The Associated Press

Southern California moved into the top five of The Associated Press college football poll Sunday for the first time in five years.

Georgia received 62 of the 63 first-place votes in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank as the top four teams held their places after playing varying degrees of close games Saturday.

No. 2 Ohio State received the other first-place vote. Michigan was No. 3 again, followed by TCU.

The fifth-ranked Trojans edged up two spots after a thrilling victory against rival UCLA. The last time USC was ranked in the top five was September of 2017, when it started at No. 4 but spent most of the season ranked in the teens before finishing 12th.

Lincoln Riley’s first season as USC coach has produced one of the best turnarounds in the country, with the Trojans going from four wins to 10, and the regular-season finale against No. 13 Notre Dame and a Pac-12 championship game still to go.

“If you would have told me at the end of last season I would be here now with this group of guys and being able to play for a championship, I would have called you a dead liar. Just being completely honest,” USC fourth-year receiver Kyle Ford told reporters after the UCLA game. “I’m just so thankful for everyone on this team.”

LSU stayed at No. 6. Clemson moved up two spots to No. 7. Alabama held at eighth and Tennessee dropped four spots to No. 9 after getting upset in a blowout at South Carolina.

In their 63-38 victory, the Gamecocks scored more points against a top-five team as an unranked team than any in the history of the AP poll.

Oregon rounded out the top 10 after the Ducks beat Utah in the Pac-12’s other marquee game on Saturday night.

POLL POINTS

Georgia set a school record with its 10th appearance at No. 1 this season. Last year the Bulldogs had nine No. 1s, the most in school history.

Georgia has been at No. 1 a total of 34 times, tying Michigan for 12th most in the history of the AP poll, which dates to 1936.

Southern California is a top-five team for the 283rd time in poll history. That’s seventh most, 13 behind Nebraska.

The top five at being top five: Alabama (451), Oklahoma (430), Ohio State (418), Notre Dame (318) and Michigan (306).

IN

Texas, again.

The 24th-ranked Longhorns, who started the season unranked, have moved into the Top 25 four times. They haven’t managed to stay there for more than two weeks.

A blowout victory against Kansas pushed the Longhorns back into the rankings as they head toward a season finale against Baylor.

OUT

Oklahoma State lost its rivalry game against Oklahoma to drop to 7-4 and out of the rankings again.

CONFERENCE CALL

Pac-12 — 6 (Nos. 5, 10, 12, 14, 17, 22).

SEC — 5 (Nos. 1, 6, 8, 9, 20).

ACC — 3 (Nos. 7, 16, 18).

American — 3 (Nos. 19, 21, 25).

Big Ten — 3 (Nos. 2, 3, 11).

Big 12 — 3 (Nos. 4, 15, 24).

Sun Belt — 1 (No. 23).

Independent — 1 (No. 13).

RANKED vs. RANKED

Rivalry weekend’s highest stakes games:

— No. 19 Tulane at No. 21 Cincinnati, Friday. The winner hosts the AAC championship game.

— No. 10 Oregon at No. 22 Oregon State. First time since 2012 both are ranked.

— No. 3 Michigan at No. 2 Ohio State. The best combined ranking between the two were also 2-3 heading into the 2016, decided in overtime by a fourth-down spot.

— No. 13 Notre Dame at No. 5 USC. First time both have been ranked since 2017.

The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 19, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:

	Record	Pts	Prv
1. Georgia (62)	11-0	1574	1
2. Ohio St. (1)	11-0	1507	2
3. Michigan	11-0	1446	3
4. TCU	11-0	1395	4
5. Southern Cal	10-1	1293	7
6. LSU	9-2	1241	6
7. Clemson	10-1	1152	9
8. Alabama	9-2	1131	8
9. Tennessee	9-2	1058	5
10. Oregon	9-2	1009	12
11. Penn St.	9-2	994	11
12. Washington	9-2	879	15
13. Notre Dame	8-3	710	18
14. Utah	8-3	709	10
15. Kansas St.	8-3	697	19
16. Florida St.	8-3	579	20
17. UCLA	8-3	562	16
18. North Carolina	9-2	464	13
19. Tulane	9-2	441	21
20. Mississippi	8-3	395	14
21. Cincinnati	9-2	353	22
22. Oregon St.	8-3	271	25
23. Coastal Carolina	9-1	186	23
24. Texas	7-4	128	–
25. UCF	8-3	87	17

Others receiving votes: UTSA 85, South Carolina 44, Troy 34, Boise St. 16, Illinois 12, Iowa 5, Louisville 5, Mississippi St. 3, South Alabama 3, Purdue 2, Arkansas 2, Oklahoma St. 2, Fresno St. 1.

The USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll Top 25 with team’s records THROUGH SATURDAY in parentheses, total points based on 25 for first place through one point for 25th, ranking in last week’s poll and first-place votes received.

	Record	Pts	Pvs
1. Georgia (59)	(11-0)	1546	1
2. Ohio State (1)	(11-0)	1484	2
3. Michigan (2)	(11-0)	1420	3
4. TCU	(11-0)	1372	4
5. Southern California	(10-1)	1277	6
6. LSU	(9-2)	1229	7
7. Alabama	(9-2)	1147	8
8. Clemson	(10-1)	1142	9
9. Oregon	(9-2)	1004	13
10. Penn State	(9-2)	990	12
11. Tennessee	(9-2)	950	5
12. Washington	(9-2)	855	15
13. Kansas State	(8-3)	761	17
14. Utah	(8-3)	703	10
15. Notre Dame	(8-3)	657	19
16. Florida State	(8-3)	562	20
17. North Carolina	(9-2)	496	11
18. UCLA	(8-3)	483	16
19. Mississippi	(8-3)	429	14
20. Tulane	(9-2)	386	22
21. Cincinnati	(9-2)	376	21
22. Oregon State	(8-3)	257	NR
23. Coastal Carolina	(9-1)	222	23
24. Texas	(7-4)	112	NR
25. Texas-San Antonio	(9-2)	70	NR

Dropped Out: No. 18 Central Florida (8-3); No. 24 Oklahoma State (7-4); No. 25 North Carolina State (7-4).

Others Receiving Votes: Central Florida (8-3) 41; Troy (9-2) 39; South Carolina (7-4) 38; Pittsburgh (7-4) 17; Wake Forest (7-4) 16; Iowa (7-4) 15; Louisville (7-4) 9; Boise State (8-3) 9; Illinois (7-4) 8; South Alabama (9-2) 8; Air Force (8-3) 6; Purdue (7-4) 5; Liberty (8-3) 3; Washington State (7-4) 3; Georgia Tech (5-6) 2; Mississippi State (7-4) 1.