Alabama, Georgia move into top 5 in AP poll after upset

Vanderbilt is among college football’s top 10 for the first time since 1947, according to an Associated Press Top 25 poll that got a makeover Sunday after a weekend in which nine ranked teams lost.

Ohio State was the only team to retain its spot, remaining No. 1 for an eighth straight week after shutting out Wisconsin 34-0 on the road.

Beyond the Buckeyes, a significant overhaul was required, with four top 10 teams losing in the same week for the third time this season. Nine losing teams from the Top 25 was the most since Week 5 in 2022, when 10 fell, according to Sportradar. Four of this week’s losses came to unranked opponents.

The Buckeyes received 60 first-place votes, 10 more than a week ago. No. 2 Indiana pulled away from Michigan State, improved its program-record ranking by one spot and received the other six first-place votes.

Ohio State’s 10 consecutive appearances in the top five is the longest active streak.

Texas A&M’s promotion up one spot to No. 3 gives the Aggies their highest ranking since 1995. No. 4 Alabama has its best ranking of the season and No. 5 Georgia returned to the top five after a three-week absence.

Georgia’s 140th consecutive week in the poll is the second-longest active streak after Alabama’s 287.

Oregon, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Miami and Vanderbilt round out the top 10.

The Ducks bounced back from their home loss to Indiana with a lopsided road win against Rutgers.

Georgia Tech, which won at Duke, hadn’t been in the top 10 since 2014 or ranked that high since 2009. Mississippi’s loss to Georgia dropped it three spots, and Miami fell seven after losing to unranked Louisville.

Louisville debuts the season in the Top 25. The No. 19 Cardinals, whose only loss was by three points to Virginia on Oct. 4, were 0-18 all-time against top 10 teams in true road games before defeating the Hurricanes.

At 16th, Virginia’s ranking is its highest since 2007.

Vanderbilt bounced back from its loss to Alabama two weeks ago with a 31-24 victory over then-No. 10 LSU. The Commodores earned a seven-place promotion for their first win over the Tigers since 1990. At 6-1, Vandy is off to its best start since 1950, with two wins against ranked opponents.

Vanderbilt’s top-10 ranking is the fifth in program history. The others were in 1937 (once), 1941 (once) and 1947 (twice).

Texas Tech’s first loss came at Arizona State and dropped the Red Raiders seven spots to 14th.

LSU suffered the biggest drop, plunging 10 spots to 20th for its lowest ranking of the season.

No. 23 Illinois returned despite being inactive. The Illini dropped for the first time this season after a home loss to Ohio State.

No. 24 Arizona State, which was eliminated from the ballot after a 32-point loss to Utah, returned after its first victory against a top 10 opponent since 2019.

No. 25 Michigan’s 17-point home win over Washington returned the Wolverines to the standings after a week off.

USC (No. 20 entering this week), Memphis (22), Utah (23) and Nebraska (25) dropped out.

CONFERENCE CALL

SEC (10): No. 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 20, 22.

Big Ten (5): No. 1, 2, 6, 23, 25.

Big 12 (4): No. 11, 14, 21, 24.

ACC (4): No. 7, 9, 16, 19.

American (1): No. 18.

Independent (1): No. 12.

RATED VS. CLASS

No. 3 Texas A&M (7-0) at No. 20 LSU (5-2): The home team has won the last eight meetings. LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier threw three interceptions in the second half and Marcel Reed came off the bench to score three touchdowns in the Aggies’ 38-23 victory last season.

No. 8 Mississippi (6-1) at No. 13 Oklahoma (6-1): This will only be their third meeting ever. The Rebels recorded nine sacks in a 26-14 win last season.

No. 15 Missouri (6-1) at No. 10 Vanderbilt (6-1): Vandy kicker Brock Taylor has made 17 straight field goal attempts since missing a 31-yard field goal that gave the Tigers a 30-27 double-overtime victory last season.