coach but will need to do so in order to keep up with Utah in the Pac-12 South. UCLA has now been ranked in the top 20 in 14 consecutive polls.
There’s no shame in losing to the No. 4 team in the country on the road by six points, so the Golden Bears stay at No. 23. Despite turning the ball over six times, Cal still had a chance to win in the final minute, driving down to the Utah 21-yard line before being unable to convert on fourth down. Now the Golden Bears have a shortened bye week to get ready for UCLA on Thursday, Oct. 22 in Pasadena. It will be the second consecutive Thursday game for the Bruins.
The Trojans dropped out of the poll and received five voting points after the 17-12 loss to Washington at home Thursday night. Also, Arizona State earned 27 voting points for smashing Colorado 48-23 and improving to 4-2.
Here’s the AP top 25 in full (first-place votes):
- Ohio State (27)
- Baylor (13)
- TCU (3)
- Utah (16)
- Clemson (1)
- LSU
- Michigan State
- Florida
- Texas A&M (1)
- Alabama
- Florida State
- Michigan
- Ole Miss
- Notre Dame
- Stanford
- Oklahoma State
- Iowa
- UCLA
- Oklahoma
- Northwestern
- Boise State
- Toledo
- Cal
- Houston
- Duke