Week 1 is in the books, and the AP Top 25 already has a little bit of everything: a dominant LSU win, a messy Michigan finish, and another round of questions for teams like Clemson and North Carolina.
At the top, Ohio State holds the No. 1 spot with 46 first-place votes. Georgia stays right behind the Buckeyes, while Notre Dame checks in at No. 3 with four first-place votes.
Texas sits fourth with two, followed by Indiana at No. 5 with eight. Oregon is sixth with three first-place votes, Miami (FL) lands seventh with one, and LSU moves up to eighth with five first-place votes after its blowout of Clemson.
The rest of the AP poll runs Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas Tech, USC, BYU, Penn State, SMU, Tennessee, Washington, Utah, Iowa, Houston, Missouri, Louisville and Virginia.
UNC, despite beating TCU, still can’t find its way into the AP Top 25. The Tar Heels didn’t receive a single vote from the AP voters. They did pick up two votes in the Coaches Poll, which at least gives them something to point to.
LSU was the week’s biggest mover among ranked teams, climbing three spots after its statement win over Clemson. Virginia was the only brand-new team to enter the rankings, getting in after its Week 0 win over NC State.
Michigan took the hardest fall. Even though the Wolverines officially won against Western Michigan at the time of writing, the finish remains under scrutiny because of the clock situation that gave them one last shot at a Hail Mary.
The MAC is now formally appealing the result, and AP voters acted like Michigan had lost anyway, dropping the Wolverines out of the Top 25 entirely. The Coaches Poll kept Michigan ranked, which only adds to the oddity.
Conference-wise, the SEC leads the way with nine teams in the poll. The Big Ten has seven, while the ACC and Big 12 each have four. There is one independent in the rankings.
The Coaches Poll tells a slightly different story at the top. Ohio State owns 50 first-place votes there, Georgia has seven, Texas has one, Notre Dame has four, Indiana has 11, and Oregon has one. The rest of that poll mirrors much of the AP list, with Miami (FL), LSU, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Alabama, Texas Tech, USC, BYU, Penn State, SMU, Tennessee, Washington, Utah, Iowa, Houston, Missouri, Michigan and Virginia rounding it out.
In Other News...
Caleb Wilson's UNC Return Could Matter More Than Fans Realize
Caleb Wilson is back in Chapel Hill at the right moment for North Carolina basketball, arriving during one of the programs biggest recruiting weekends of the summer. The former Tar Heel and recent NBA first-round pick remains a familiar, appealing figure around the program, and his visit comes as UNC hosts elite prospects CJ Rosser and Jordan Page on official visits.
For a staff trying to sell both the present and the future, Wilsons ties to the program give the weekend an extra layer of credibility. UNC is still fighting other schools for both five-star targets, and having a player with his profile around campus only helps the pitch as the Tar Heels look to strengthen their next class. [Read more 🡒]
UNC Suddenly Has A Shot At A Top 2027 Guard
North Carolinas 2027 recruiting board has a new name to track in Jalen Davis, a top-20 point guard who has recently drawn the Tar Heels into his process. Davis has lined up an official visit to Chapel Hill on Oct. 3, giving UNC a chance to make an impression early in what already looks like a national-level battle for one of the classs more coveted guards.
The visit list says plenty about the competition around him, with Stanford, Iowa, UCLA and Gonzaga also in the mix. UNCs staff already got a live look at Davis during a recent game, and the next step will be turning that scouting trip into a stronger connection once he gets on campus, where the Tar Heels will try to show why they belong in the conversation for one of the countrys best young point guards. [Read more 🡒]
UNC Still Has Work To Do In Pursuit Of Elite 2027 Guard
The chase for Adan Diggs is still very much alive, but North Carolina appears to have some catching up to do. The elite shooting guard, who reclassified into the Class of 2027, has trimmed his list to seven schools and remains one of the more coveted names on the board, giving the Tar Heels a legitimate foothold in a national recruitment that is already drawing plenty of attention.
Diggs is currently projected to lean toward staying close to home in Arizona, where he has an official visit lined up, and that adds another layer of difficulty for UNC. The Tar Heels are still in the mix, which matters, but they are not viewed as the front-runner right now, leaving Hubert Davis and his staff with more work to do if they want to make this a real battle down the stretch. [Read more 🡒]