There is a change at the top for the second straight week amid a chaotic weekend of upsets, while BYU’s win over Notre Dame earned major respect from the voters
The wildest Saturday in college football history led to a significant shakeup in the weekly Associated Press Top 25 poll.
When five of the eight top-ranked teams all lost on the same day — the first time in AP poll history — it guaranteed a new-look top 10.
The undefeated Miami Hurricanes are the new No. 1 team in the country, receiving 40 first-place votes. The Hurricanes, atop the AP poll for the first time since 2002, jumped last week’s No. 1 Georgia, which slipped to No. 5 after a last-second home loss to unranked Auburn.
The Big 12 was the biggest benefactor from Saturday’s chaos atop the rankings. BYU jumped all the way up to No. 2 after its controversial win over then-No. 2 Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish fell two spots to No. 4 despite the Big 12 issuing a statement afterward that officials erred in not putting another second on the clock. Texas Tech jumped up two spots to No. 8 after its blowout win over Arizona State.
The Big 12 now has a conference-best three top-10 teams. The Big Ten also has three top-10 teams (Ohio State, Indiana and UCLA), while the SEC has two.
College football’s ranked-win leaders: Teams with the most victories vs. current AP Top 25
Brad Crawford
SEC already eating itself
A week ago, the SEC had four teams in the top 10 and seven in the top 15.
This week: Two in the top 10 and five in the top 15.
It’s no surprise that the SEC is beating itself up, though seeing the Big 12 with more top 10 teams is admittedly eye-opening. The SEC slate is always challenging, and moving to a nine-game conference schedule naturally made it tougher.
But Saturday showed just how challenging from top-to-bottom the SEC is this season. The only top-10 team from last week to survive unscathed was Ole Miss. Georgia, Texas and Alabama all went down on Saturday, with two of those losses coming at home. There is no longer an unbeaten team in the SEC, and it sure looks likely there will be more chaos to come within the conference.
First-year success at UCLA, Kentucky
UCLA is a top 10 team. Kentucky is the No. 12 team.
In football.
Seriously.
UCLA’s Bob Chesney and Kentucky’s Will Stein should be the co-frontrunners for Coach of the Year awards for what they’ve already accomplished in just half a season. Chesney took over a program that went 3-9 last season and fired head coach DeShaun Foster after only three games. The No. 9 Bruins are 6-0 and ranked in the top 10 for the first time since 2022. UCLA’s 17-7 win over Wisconsin without quarterback Nico Iamaleava showed that this team is a legitimate College Football Playoff contender.
Stein’s situation was a bit better — the Wildcats went 5-7 in Mark Stoops’ last season — but to be 6-1 in the SEC with wins over LSU, Oklahoma and Texas A&M is beyond impressive. The Wildcats could continue climbing in the rankings, too, with Vanderbilt up next.
Week 8 AP Top 25
| RANK | SCHOOL | REC | LW | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1. |
Miami (40) |
6-0 |
3 |
1,697 |
|
2. |
BYU (20) |
6-0 |
8 |
1,675 |
|
3. |
Ohio State (9) |
6-1 |
4 |
1,649 |
|
4. |
Notre Dame |
6-1 |
2 |
1,395 |
|
5. |
Georgia |
6-1 |
1 |
1,382 |
|
6. |
Indiana |
6-1 |
5 |
1,370 |
|
7. |
Ole Miss |
5-1 |
9 |
1,360 |
|
8. |
Texas Tech (1) |
6-0 |
10 |
1,336 |
|
9. |
UCLA |
6-0 |
12 |
1,159 |
|
10. |
6-0 |
11 |
1,153 |
|
|
11. |
6-1 |
14 |
1,151 |
|
|
12. |
Kentucky |
6-1 |
15 |
932 |
|
13. |
Alabama |
5-2 |
6 |
870 |
|
14. |
6-1 |
20 |
785 |
|
|
15. |
5-1 |
17 |
747 |
|
|
16. |
6-1 |
19 |
592 |
|
|
17. |
6-1 |
21 |
574 |
|
|
18. |
5-2 |
22 |
529 |
|
|
19. |
Texas |
4-2 |
7 |
440 |
|
20. |
5-2 |
NR |
355 |
|
|
21. |
5-1 |
23 |
295 |
|
|
22. |
5-2 |
13 |
290 |
|
|
23. |
5-1 |
24 |
265 |
|
|
24. |
5-1 |
25 |
254 |
|
|
25. |
5-1 |
NR |
136 |
Also receiving votes: Oklahoma State 128, Oregon 79, Auburn 61, James Madison 52, Mississippi State 30, New Mexico 6, Oregon State 3
