No. 1 Miami was the only team to hold its spot in the latest AP Top 25 rankings after another major reordering in the poll in the wake of BYU’s loss at UCF.
The Cougars fell to No. 8, allowing an idle Ohio State to move up to No. 2.
Georgia moved up a spot to No. 3 after its open date, Indiana jumped two rungs to No. 4 after winning at Michigan in overtime, and Notre Dame slipped a spot to No. 5 after being idle. Utah, UCLA, BYU, Kentucky and Alabama
rounded out the top 10.
Miami, Utah and UCLA are the only remaining unbeaten teams, the fewest at this point in a season since there were three left in 1977, according to Sportradar.
See what to look for this season and follow live analysis on the rankings below.
Dive into the poll
Live updates: More big changes should be coming for the AP Top 25
By MARK LONG
Updated 11:42 AM EDT, October 25, 2026
No. 1 Miami was the only team to hold its spot in the latest AP Top 25 rankings after another major reordering in the poll in the wake of BYU’s loss at UCF.
The Cougars fell to No. 8, allowing an idle Ohio State to move up to No. 2.
Georgia moved up a spot to No. 3 after its open date, Indiana jumped two rungs to No. 4 after winning at Michigan in overtime, and Notre Dame slipped a spot to No. 5 after being idle. Utah, UCLA, BYU, Kentucky and Alabama rounded out the top 10.
Miami, Utah and UCLA are the only remaining unbeaten teams, the fewest at this point in a season since there were three left in 1977, according to Sportradar.
See what to look for this season and follow live analysis on the rankings below.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
1. Miami (Fla.) 2. Ohio State 3. Georgia 4. Indiana 5. Notre Dame 6. Utah 7. UCLA 8. BYU 9. Kentucky 10. Alabama 11. Texas 12. Ole Miss 13. Texas Tech 14. Wake Forest 15. LSU 16. Tennessee 17. Florida 18. Houston 19. SMU 20. Boise State (tie) 20. Northwestern (tie) 22. Arizona 23. Missouri 24. Oklahoma State 25. Wisconsin
— Others receiving votes: Iowa, New Mexico, Cincinnati, Oregon State, South Carolina, Minnesota, USC, UTSA, Virginia Tech
By MARK LONG
Texas and Arch Manning have experienced some extreme highs and lows in the second half of games this season. Their latest win was no different.
After Manning fumbled and threw an interception in the second half Saturday to help No. 7 Mississippi tie the game at 24 in the fourth quarter, he answered by leading the Longhorns on consecutive scoring drives to win 34-27. It was reminiscent of his play against Ohio State in September, when Texas scored the final 21 points to stun the Buckeyes 24-23.
Sandwiched between those victories were two stinkers. Manning fumbled late in a home loss to Florida and threw two fourth-quarter interceptions in a loss to Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry.
By JERRY HUMPHREY
Sometimes you’ll have a case where injuries could play a role in some matchups. I’m really big on strength of schedule and conferences.
By MARK LONG
Top-ranked Miami routed Pittsburgh 52-23 in the Hurricanes’ first game atop the poll since 2002.
Coach Mario Cristobal’s team ended a two-week run of No. 1 teams losing to conference rivals. In recent weeks then-No.1 Texas was stunned by Oklahoma followed by Georgia being upset by Auburn.
Miami’s Malachi Toney and Darian Mensah shone in this one. Toney finished with a school-record 16 catches for 194 yards and three touchdowns, and Mensah threw for 387 yards and four scores as Miami proved it’s ready to carry the No. 1 torch.
The Hurricanes’ next two games are far from gimmes. They play at North Carolina on Saturday, a week before facing Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
By JERRY HUMPHREY
I left them off my ballot simply because of how competitive the SEC is. The Gamecocks are still 2-3 in the conference, with losses to Alabama, Mississippi State & Kentucky.
By MARK LONG
Three college football head coaches have been fired this week: Baylor’s Dave Aranda and N.C. State’s Dave Doeren joined Maryland’s Mike Locksley.
Doeren lost his job on Saturday, one day after his team lost at Stanford. Doeren spent the last 14 seasons in charge of the Wolfpack and was under contract through December 2029.
The school will owe him $9.75 million in base salary for the remaining years, plus any remaining payments for the 2026 calendar year, which would ultimately push his buyout past the $10 million mark.
Doeren’s dismissal came three days after Maryland moved on from coach Mike Locksley following his team’s fifth consecutive loss. The Terrapins owe Locksley 65% of his remaining salary, which amounts to $9.2 million.
Aranda is also out.
Who could be next? Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, Washington’s Jedd Fisch, Florida State’s Mike Norvell, TCU’s Sonny Dykes, USC’s Lincoln Riley and Colorado’s Deion Sanders are ones to watch.
South Carolina’s Shane Beamer and Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell appear to have moved off proverbial hot seats.
By JERRY HUMPHREY
Utah’s win over Houston will give them the validation to move inside the top 10.
I personally ranked UCLA over Utah because of the Bruins’ wins over Oregon and Wisconsin.
By MARK LONG
No. 8 Texas Tech joined the ranks of one-loss teams even before No. 2 BYU on Saturday.
The Red Raiders allowed 21 consecutive points in the second quarter in a 37-24 loss at Cincinnati.
It was the Bearcats’ first win over a top-10 team at home since Nov. 18, 2006. The Red Raiders were trying to get to 7-0 for the first time since 2013 and were plagued by mistakes all afternoon.
“I’m as frustrated as I’ve ever been in my 32 years of coaching,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said.
BYU’s stunning 39-31 loss at UCF came after a questionable call. It was somewhat fitting considering all the late-game craziness that played out in “The Bounce House.”
The Cougars forced a 26-yard field goal to start the second overtime, but defensive end Kendal Wall was flagged for roughing the kicker: replays showed he was partially blocked into Will Stone. The penalty gave the Knights a first down. They scored two plays later and added the 2-point conversion. BYU failed to answer.
The end of regulation was even wilder. BYU was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct with 14 seconds to play, moving UCF into field-goal range. BYU’s Faletau Satuala blocked the field goal on third down. Stone recovered and looked like he would get another shot. But his helmet came off during the play, incurring a 10-second clock runoff (UCF had no timeouts to prevent it) and sending the game into overtime.
Georgia and Kentucky are the only Southeastern Conference teams remaining with one loss – just like everyone predicted two months ago, right?
The Bulldogs had a bye week while the Wildcats beat Vanderbilt, 34-17. It was Kentucky’s sixth consecutive win, the longest current streak in the league.
The SEC has shown a penchant for parity this season, with six teams following huge wins with losses: Ole Miss lost at Florida a week after beating then-No. 7 LSU; Florida lost at Missouri a week after beating then-No. 4 Ole Miss; Georgia lost at home to Auburn a week after winning at then-No. 6 Alabama; Oklahoma lost at home to Kentucky a week after stunning then-No. 1 Texas; Auburn got handled at home by LSU a week after shocking then-No. 1 Georgia on the road; and Tennessee lost at South Carolina on Saturday a week after knocking off then-No. 6 Alabama.
Week 8 of the college football season was nearly as eventful as Week 7, and significant adjustments to The Associated Press Top 25 are likely when the poll is released at 2 p.m. EDT.
No. 2 BYU, No. 8 Texas Tech, No. 11 Tennessee, No. 15 Iowa and No. 16 USC lost to unranked opponents on the road Saturday. No. 7 Mississippi and No. 14 Houston lost to ranked teams away from home, with the Rebels falling at No. 19 Texas and the Cougars stumbling against No. 10 Utah in Salt Lake City.
Last week, five of the top seven teams lost on the same day for the first time in the poll’s 90-year history.
For those counting at home, that means 11 top-10 teams have lost over the last three weeks. And either No. 1 or No. 2 has fallen over three consecutive weeks.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AP Top 25 voters are writers and broadcasters who cover college football.
AP employees do not vote, but they do choose the voters, and they seek wide representation from all over the country. This season, there are 69 voters.
The focus begins with voter representation in states with a Bowl Subdivision school, and the total number of voters from each state increases with the number of FBS teams. There are also spots reserved for national voters.
The AP allows broad latitude for voters to determine their rankings. They are urged to base their votes on performance, not reputation or preseason speculation (except, of course, for the always provocative preseason poll); to avoid regional bias, for or against; to pay attention to head-to-head results; and to make significant changes if desired.
Half of the six unbeaten teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision lost this weekend, leaving Miami, Utah and UCLA as the only teams without a blemish in 2026.
Utah beat Houston 21-13 in Salt Lake City to reach 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Big 12. UCLA handled Michigan State in Los Angeles, winning 28-10 to go 7-0 overall for the first time since 2005. The Bruins are 5-0 in the Big Ten. Miami is 7-0, including 5-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Interesting note: Utah (Morgan Scalley) and UCLA (Bob Chesney) both have new head coaches.
Three previously undefeated teams — James Madison, BYU and Texas Tech — suffered their first losses of the season this weekend. All three stumbled on the road.
