A Memphis football team is back in the college football polls, at least the small ones.
The Tigers, who improved to 5-1 overall and 1-1 in the American Athletic Conference, scored their 21-3 victory over South Florida in a game that had been moved from Tampa to Orlando due to Hurricane Milton. That puts Memphis at number twenty-five, which means that the Tigers received four votes in the US LBM Coaches Poll; the first time they received any votes in that poll since they dropped out of the rankings after the Navy game on September twenty-first.
None of the Memphis players received votes in the AP Poll.
That is as close as Memphis has been to cracking the top 25 according to the coaches that is. It is 37th in the poll, behind a cast of Group of Five teams. Army and Boise State are ranked while Navy, UNLV and Liberty have more votes than Memphis. Also voted were James Madison with three votes and Tulane with two votes.
But, it was a positive development for the Tigers, who now mathematically are not out of contention for the AAC title and College Football Playoffs. Crimson Tide had risen to as high as 22nd by the coaches poll before sinking out after the shocking 56-44 defeat to the Midshipmen.
Michigan and Ohio State joined eighteen other teams in the top twenty-five in the AP Poll; among Group of Five teams ranked in the poll were Boise State at No.<|human|>15, Army at No. 23, and Navy at No. 25.
Memphis hosts North Texas (5-1, 2-0) on Saturday (6:The game kicks of at 30 p.m. CT on ESPNU and will be played at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.
