College football rankings: Week 5, 2021

By Kevin Kelley -

College football rankings for week 5 of the 2021 season have been released. Alabama remains the top-ranked team, while Arkansas moved up the most.

The Arkansas Razorbacks, who upset the previously 7th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies 20-10 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, moved up eight spots to 8th in the AP Poll and seven spots to 11th in the Coaches Poll.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish moved up three spots to No. 9 in the AP Poll following their 41-13 victory over then 18th-ranked Wisconsin in South Bend, Ind. Notre Dame also moved up three spots to No. 7 in the Coaches Poll.

Alabama and Georgia remain ranked first and second in both polls, respectively. Oregon (3), Penn State (4), and Iowa (5) round out the top five in the AP Poll, while Oregon (3), Oklahoma (4), and Iowa (5) complete the top five in the Coaches Poll.

Iowa State, North Carolina, and Wisconsin dropped out of both polls, while Kansas State dropped out of the AP Poll following losses on Saturday.

Below is the full AP Poll and USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll for Week 5 of the 2021 season (first-place votes in parentheses). The STATS Perform FCS Top 25 and FCS Coaches Poll will be announced on Monday.

AP Poll – Week 5

1. Alabama (58)
2. Georgia (4)
3. Oregon
4. Penn State
5. Iowa
6. Oklahoma
7. Cincinnati
8. Arkansas
9. Notre Dame
10. Florida
11. Ohio State
12. Ole Miss
13. BYU
14. Michigan
15. Texas A&M
16. Coastal Carolina
17. Michigan State
18. Fresno State
19. Oklahoma State
20. UCLA
21. Baylor
22. Auburn
23. NC State
24. Wake Forest
25. Clemson

Others receiving votes: Texas 131, Maryland 91, San Diego State 57, Boston College 55, SMU 44, Kentucky 26, Iowa State 25, LSU 24, Arizona State 23, Virginia Tech 20, Wisconsin 13, Rutgers 6, Kansas State 5, UTSA 4, Oregon State 4, Louisville 3, North Carolina 1

Dropped from rankings: Iowa State 14, Wisconsin 18, North Carolina 21, Kansas State 25

FBS Coaches Poll – Week 5

1. Alabama (64)
2. Georgia (1)
3. Oregon
4. Oklahoma
5. Iowa
6. Penn State
7. Notre Dame
8. Cincinnati
9. Florida
10. Ohio State
11. Arkansas
12. Ole Miss
13. Texas A&M
14. Michigan
15. BYU
16. Michigan State
16. Coastal Carolina
18. Oklahoma State
19. Clemson
20. UCLA
21. Fresno State
22. Auburn
23. Kentucky
24. Baylor
25. Wake Forest

Others receiving votes: Texas 101, Boston College 91, NC State 70, San Diego State 69, Maryland 59, Wisconsin 56, SMU 54, Virginia Tech 39, LSU 36, Iowa State 31, Army 23, Arizona State 12, UTSA 11, Liberty 11, North Carolina 10, UCF 9, Oregon State 7, Appalachian State 3, Louisiana 3, Louisville 2, Indiana 2, Wyoming 1

Dropped from rankings: Iowa State 14, Wisconsin 15, North Carolina 20

Stats Perform FCS Top 25 – Week 5

1. Sam Houston (32)
2. South Dakota State (10)
3. James Madison (5)
4. Montana (3)
5. North Dakota State
6. Eastern Washington
7. Southern Illinois
8. UC Davis
9. Delaware
10. North Dakota
11. Montana State
12. Villanova
13. ETSU
14. Southeastern Louisiana
15. UNI
16. Missouri State
17. Jacksonville State
18. VMI
19. Weber State
20. Kennesaw State
21. Rhode Island
22. Richmond
23. UT Martin
24. Incarnate Word
25. New Hampshire

Others receiving votes: Austin Peay 86, Alabama A&M 85, Holy Cross 74, Stephen F. Austin 71, Monmouth 35, Central Arkansas 33, Nicholls 33, Murray State 26, Jackson State 22, Chattanooga 20, Duquesne 13, Mercer 11, Princeton 11, Samford 7, South Dakota 6, Eastern Kentucky 4+

Dropped from rankings: Austin Peay 19, Monmouth 20, Central Arkansas 25

FCS Coaches Poll – Week 5

1. Sam Houston (26)
2. James Madison (1)
3. South Dakota St. (1)
4. Montana. 3-0
5. North Dakota State
6. Eastern Washington
7. Southern Illinois
8. UC Davis
9. Villanova
10. Delaware
11. North Dakota
12. Montana State
13. Northern Iowa
14. ETSU
15. Southeastern Louisiana
16. Missouri State
17. Jacksonville State
18. Weber State
19. Chattanooga
20. Kennesaw State
21. Richmond
22. VMI
23. Rhode Island
T-24. Holy Cross
T-24. UT Martin

Others receiving votes: Rhode Island 77, Alabama A&M 36, Murray State 34, Chattanooga 25, Nicholls 24, Furman 23, Stephen F. Austin 17, Duquesne 15, UIW 14, Samford 10, South Dakota 9, Jackson State 3

Dropped from rankings: None

Comments (3)

Note to the Website Operator,

In My Opinion,

The “Coaches” Rankings has been & is a less Volitile Popular “Exit Poll” from the Weeks Games.
Any Coach worth his Salt is not going to spend many Hours of his limited Time, as the Executive of his Team, watching the Weekend games for a more accurate Rating.

If he does & isn’t preparing, ministering, dissecting his own Program’s play & building a more successful mental, physical, winning Product for the upcoming Week’s Competition, he has no business giving his flawed Ratings of who the objectively Best 25 Teams in the 10 Leagues + Independents are.

Hence, the believed views of myself, some unofficial off the record reports from Sports Shows, & a few Sports Analysis Shows which speak directly of this Popularity Poll as “SID Poll”, “Coach’s Staffers Poll”.

The CFP semifinals based on this week’s rankings are:
Cotton Bowl Classic: #2 Oregon vs. #3 Penn State
Orange Bowl: #1 Alabama vs. #4 Oklahoma

The remaining New Year’s Six matchups as of this week are:
Fiesta Bowl: #7 Cincinnati vs. #8 Arkansas
Peach Bowl: #9 Notre Dame vs. #10 Florida
Rose Bowl Game: #5 Iowa vs. #20 UCLA
Sugar Bowl: #6 Georgia vs. #18 Oklahoma State

#cfbplayoff #newyearssix #earnit