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Michigan football: AP Poll updated after strange week

Anthony Broomeby:Anthony Broome09/17/23

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NCAA Football: Bowling Green at Michigan
(Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports)

Following a 31-6 win over Bowling Green on Saturday night, Michigan football stayed at No. 2 in the AP Poll released on Sunday afternoon.

The Maize and Blue have ranked top five in the national polls for 19 straight weeks and top 10 for 31 straight rankings, including all four this fall, all 16 in 2022 and the final 11 of 2021.

There are four Big Ten teams in the top-25 this week with Michigan (No. 2), OSU (6), Penn State (7) and Iowa (24). The Wolverines will take on the Buckeyes in Ann Arbor to conclude the regular season Nov. 25 and Penn State in State College two weeks prior.

Most experts believed that despite an effort that was lacking, Michigan was right to stay at No. 2 in the polls this week.

“The top four teams in the AP Top 25 played on Saturday,” CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah said. “None showed anything positive. No. 1 Georgia trailed by 11 points at the half against South Carolina. No. 2 Michigan only led by one score against Bowling Green until the third quarter. No. 3 Florida State allowed Boston College to mount a late comeback and nearly win the game. No. 4 Texas was in a 10-10 game against Wyoming until the fourth quarter. In total, the top four teams underperformed their respective lines by 65 points. 

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“Granted, the issues are not centralized at the top. No. 7 Penn State let Illinois stick around far too long in a 30-13 victory. Alabama laid the clunker against South Florida. No. 11 Tennessee fell in embarrassing fashion. Looking at the top of the game, no one looks unimpeachable. Could that lead to a truly unpredictable season? 

Here is the full AP Poll released on Sunday afternoon.

Week 3 AP Poll

  1. Georgia
  2. Michigan
  3. Texas
  4. Florida State
  5. USC
  6. Ohio State
  7. Penn State
  8. Washington
  9. Notre Dame
  10. Oregon
  11. Utah
  12. LSU
  13. Alabama
  14. Oregon State
  15. Ole Miss
  16. Oklahoma
  17. North Carolina
  18. Duke
  19. Colorado
  20. Miami (Fla.)
  21. Washington State
  22. Tennessee
  23. UCLA
  24. Iowa
  25. Florida

Sherrone Moore weighs in on U-M victory

Michigan interim head coach/offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Sherrone Moore spoke after the victory. With Big Ten play coming next week, U-M knows that it has a lot to clean up.

“Still got a lot to work on, I think,” Moore said during his postgame press conference. “Regardless of the point totals in the previous games, we’re still understanding what we have coming next because every week is a new week. Every week is a new team. We have to be up for the challenge next week against Rutgers. There’s a really good football team coming in here with a lot of confidence. We gotta put our head down and work and get ready for this week.”

What’s next for Michigan?

Michigan opens Big Ten play next week with a visit from the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET from the Big House with the broadcast set for Big Ten Network.

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