Why is Georgia ranked behind the Oregon Ducks in Week 9 AP Poll rankings?

On Sunday afternoon, the Week 9 AP Poll was released and saw a lot of changes at the top, including new programs ranked number one and two. The Oregon Ducks are now the top-ranked program, while the Georgia Bulldogs are second. However, there are questions on why the voters ranked them this way instead of placing the Bulldogs ahead of the Ducks.

Let's take a closer look at what some of the reasons are that the AP Poll voters made this decision.

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Why are the Georgia Bulldogs ranked behind the Oregon Ducks?

The AP Poll is a very simple voting system to understand. There are 61 voters who are asked to create their top 25 teams in college football each week. Each ballot is publicly available and is curated from the summation of the voters. If a voter puts Oregon as first and Georgia as second, the Ducks would get 25 points and the Bulldogs would get 24.

This continues until all of the 61 ballots are counted and is listed as the top 25 teams in order of points. In Week 9's AP Poll, the Oregon Ducks tallied 1523 points (59 first-place votes) while the Georgia Bulldogs recorded 1434 points (two first-place votes).

Another major reason could be more simplistic. The Oregon Ducks are 7-0 with a win over the Ohio State Buckeyes while the Georgia Bulldogs sit at 6-1 record with a win over the Texas Longhorns but a loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide. It would have been difficult for the Bulldogs, who were ranked fifth in last week's AP Poll, to leapfrog to the top sport when Oregon is undefeated.

While Georgia's win against then top-ranked Texas was impressive, the Oregon Ducks have not faltered. In terms of team stats, Oregon is averaging more points and allowing fewer points this season.

The AP Poll is highly fluid, with teams frequently rising and falling. Oregon has a tough home game this week against the No. 20 Illinois Fighting Illini, while Georgia hosts an unranked Florida Gators. If Oregon loses and Georgia wins, it will be difficult to maintain this ranking order based on the quality of opponents.