Georgia played well this week, but not well enough to overtake USC at the #1 team in the country in the latest AP poll. Meanwhile, Ohio State’s sluggish performance vs. Ohio dropped them two spots to #5, setting up a #1 vs. #5 matchup at USC next Saturday.
Also, East Carolina cracked the top 25:
East Carolina’s latest big win was its third straight against a ranked opponent, dating to last season’s Hawaii Bowl victory against Boise State, and probably the Pirates’ most impressive.
East Carolina manhandled previously No. 8 West Virginia 24-3, shutting down Pat White and the Mountaineers’ speedy spread offense. That came a week after the Pirates took out Virginia Tech.
West Virginia dropped all the way to No. 25.
The last time East Carolina was on a roll like this was 1999, when the Pirates were ranked most of the season before falling out on the final poll of the season. East Carolina hasn’t been ranked this highly since 1991, when the Pirates finished the season at No. 9.
The Pirates now shift to being the favorite instead of the underdog. They open Conference USA play at Tulane this week, then travel to rebuilding North Carolina State. Their next home game is against Houston before they have a week off.
It’s nice to see new particpants in the national polls. We’ll see if East Carolina can keep this up.
