Gamecocks jump to No. 3 in coaches’ poll; Alabama, Oregon still 1-2

New York, NY, United States (4E Sports) – While Alabama and Oregon continue to dominate the USA Today coaches’ poll, South Carolina made the biggest improvement, leaping from No. 6 last week to 3rd spot in the recently released rankings.

Boosted by their 35-7 drubbing of SEC East rival Georgia, the Gamecocks (6-0) tallied 1,345 points to achieve their highest ranking since placing second during the 1984 season with a 9-0 record. The Bulldogs, for their part, dropped seven places to No. 12 after the loss.

The Steve Spurrier-coached Gamecocks lurk behind the Crimson Tide (6-0), who received all but one of 59 first-place votes for 1,474 points while the Ducks placed second with one first-place vote and 55 second-place votes for 1,411 markers.

From No. 7 last week, West Virginia (5-0) moved to fourth spot with 1,296 markers, thanks to their close 48-45 victory over the Texas Longhorns, who slid to No. 15 from No. 9 last week.

With 1,216 points, Kansas State (5-0) improved three places and earned its first top-five ranking since 2003 after thrashing in-state rival Kansas, 56-16.

From 11th, Florida jumped to sixth place with 1,165 points, helped by its 14-6 victory over then-No. 3 LSU (5-1), which dropped to 8th spot with 961 points.

Squeezed between the Gators and the Tigers was the Norte Dame Fighting Irish, who improved from 10th place with 1,152 markers.

USC (4-1) improved to 9th from 12th last week while then-No. 14 Oklahoma (3-1) vaulted to 10th with 872 points.

Like Georgia, Florida State (5-1) also dropped seven places from 4th place to 11th after losing to unranked North Carolina.

Three new teams, led by No. 21 Texas A&M made it to the rankings. Louisiana Tech placed 24th while 25th placer Iowa State was ranked for the first time since 2005.

Texas Tech dropped from the rankings after its first loss of the season at the hands of Oklahoma, together with Northwestern and Nebraska.

Ohio State is undefeated but ineligible to receive votes in the coaches poll due to NCAA sanctions.

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