Washington State climbs 11 spots to No. 14 in Associated Press Top 25

A big win meant a significant jump for Washington State in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings.

One day after beating No. 12 Oregon 34-20 at Martin Stadium, the Cougars hopped up 11 spots in the weekly poll to No. 14 in the country. It means WSU is the highest-ranked team in the Pac-12 Conference and one spot higher than cross-state nemesis Washington, which stayed put at No. 15 after beating Colorado.

WSU entered the season unranked and first reached the Top 25 rankings last week, checking in at No. 25. But the Cougars have won three consecutive games since losing at USC and became bowl eligible after holding off Justin Herbert and the Ducks Saturday.

Aside from WSU and UW, three other Pac-12 teams appeared in Sunday’s Week 9 edition of the AP Top 25. The loss to the Cougars dropped the Ducks seven places to No. 19, while Utah and Stanford both moved into the poll after being unranked last week, respectively checking in at No. 23 and 24.

The first loss of the season for second-ranked Ohio State changed up the top five in the AP poll. Alabama stayed put at No. 1, but Clemson moved up to No. 2, Notre Dame to No. 3, LSU to No. 4 and Michigan to No. 5.

The Crimson Tide are a unanimous No. 1, with all 61 first-place votes, for the first time this season.

Ohio State dropped to No. 11 after being upset by Purdue.

No. 25 Appalachian State is ranked in the AP poll for the first time in school history. The Mountaineers (5-1) have not lost since opening the season with an overtime defeat at Penn State.

The Cougars were also one of the biggest risers in the Amway Coaches’ Poll and moved up eight spots to No. 15 when the poll was released Sunday. The Huskies checked in at No. 13 while Oregon was No. 21, Stanford was No. 23 and Utah was No. 24.