Northwestern Football Rankings: Wildcats No. 24 in AP Poll, No. 22 In Coaches Poll

At 5-0, Northwestern will be ranked in both the AP and Coaches polls for the first time since beginning the season 6-1 in 2008.

Northwestern is No. 24 in the AP Poll, aka the one that matters. The Wildcats were the last team out of the poll last week, so it seemed pretty evident that the Wildcats would make it in with a win, unless every team in the poll won, which was technically impossible since several of them played each other. Baylor dropped out despite putting up 63 points against a Top 10 team in West Virginia, as they lost that shootout 70-63. Michigan State fell out with the loss to Ohio State, and even though Boise State won, they were rightfully dropped from their No. 24 spot for a 32-29 outing against New Mexico, their second shoddy win in as many weeks. Washington jumped NU in the order after beating Stanford, but that's to be expected.

In the coaches poll, Northwestern clocks in at No. 22. It should be noted that the coaches' poll is completely meaningless and continued to rank Wisconsin up until this past week.

It's the first time Northwestern has been in the AP Poll at all since the final regular season poll in 2008, when NU was ranked No. 23 before a loss in the Alamo Bowl. Northwestern was briefly ranked in the coaches poll in 2010 after starting 5-0 and again after knocking off a ranked Iowa team - the Dan Persa game - but dropped games the next week both times. Northwestern has lost its last four games as a ranked team in the AP poll dating back to 2001.