COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State moved up to No. 5 in the latest Associated Press college football poll, but Cincinnati dropped to No. 3 despite remaining undefeated this season.
Cincinnati now sits behind No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Alabama despite beating South Florida 45-28 on Friday night.
Desmond Ridder threw two touchdown passes to break the Cincinnati career record and ran for a score to help the Bearcats beat South Florida. However, the Bearcats struggled to close out the win, allowing three long second-half scoring drives and losing a fumble at USF early in the fourth.
It was the fourth straight week the Bearcats played a team with a losing record and found themselves in a competitive game in the second half. That tipped a few more voters to drop Cincinnati.
The switch from Cincinnati to Alabama at No. 2 was more about the Bearcats than the Crimson Tide, which closed the gap on UC to four points last week.
“It was an evaluation of their overall resumes,” said voter Ryan Aber from The Oklahoman. “Alabama’s win over New Mexico State didn’t do much on the surface, but other factors — Ole Miss’ win over Texas A&M as well as Cincinnati’s less-than-dominant performances against lesser competition in recent weeks — led me to raise the Crimson Tide ahead of the Bearcats.”
Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times made the switch to put Alabama ahead of Cincinnati last week and then further separated the Tide and Bearcats after this week’s games.
“I’ve seen Alabama and Cincinnati both with my own eyes,” Baker said. “Neither one is on Georgia’s level, but I see a gap between ’Bama and Cincinnati.”
Behind the Bearcats is No. 4 Oregon and No. 5 Ohio State, which was ranked No. 6 in last week’s poll.
Oregon stunned Ohio State with a 35-28 victory in September.
However, Ohio State has since bounced back and jumped to No. 5 after rolling over Purdue 59-31 on Saturday.
The Buckeyes were nervous to play the Boilermakers, a team described as a giant-killer coming into the game after upsetting two top-five teams this season.
Purdue also halted the Buckeyes’ 2018 march to the playoffs with a stunning upset in West Lafayette.
But freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud was dialed in, throwing for 361 yards and five touchdowns.
Behind Ohio State now sits No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 7 Michigan State, No. 8 Michigan and No. 9 Oklahoma State all moved up one spot after Oklahoma tumbled.
Up Next
Ohio State: Hosts Michigan State, ranked No. 8 in the College Football Playoff poll, on Saturday.
Cincinnati: Hosts SMU on Nov. 20.
