AP Top 25 poll: Arkansas, Notre Dame jump into top 10 as Clemson tumbles in college football rankings

Notre Dame was one of the big winners in college football in Week 4, beating Wisconsin in one of two ranked-on-ranked matchups, and the Fighting Irish were rewarded in the polls with a move up into the top 10 of the updated AP Top 25. 

After checking in at No. 12 last week, Notre Dame is now up to No. 9 following the 41-13 win against the Badgers. The move up was one of a few changes within the top 10, including Oklahoma dropping two spots to No. 6 after a close win against West Virginia and Penn State moving up two spots to No. 4. 

One of the biggest headlines from the AP Top 25 is the winner of the other ranked-on-ranked matchup. Arkansas is up eight spots to No. 8, one spot ahead of Notre Dame, after beating Texas A&M 20-10 in the SEC on CBS Game of the Week. The loss has the Aggies down eight spots to No. 15, but that’s not the most dramatic drop we saw in this set of college football rankings. 

Clemson dropped 16 spots all the way down to No. 25 after its double-overtime road loss to NC State, marking the first time since October 2015 the Tigers are not in the top 10 of these rankings. The Wolfpack did see a bump from the upset win, making their AP Top 25 debut for 2021 at No. 23. 

Along with the Wolfpack, this week saw Oklahoma State, Baylor and Wake Forest break into the top 25 thanks in part to losses from Iowa State, Kansas State, Wisconsin and North Carolina. 

Check out the full AP Top 25 below:

1. Alabama (58 first-place votes)
2. Georgia (4)
3. Oregon
4. Penn State 
5. Iowa
6. Oklahoma
7. Cincinnati 
8. Arkansas 
9. Notre Dame
10. Florida
11. Ohio State
12. Ole Miss
13. BYU
14. Michigan
15. Texas A&M
16. Coastal Carolina
17. Michigan State
18. Fresno State
19. Oklahoma State
20. UCLA
21. Baylor
22. Auburn
23. NC State
24. Wake Forest
25. Clemson

Schools dropped out: No. 14 Iowa State, No. 18 Wisconsin, No. 21 North Carolina, No. 25 Kansas State

Others receiving votes: Texas 131, Maryland 91, San Diego State 57, Boston College 55, SMU 44, Kentucky 26, Iowa State 25, LSU 24, Arizona State 23, Virginia Tech 20, Wisconsin 13, Rutgers 6, Kansas State 5, UTSA 4, Oregon State 4, Louisville 3, North Carolina 1