Badgers drop one spot in AP Top 25 after blowout win

Wisconsin beat Illinois State 38-0 in the season opener but it wasn’t enough to move up in the Associated Press Top 25 or even keep the Badgers where they were in the preseason poll.

The first weekly release of the top teams came Tuesday and it had coach Paul Chryst’s club sitting at No. 19 in the country, down one from where it was last week. One team that was ahead of the Badgers last week — Oregon — fell out of the rankings, while Florida and Arkansas jumped ahead of them. The Gators went from unranked to No. 12 after beating then-No. 7 Utah, while the Razorbacks beat then-No. 23 Cincinnati to go from No. 19 to No. 16.

Wisconsin was one of four teams from the Big Ten in the rankings. After its win over then-No. 5 Notre Dame, Ohio State dropped one spot to No. 3, while Michigan jumped four spots to No. 4 after its blowout of Colorado State. Michigan State moved up one spot to No. 14 after beating Western Michigan.

The top of the poll still has Alabama, while Georgia replaced the Buckeyes at No. 2.

Wisconsin will face Washington State this Saturday. The Cougars held off Idaho 24-17 in their opener last week.