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The USA TODAY Coaches Poll was released Sunday after the completion of Week 5 on Saturday night and, like usual, the SEC was everywhere in the poll, with 9 teams from the conference once again being included in the top 25.
Among those 9 teams, an astounding 4 of the top 5 teams in the poll were from the SEC. The 9 teams from the SEC included Texas, which moved into the top spot from its previous No. 2 ranking after last week’s No. 1 team, Georgia, got beat in that thriller at Alabama. The Bulldogs slid down from No. 1 to No. 5 in Sunday’s poll.
Meanwhile, Alabama moved up 2 spots from No. 4 to No. 2 after the Crimson Tide outlasted the Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa.
After No. 3 Ohio State, which was the only non-SEC team in the top 5, Tennessee came in at No. 4, up 2 spots from last week. The Volunteers were idle in Week 5 but still moved up, leapfrogging Georgia.
Missouri was the next SEC team in the poll, with the Tigers also moving up 2 spots from No. 11 to No. 9 despite not playing in Week 5.
The SEC team that took the biggest tumble, not surprisingly, was Ole Miss, which fell 6 spots to No. 11 after inexplicably losing at home to Kentucky on Saturday. LSU moved up 1 spot to No. 12 after easily taking care of South Alabama on Saturday night, Oklahoma also moved up 1 spot to No. 17 after rallying to a road win over Auburn, and Texas A&M slid up 3 spots to No. 21 after holding off Arkansas.
SEC programs Kentucky and South Carolina each received votes to be in the poll, with the Wildcats getting 17 votes after that shocking upset at Ole Miss, and the Gamecocks getting 1 vote.
Here is the full Coaches Poll Top 25 with Week 6 on the horizon:
1. Texas
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Tennessee
5. Georgia
6. Oregon
7. Penn State
8. Miami
9. Missouri
10. Michigan
11. Ole Miss
12. LSU
13. Notre Dame
14. Clemson
15. USC
16. Iowa State
17.Oklahoma
18. Utah
19. BYU
20. Kansas State
21. Texas A&M
22. Louisville
23. UNLV
24. Indiana
25. Illinois
Others receiving votes
Boise State 103; Pittsburgh 51; Arizona 44; Rutgers 35; Iowa 29; James Madison 25; Duke 22; Kentucky 17; Oklahoma State 15; SMU 14; Nebraska 12; Navy 9; Colorado 9; Boston College 6; Army West Point 3; UCF 2; Liberty 2; Tulane 1; South Carolina 1
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
