Mississippi State has leapt from the ranks of the unranked all the way to No. 17 in the latest AP poll, released Sunday afternoon.
The Bulldogs walloped then-No. 12 LSU 37-7 in Starkville on Saturday evening, the club’s largest margin of victory in the 111-game history of the series. Additionally, Mississippi State’s road blowout victory over Louisiana Tech became even more impressive when the red-and-blue Bulldogs went on the road and beat defending Conference USA champion Western Kentucky.
Elsewhere, San Diego State, Utah and Oregon made their 2017 debuts in the AP poll, replacing Kansas State, Stanford, Tennessee and UCLA. Clemson’s 47-21 drubbing of Louisville allowed the Tigers to nudge past Oklahoma for the No. 2 spot in the poll and pull within 60 points of the No. 1 ranking.
The full poll:
- Alabama -- 1,504 total points (45 first-place votes)
- Clemson -- 1,446 (15)
- Oklahoma -- 1,432 (1)
- Penn State -- 1,306
- USC -- 1,241
- Oklahoma State -- 1,154
- Washington -- 1,141
- Michigan -- 1,081
- Wisconsin -- 1,031
- Ohio State -- 1,015
- Georgia -- 940
- Florida State -- 922
- Virginia Tech -- 730
- Miami -- 606
- Auburn -- 596
- TCU -- 553
- Mississippi State -- 532
- Washington State -- 419
- Louisville -- 356
- Florida -- 308
- South Florida -- 272
- San Diego State -- 201
- Utah -- 194
- Oregon -- 158
- LSU -- 153