Football
Ole Miss back in AP Top 10, close in coaches’ poll for stretch run
Goals for Rebels still available, but they need to continue winning in last two games of year for playoff
OXFORD, Miss. — Winning against Georgia on Saturday was the biggest hill everybody saw for Ole Miss all the way back to August. With a dominating 28-10 win, now the Rebels are a Top 10 team.
The ultimate goals coach Lane Kiffin set for this team are still within a reasonable reach. Everybody knows there’s still some work to be done at Florida in two weeks and the Egg Bowl against a hapless Mississippi State team. That’s why that may be the most dangerous game of all, but wait a bit before focusing on that.
When the AP poll came out Sunday, Ole Miss shot to No. 10, just one spot ahead of the Bulldogs. Georgia also has two SEC losses.
Oregon was the No. 1 team for the fourth straight week Sunday as Penn State and Indiana climbed into the top five, Georgia and Miami dropped out of the top 10, and losses by four other ranked teams shuffled the rankings with a month left in the regular season.
No team this season has held the top spot for more consecutive weeks than Oregon, which pulled away from Maryland to improve to 10-0 over the weekend and is a unanimous No. 1 for the second straight week.
Ohio State moved up one spot to No. 2 and Texas got a two-rung bump to No. 3. Penn State was No. 4, one point ahead of No. 5 Indiana with Tennessee just three points behind at No. 6.
Penn State, No. 6 last week, returned to the top five after its comfortable win over Washington. The Hoosiers, who beat Michigan 20-15 for their school-record 10th win and first win by fewer than 14 points, moved up from No. 8 and have their highest ranking since they were No. 4 in the final poll of the 1967 season.
Following Tennessee in the top 10 were BYU, Notre Dame, Alabama and Ole Miss. The SEC has four teams in the top 10 and nine overall in the Top 25, while the Big Ten’s four ranked teams are all in the top five.
Georgia and Miami plummeted. The Bulldogs lost 28-10 at Mississippi and went from No. 2 to No. 11, marking the first time they’ve been out of the top 10 since late in the 2020 season. The Hurricanes’ 28-23 loss at Georgia Tech sent them from No. 4 to No. 12.
Information from ESPN and other sources were used in this story
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| Sat, Aug 31 |  | vs Furman | W, 76-0 |
| Sat, Sep 7 |  | vs Middle Tennessee | W, 52-3 |
| Sat, Sep 14 |  | @ Wake Forest | W, 40-6 |
| Sat, Sep 21 |  | vs Georgia Southern | W, 52-13 |
| Sat, Sep 28 |  | vs Kentucky | L, 20-17 |
| Sat, Oct 5 |  | @ South Carolina | W, 27-3 |
| Sat, Oct 12 |  | vs LSU | L, 29-26 (2 OT) |
| Sat, Oct 26 |  | vs Oklahoma | W, 26-14 |
| Sat, Nov 2 |  | @ Arkansas | W, 63-35 |
| Sat, Nov 16 |  | vs Georgia | W, 28-10 |
| Sat, Nov 23 |  | @ Florida | L, 24-17 |
| Sat, Nov 30 |  | vs Mississippi State | W, 26-14 |
| Thu, Jan 2 |  | vs Duke (Gator Bowl) | 6:30 PM • ESPN |