The Week 9 AP Poll is out and Georgia moved up one spot to No. 2. Their 27-8 victory over Florida earned them this ranking along with former No. 2 Ohio State's loss to USC, but there were far more interesting things to happen in the AP Poll that impact Georgia further down the rankings.
Potentially the best thing to help boost any team's resume is ranked wins. That can be the separator between teams with identical records, and after Georgia beat Florida they had two ranked wins so far this season.
The only problem is that Florida was No. 17 in last week's poll and could've dropped out of the top 25 this week, but that thankfully didn't happen.
Florida held on and remained in the AP Poll's top 25
Florida just barely held onto their ranking even after losing by 19 points to Georgia as they are the new No. 25 team in the country. This was the Gators' third loss this season, and with a 5-3 record it is a bit surprising that they are still ranked.
They likely are still ranked because of the other great wins they have. Right before playing Georgia they beat Texas on the road with their backup quarterback. Earlier in the season they also beat Ole Miss at home. Texas and Ole Miss are ranked No. 10 and No. 12 in this week's AP Poll, so those are two strong wins.
It's a great thing for Georgia that Florida won those games because now they still get to say they have two ranked wins this season.
Georgia has a new chance for a ranked win
Georgia's next two opponents are Ole Miss and Missouri. They both have been ranked the entire season so Georgia's known for a long time that they can add some ranked wins against them. Georgia's SEC finale in three weeks against South Carolina though is a brand new opportunity for a ranked win.
South Carolina is only 5-3 this season, but their 42-25 win over Oklahoma on Saturday was enough to move them up to No. 23 in this week's AP Poll. South Carolina has now won three games in a row after previously falling to 2-3 after losing three straight games. On top of this win over Oklahoma they also beat Florida and Tennessee to earn two ranked wins of their own.
Georgia and South Carolina play on Nov. 21. If the Gamecocks lose before then they likely wouldn't be ranked anymore when they play Georgia, but South Carolina plays Texas A&M and Arkansas the next two weeks and they likely will be favored in both games.
Georgia has to travel to South Carolina which will make beating them more difficult, but if they can win that game that would be another strong win on their resume.
Georgia can't worry about South Carolina right now because they have to go to Ole Miss this weekend. If they can beat Ole Miss and Missouri these next two weeks though then they could have an opportunity to earn a fifth ranked win this season if South Carolina handles their business these next two weeks.
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