STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi's Southeastern Conference teams have never been this good and this close.
Ole Miss and Mississippi State are tied for third in The Associated Press college football poll after a wild day of unexpected results brought major changes to the Top 25.
Just about the only thing that didn't change this week was No. 1: Florida State is still top-ranked, with 35 first-place votes.
MORE: AP Top 25 | HAYES: Ole Miss wants more | BENDER: Miss. State looks like Florida of old
Auburn, the only other team in the top six to win, moved up three spots to No. 2 and received 23 first-place votes. Then came Ole Miss and Mississippi State, in the top five together for the first time after the Rebels beat Alabama and the Bulldogs beat Texas A&M on Saturday.
The Bulldogs received two first-place votes.
The Rebels haven't been ranked this high since 1963, when they also were No. 3 and won their last SEC title. The Bulldogs have their best ranking ever. Their previous best was No. 7 in 1981 and their only SEC championship came in 1941.
Between them, the Rebels and Bulldogs have won the SEC West just twice since the league split into two divisions in 1992.
"You've never arrived, but I think we've changed the culture," Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said Sunday. "And that was the goal coming in here, was we wanted to change the culture."