The AP Top 25 was almost completely overhauled Sunday after a weekend in which nine ranked college football teams lost, including four in the top 10. It's the poll's highest turnover since 2022.
Ohio State was the only team to hold its spot, remaining at No. 1 for an eighth straight week.
No. 2 Indiana improved its program-record ranking by one spot. No. 3 Texas A&M’s one-rung promotion gives the Aggies their highest ranking since 1995. No. 4 Alabama achieved its highest ranking of the season and No. 5 Georgia returned to the top five after a three-week absence.
Notable showings continue further down in the poll, with No. 10 Vanderbilt becoming a top-10 team in college football for the first time since 1947. And No. 7 Georgia Tech, which won at Duke, hadn’t been in the top 10 since 2014 or ranked as high since 2009.
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Here’s the latest:
Who’s in? Who’s out?
USC, Memphis, Utah and Nebraska fell out of the rankings after Week 8 losses. All four teams were vulnerable as newer additions to the Top 25 ranked in the bottom half of the poll.
Louisville entered the rankings at No. 19 after upsetting Miami on Friday night. No. 23 Illinois, No. 24 Arizona State and No. 25 Michigan each returned to the AP Top 25.
Conference breakdown
The SEC tops the leaderboard for another week with 10 teams in the rankings: Texas A&M (3), Alabama (4), Georgia (5), Ole Miss (8), Vanderbilt (10), Oklahoma (13), Missouri (15), Tennessee (17), LSU (20), Texas (22).
The Big Ten ranks second with five teams landing in the AP Top 25, including the top two teams: Ohio State (1) and Indiana (2). Then there's Oregon (6), Illinois (23) and Michigan (25).
The ACC and Big 12 each have four teams. For the ACC, it's Georgia Tech (7), Miami (9), Virginia (16) and Louisville (19). From the Big 12, it's BYU (11), Texas Tech (14), Cincinnati (21) and Arizona State (24).
The University of South Florida (18) is the sole ranked team from the American Conference. Notre Dame (12) is independent.
Indiana replaces Miami at No. 2
Miami has been dethroned after back-to-back weeks at No. 2. The Hurricanes’ loss to Louisville cleared the path for Indiana, which improved to 7-0 on Saturday with a 38-13 win against Michigan State.
It was Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza’s fourth time this season with at least four passing touchdowns, strengthening his campaign for the Heisman.
This week’s No. 2 is the highest in program history for the Hoosiers.
Georgia rounds out the top five
Georgia returned to the top five after a 43-35 win against Ole Miss, which ranked No. 5 at the time.
It’s the Bulldogs first time landing in the top five since a late September loss to Alabama. Weeks later, Georgia ranks just one spot below the Crimson Tide.
The Bulldogs have become known for resilience and second-half comebacks. Gunner Stockton led Georgia to two touchdowns and a field-goal scoring drive in the fourth quarter, overcoming a 35-26 deficit and solidifying the victory.
Hear from a voter: Who’s making the Power Four conference championship games?
By SCOTT HAMILTON
Of course there’s still a couple of weeks left in October, yet the standings for every conference remain murky.
Nine teams in the Big Ten are either tied for first place or only one game behind; eight SEC teams are in that same situation. And no league has more than three teams still undefeated in conference play. So every conference is up for grabs, which is a great thing.
For all of the complaining and moaning about NIL, revenue sharing, the transfer portal, etc., we’re more and more finding ourselves in an era of parity like we’ve never seen. If not from conference to conference, then at least within the leagues.
It’s a beautiful thing.
Scott Hamilton is a sports columnist for The Charleston Post and Courier and has been an AP Top 25 voter for eight years. You can follow him on X: @scotthamiltonpc.
Chaotic play results create chaotic upheaval in the Top 25
By ERIC OLSON
It was a chaotic week for Top 25 teams and the new poll reflects that: The only team to stay in the same spot was No. 1 Ohio State.
This was the third time this season that four top-10 teams lost in the same weekend. It was also the second time that two unranked teams beat a top-10 opponent (the other was Oct. 4 when UCLA upset Penn State and Florida beat Texas).
In all, a season-high nine ranked teams lost this weekend, the most since Week 5 in 2022, when 10 Top 25 teams went down, according to Sportradar.
AP Top 25 poll rankings
1. Ohio State
2. Indiana
3. Texas A&M
4. Alabama
5. Georgia
6. Oregon
7. Georgia Tech
8. Ole Miss
9. Miami (Fla.)
10. Vanderbilt
11. BYU
12. Notre Dame
13. Oklahoma
14. Texas Tech
15. Missouri
16. Virginia
17. Tennessee
18. USF
19. Louisville
20. LSU
21. Cincinnati
22. Texas
23. Illinois
24. Arizona State
25. Michigan
Who might rise and fall in this week’s poll
Stock up: Indiana, Alabama, Georgia, Vanderbilt, BYU, Georgia Tech.
Stock down: Miami, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, LSU, Nebraska, Memphis.
Knocking on the door
Louisville is likely to crack the Top 25 for the first time this season after overthrowing Miami on its home turf.
The Cardinals got off to a hot start and maintained the lead all game long despite Miami’s late efforts.
Arizona State has been in and out of the rankings this season, most recently dropping out of the poll after a loss to Utah. But this week the Sun Devils knocked off a top 10 Texas Tech team in a game that wasn’t short of excitement.
Texas Tech scored two touchdowns in two minutes and took the lead with two minutes on the clock. Arizona State responded with an efficient touchdown-scoring drive to secure the 26-22 win.
Hear from a voter: Why is Notre Dame still moving up in the poll?
By SCOTT HAMILTON
I get what you’re saying re: Notre Dame. But the Irish’s two losses were to elite teams by a combined four points. And Notre Dame has done what it needs to do since — execute on a weekly basis against a schedule of Power 4 opponents and Group of Six power Boise State.
The Irish have won those games by an average of 25.5 points. I’ll be shocked if the Irish don’t make the College Football Playoff — and equally shocked if Notre Dame doesn’t win a game or two in it.
Hear from a voter: Who are the top five teams on your ballot and why?
By SCOTT HAMILTON
I’m really bullish on both Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech for multiple reasons.
First and foremost, they’re both really good football teams. Maybe not man for man — LSU’s roster is way better than Vandy’s. But both Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech are wonderful examples of the sums being more than the parts. Every player on each team has a role, knows his role and works to execute that role to the best of his ability.
Both teams are also extremely well coached — they know who they are and what they are and embrace it. I also really like how the schedules play out for both teams going forward, especially Georgia Tech.
The Yellow Jackets have four conferences games left (two at home, two on the road) against opponents who are a combined 13-15 overall, 5-10 in the ACC. Then they finish up with their traditional game against Georgia.
Barring a complete collapse, I don’t see how Georgia Tech doesn’t have big plans over the holidays.
Hear from a voter: How did you handle the chaos of losses by ranked teams this week?
By SCOTT HAMILTON
It promised to be an eventful weekend and it definitely delivered.
There were five ranked games and three were determined by one score. Even the other two were more competitive than the final margins.
But those are the easy ones to gauge for obvious reasons — you’re not gonna penalize a ranked team for narrowly losing to another ranked team. Often times, you just flip their spots (seriously).
As far as the others, you have to weigh a few different factors: location, injuries, etc., for that specific game and then look back at the losing team’s entire body of work up to that point.
LSU is a great example. Both of the Tigers’ losses have come to ranked teams on the road (at Ole Miss, at Vanderbilt), so it’s hard to be too punishing; but they also don’t really have a bundle of quality wins to really elevate them. So I put them at No. 25 and will go from there when LSU plays at Texas A&M next week.
Five Top 25 teams keep their undefeated streaks alive
Five Top 25 teams maintained an undefeated record through Week 8: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 3 Indiana, No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 12 Georgia Tech and No. 15 BYU.
Ohio State shut out Wisconsin 34-0. Indiana cruised past Michigan State with a 38-13 win. Texas A&M escaped a close one against Arkansas, pulling out a 45-42 victory. Georgia Tech beat ACC foe Duke 27-18 and BYU held off Utah, coming out on top with a 24-21 win.
Four top 10 teams stumble in Week 8
No. 2 Miami, No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 7 Texas Tech and No. 10 LSU lost in Week 8 of college football play, paving the way for a major reshuffle in the top 10 of this week’s poll.
They were the first losses of the season for Miami, Ole Miss and Texas Tech. The Hurricanes were stunned at home by Louisville, which picked off quarterback Carson Beck four times on Friday night and secured a 24-21 win.
Vanderbilt outscored LSU 31-24 on Saturday, an effort spearheaded by Commodores’ quarterback Diego Pavia. Ole Miss dropped 43-35 to Georgia on the road in an offensive shootout. And Arizona State handed Texas Tech a 26-22 loss in a last-minute thriller.
Who votes in the poll, and how does it work?
No organization has been ranking teams and naming a major college football national champion longer than The Associated Press, since 1936.
AP employees don’t vote themselves, but they do choose the voters. AP Top 25 voters comprise around 60 writers and broadcasters who cover college football for AP members and other select outlets. The goal is to have every state with a Football Bowl Subdivision school represented by at least one voter.
Voting is a straight points system: A first-place vote is worth 25 points, a second-place vote is worth 24 points, down to 1 point for a 25th-place vote.
Then it’s just a summary of which teams are 1-25 based on the totals. Others receiving votes are also noted.
Voting is done online, and the tabulation is automated.
Five Top 25 teams keep their undefeated streaks alive
Five Top 25 teams maintained an undefeated record through Week 8: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 3 Indiana, No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 12 Georgia Tech and No. 15 BYU.
Ohio State shut out Wisconsin 34-0. Indiana cruised past Michigan State with a 38-13 win. Texas A&M escaped a close one against Arkansas, pulling out a 45-42 victory. Georgia Tech beat ACC foe Duke 27-18 and BYU held off Utah, coming out on top with a 24-21 win.
Four top 10 teams stumble in Week 8
No. 2 Miami, No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 7 Texas Tech and No. 10 LSU lost in Week 8 of college football play, paving the way for a major reshuffle in the top 10 of this week’s poll.
They were the first losses of the season for Miami, Ole Miss and Texas Tech. The Hurricanes were stunned at home by Louisville, which picked off quarterback Carson Beck four times on Friday night and secured a 24-21 win.
Vanderbilt outscored LSU 31-24 on Saturday, an effort spearheaded by Commodores’ quarterback Diego Pavia. Ole Miss dropped 43-35 to Georgia on the road in an offensive shootout. And Arizona State handed Texas Tech a 26-22 loss in a last-minute thriller.
Who votes in the poll, and how does it work?
No organization has been ranking teams and naming a major college football national champion longer than The Associated Press, since 1936.
AP employees don’t vote themselves, but they do choose the voters. AP Top 25 voters comprise around 60 writers and broadcasters who cover college football for AP members and other select outlets. The goal is to have every state with a Football Bowl Subdivision school represented by at least one voter.
There is a 1-to-25 point system, with a team voted No. 1 receiving 25 points down to 1 point for a 25th-place vote. After that, it’s simple: The poll lists the teams with the most points from 1 to 25, and others receiving votes are also noted.
Voting is done online, and the tabulation is automated. ___ This story has been corrected to show that the last time more ranked teams lost in one week was in Week 5 of 2022, not Week 6.
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