Indiana rose to No. 3 Sunday in the Associated Press college football poll for its highest ranking in program history, while Texas and USC were among five teams entering the Top 25 after eight ranked teams – including three previously undefeated – lost over the weekend.
Ohio State and Miami remained the top two teams while the Hoosiers earned a four-spot promotion for their 10-point win at then No. 1 seed. 3 Oregon. No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 5 Ole Miss swapped places following the Aggies’ 17-point home win over Florida and the Rebels’ three-point home win over Washington State.
The Buckeyes strengthened their hold on No. 1 with a solid road win against then-No. 17 Illinois and received 50 first-place votes, 10 more than last week. Miami, which was inactive, received 13 first-place votes, and Indiana received the other three.
Texas A&M has its highest regular-season ranking since being No. 3 in September 1995.
Alabama moved up two spots to No. 6 and was followed by Texas Tech, Oregon, Georgia and LSU. Oregon fell five spots and has its lowest ranking in 20 polls since being No. 8 in September 2024.
Indiana’s revolutionary run under second-year coach Curt Cignetti has been one of the biggest stories in college football since last season. The Hoosiers entered the Oregon game 0-46 on the road against a top-five team and, before Sunday, had never been ranked higher than No. 4. Their three first-place votes are the highest in a poll since they received the same number when ranked No. 6 on November 5, 1945.
Oklahoma fell eight spots to 14th with its first loss, 23-6 to Texas. The Longhorns were the preseason No. 1 team, but a season-opening loss at Ohio State and a Week 6 loss at Florida knocked them out of the Top 25.
In beating the rival Sooners, the Longhorns held off a top-10 opponent without a touchdown for the first time since 1979 and re-entered the poll at No. 21. It was Texas’ first win of the season against a ranked opponent, and another won’t be on the cards for at least three weeks.
Missouri, which started 5-0, fell two spots to 16th after its three-point home loss to Alabama.
No. 20 USC, ranked twice in September, returned to the rankings with its 18-point home win over Michigan.
No. 23 Utah is back after a three-week absence following a 32-point win over Arizona State.
No. 24 Cincinnati beat Central Florida at home for its fifth straight victory and is ranked for the first time since 2022.
No. 25 Nebraska came from behind to beat Maryland on the road and earns its first ranking of the season. This is the first time since the 2013 and 2014 seasons that the Cornhuskers have been ranked in consecutive seasons.
Five teams – Michigan (15), Illinois (17), Arizona State (21), Iowa State (22) and Florida State (25) – dropped out of the poll, marking the largest turnover in a regular season poll since seven teams fell out on October 2, 2022.
CONFERENCE CALL
SEC (10): No. 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 16, 17, 21
Big Ten (5): No. 1, 3, 8, 20, 25
Big 12 (4): No. 7, 15, 23, 24
ACC (3): No. 2, 12, 18
American (2): Nos. 19, 22
Independent (1): No. 13
RATED VS. CLASS
No. 5 Ole Miss (6-0) at No. 9 Georgia (5-1): Judging by their close matchup against Washington State, the Rebels may have been looking forward to this one. They have lost six straight times in Athens since 1996.
No. 10 LSU (5-1) at No. 17 Vanderbilt (5-1): The Tigers have won 10 straight games in the series. Both teams will be seeded in this matchup for the first time since 1947.
No. 11 Tennessee (5-1) at No. 6 Alabama (5-1): This match is part of the Top 25 for the fifth year in a row. Both teams are coming off hard-fought three-point victories.
No. 20 USC (5-1) at No. 13 Notre Dame (4-2): High stakes in this historic series with both teams clinging to their playoff hopes.
No. 23 Utah (5-1) at No. 15 BYU (6-0): First Top 25 game in this one since 2009. Last year, the Cougars benefited from a questionable defensive holding penalty on fourth down before scoring a field goal with 4 seconds left for a 22-21 victory.
