FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas fell five places in The Associated Press Top 25 poll Sunday following a shutout loss at second-ranked Georgia.
The Razorbacks (4-1, 1-1 SEC) are ranked No. 13 ahead of their game at No. 17 Ole Miss next weekend. Arkansas, which was unranked to begin the season, climbed to eighth in the poll before its 37-0 loss at Georgia, which was its highest ranking in nine years.
The Bulldogs received nine first-place votes in this week’s poll, up from four a week ago. Top-ranked Alabama received the other 53 first-place votes following its 42-21 win over Ole Miss.
The Rebels (3-1, 0-1) also fell five spots in the AP poll this week. Ole Miss trailed by 35 points on two separate occasions at Alabama.
Next weekend’s game will be the first matchup between ranked Arkansas and Ole Miss teams since 2016 when the Razorbacks won 34-30 in Fayetteville. It will be the highest-ranked matchup between the teams since the Jan. 1, 1970 Sugar Bowl when the No. 13 Rebels beat the No. 3 Razorbacks 27-22.
The SEC has seven teams ranked in this week’s poll. Undefeated Kentucky joined the rankings at No. 16 following a 20-13 home win over Florida, which fell from 10th to 20th in the poll.
Auburn moved ahead four places to No. 18 in the poll following a 24-19 comeback victory at LSU.
Texas A&M, which was ranked seventh for its loss to Arkansas last weekend, fell from the rankings following a 26-22 home loss to Mississippi State.
Texas, which fell from the rankings following a 40-21 loss at Arkansas on Sept. 11, rejoined the poll this week at No. 21. The Longhorns have won three straight games over Rice, Texas Tech and TCU.
AP Top 25 poll, Oct. 3
1 Alabama (5-0)
2 Georgia (5-0)
3 Iowa (5-0)
4 Penn State (5-0)
5 Cincinnati (4-0)
6 Oklahoma (5-0)
7 Ohio State (4-1)
8 Oregon (4-1)
9 Michigan (5-0)
10 BYU (5-0)
11 Michigan State (5-0)
12 Oklahoma State (5-0)
13 Arkansas (4-1)
14 Notre Dame (4-1)
15 Coastal Carolina (5-0)
16 Kentucky (5-0)
17 Ole Miss (3-1)
18 Auburn (4-1)
19 Wake Forest (5-0)
20 Florida (3-2)
21 Texas (4-1)
22 Arizona State (4-1)
23 North Carolina State (4-1)
24 SMU (5-0)
25 San Diego State (4-0)