No. 7 West Virginia re-entered the top 10 of The Associated Press college football poll Sunday after another weekend in which the number of ranked teams losing reached double digits.
Alabama, the unanimous No. 1, No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Notre Dame remained unchanged, and No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Georgia and No. 6 Oklahoma each moved up a spot. The Mountaineers surged from No. 12 after beating Texas on a go-ahead 2-point conversion in final minute.
Ten ranked teams lost this weekend, four in games against other ranked teams. Over the last two weeks, 21 ranked teams have lost, the most over a two-week span since the AP poll expanded to 25 in 1989.
Iowa State was ranked for the first time this season, one of the five teams to move into the rankings this week.
There are seven teams in the rankings after Week 10 of the regular season that already have lost three times. If that seems like a lot, it is. Last season after Week 10, there were three teams in the Top 25 that had lost three games. In the previous five years, from 2012-16, there were a total of five teams ranked in the Week 10 AP poll that already had lost three times.
ALABAMA: The Crimson Tide had no victories over a team ranked in the top 20 entering Saturday night’s game at LSU. But if there were any questions about their ability to handle a highly ranked team in a hostile environment, they were answered in a 29-0 victory.
“We really wanted to make a statement in this game. A lot of people talk about our schedule,” Alabama Coach Nick Saban said. “What better opportunity is there to make a statement than the circumstance we were in.”
Tua Tagovailoa was 25 of 42 passing for 295 yards and moved as well as he needed, particularly when he sprinted up the middle of the field for a TD run in the third quarter to give Alabama a 22-0 lead.
KANSAS: The school fired football coach David Beaty effective at the end of the season, ending a three-plus year tenure marked by modest improvement but just a handful of wins.
Kansas (3-6) has three games left to play against Kansas State, No. 6 Oklahoma and No 15 Texas.
News that Beaty would be let go began filtering out Saturday night, shortly after the Jayhawks looked unprepared and uninspired in a 27-3 loss to Iowa State. The defeat left Beaty with a record of 6-39 with just three wins against Power Five opponents and two Big 12 victories.
The new athletic director, Jeff Long, announced the firing with one year left on Beaty’s contract. Beaty is owed $3 million.
AIR FORCE: An Air Force falcon injured at West Point during a prank before Saturday’s annual rivalry game between the two service academies is back home and showing signs of improvement.
Air Force Academy spokesperson, Lt. Col. Tracy A. Bunko, said 22-year-old Aurora “was able to fly around in her pen.”
WAKE FOREST: Starting quarterback Sam Hartman will miss the rest of the season with a leg injury.
Hartman had started all nine games for the Demon Deacons (4-5, 1-4 Atlantic Coast). He was 161 of 291 for 1,984 yards and 16 TDs.
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