National Rankings: LSU stays put, UL Lafayette drops in coaches poll

As is always seemingly the case, the SEC dominates the latest college football national rankings released Sunday.

Five SEC teams are in the Top 10, six are in the top 11 and seven are in the Coaches Top 25 overall. In the Associated Press poll, the league boasts six of the top 10.

Clemson received 44 of 48 first place coaches votes and accumulated 1,196 points to claim the top spot. Alabama is second with 1,196 points and the Crimson Tide receive one first place vote. Oklahoma and Georgia are tied for third with 1,019 points. The Sooners won their season opener easily last week over FCS Missouri State.

Other SEC teams ranked include Texas A&M at 11th in the coaches rankings and 10th in the AP. Tennessee is No. 21 in the coached polls but five spots up at No. 16 in the AP.

Defending national champion LSU is No. 5 in the coaches poll. The Tigers received a first place vote and 962 points.
Ed Orgeron’s team remained No. 6 in the AP, also garnering one first place vote.

The UL-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns dropped four spots to No. 25 after a 34-31 overtime win at Georgia State but held their No. 19 ranking in the AP.

The American Athletic Conference has Central Florida at No. 15 while Cincinnati is 16th and Memphis is No. 20.

LSU’s opening opponent this Saturday, Mississippi State, received seven points in the poll while Louisiana Tech got two points off of a thrilling 31-30 win over Southern Miss.

AP Top 25
Week 3 – Sept. 20, 2020

Rank, Team (Record), Points (First-Place Votes), Previous
1, Clemson (2-0), 1,523 (59), 1
2, Alabama (0-0), 1,458 (1), 2
3, Oklahoma (1-0), 1,368, 3
4, Georgia (0-0), 1,320, 4
5, Florida (0-0), 1,239, 5
6, LSU (0-0), 1,221 (1), 6
7, Notre Dame (2-0), 1,200, 7
8, Texas (1-0), 1,037, 9
8, Auburn (0-0), 1,037, 8
10, Texas A&M (0-0), 972, 10
11, North Carolina (1-0), 883, 12
12, Miami (FL) (2-0), 816, 17
13, UCF (1-0), 771, 14
14, Cincinnati (1-0), 720, 13
15, Oklahoma State (1-0), 693, 11
16, Tennessee (0-0), 529, 15
17, Memphis (1-0), 510, 16
18, Brigham Young (1-0), 405, 21
19, UL-Lafayette (2-0), 374, 19
20, Virginia Tech (0-0), 350, 20
21, Pittsburgh (2-0), 315, 25
22, Army (2-0), 296, 22
23, Kentucky (0-0), 230, 23
24, Louisville (1-1), 115, 18
25, Marshall (2-0), 108, NR

Others receiving votes:
Baylor 89, West Virginia 59, SMU 57, TCU 30, Virginia 30, Boston College 23, Arkansas State 20, Mississippi State 6, UAB 5, Texas Tech 5, Ole Miss 4, Appalachian State 3, UTSA 2, Troy 1, Coastal Carolina 1.

Amway Coaches Poll
Week 3 – Sept. 20, 2020

Rank, Team (First-Place Votes), Record, Points, Previous
1, Clemson (44), 2-0, 1196, 1
2, Alabama (1), 0-0, 1119, 2
t3, Oklahoma, 1-0, 1019, 3
t3, Georgia, 0-0, 1019, 4
5, LSU (1), 0-0, 962, 5
6, Florida, 0-0, 899, 6
7, Notre Dame, 2-0, 896, 7
8, Auburn, 0-0, 766, 9
9, Texas, 1-0, 764, 8
10, Ohio State (2), 0-0, 741, NR
11, Texas A&M, 0-0, 651, 10
12, North Carolina, 1-0, 563, 11
13, Penn State, 0-0, 536, NR
14, Miami, 2-0, 500, 18
15, Central Florida, 1-0, 497, 13
16, Cincinnati, 1-0, 416, 14
17, Wisconsin, 0-0, 411, NR
18, Oklahoma State, 1-0, 315, 12
19, Michigan, 0-0, 287, NR
20, Memphis, 1-0, 269, 15
21, Tennessee, 0-0, 266, 17
22, Minnesota, 0-0, 178, NR
23, Brigham Young, 1-0, 177, 22
24, Virginia Tech, 0-0, 167, 19
25, UL-Lafayette, 2-0, 158, 21

Dropped Out
No. 16 Louisville; No. 20 Kentucky; No. 23 Appalachian State; No. 24 Baylor; No. 25 Army.

Others Receiving Votes
Kentucky 146; Pittsburgh 140; Army 121; Baylor 57; Louisville 53; Southern Methodist 42; West Virginia 41; Marshall 40; Iowa 39; Texas Christian 26; Virginia 24; South Carolina 22; Boston College 20; Appalachian State 12; Mississippi 10; Mississippi State 7; Arkansas St. 6; NC State 5; Nebraska 4; Georgia Tech 4; Coastal Carolina 4; Air Force 3; Louisiana Tech 2.