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Oklahoma Sooners climb to No. 2 in poll after toppling Ohio State Buckeyes

By The Sports Xchange
Baker Mayfield and the Oklahoma Sooners climbed in the polls following Saturday's big road win over the Ohio State Buckeyes. Photo by Pierre DuCharme/UPI
Baker Mayfield and the Oklahoma Sooners climbed in the polls following Saturday's big road win over the Ohio State Buckeyes. Photo by Pierre DuCharme/UPI | License Photo

The Oklahoma Sooners moved up to No. 2 in the Associated Press college football poll released Sunday after their impressive victory over Ohio State.

The Sooners jumped three spots from No. 5 after trouncing the previously second-ranked Buckeyes 31-16 on Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio.

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Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley, who turned 34 on Tuesday, sprinted toward the fans near the north end zone in Ohio Stadium following his team's impressive victory.

As he headed into the tunnel toward the locker room, Riley stopped when his predecessor, Bob Stoops, put an arm around his shoulder to hug him.

"It was emotional," Riley said later. "I told them in there, we'll be disappointed if this is the highlight of our season. We've still got a long ways to go. We've only played two games."

No. 1 Alabama, which coasted to a 41-10 victory over Fresno State on Saturday in its home opener in Bryant-Denny Stadium, received 59 first-place votes in the second Top 25 poll of the regular season. Oklahoma got two first-place votes and Clemson one as the Tigers held their spot at No. 3 after beating Auburn.

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The last time the Sooners were this close to being No. 1 in the AP poll was 2011.

Three of the top six teams from last week defeated other ranked teams on Saturday that created changes near the top.

Southern California moved up two places to No. 4 following a victory against Stanford and Penn State rounded out the top five, dropping one spot despite defeating Pittsburgh.

Washington is No. 6, followed by Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Wisconsin.

Oklahoma State entered the top 10 after starting 2-0 with wins over Tulsa and South Alabama.

Notre Dame's stay in the Top 25 lasted one week as the Fighting Irish lost 20-19 at home to Georgia, which moved up two spots to No. 13. The Irish were the only team to fall out of the rankings.

Florida State is No. 11, followed by LSU, Georgia, Louisville, Auburn, Virginia Tech, Miami, Kansas State, Stanford, TCU, Washington State, South Florida, Tennessee, Florida and UCLA.

The Bruins followed up their remarkable comeback victory from a 34-point deficit against Texas A&M in Week 1 with a blowout of Hawaii to land at No. 25.

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