The AP Top 25 is poised to shake up again after another eventful week of college football.
Five teams in the poll — including No. 2 BYU and No. 8 Texas Tech — got knocked off by unranked opponents on Saturday. The top 10 also saw No. 7 Mississippi lose to No. 19 Texas, keeping the Longhorns’ College Football Playoff hopes alive.
Miami, meanwhile, had no problem passing its first test as No. 1. The Hurricanes routed Pittsburgh 52-23 in their first game
atop the poll since 2002.
No. 2 BYU wasn’t as fortunate. The Cougars’ double overtime loss at UCF should clear the way for No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 5 Georgia — all idle — each to move up a spot.
Then it could get tricky, depending on how far BYU drops after its first loss, which came on the road a week after it knocked off then-No. 2 Notre Dame.
Stick around for more projections and live updates when the latest rankings drop at 2 p.m. EDT.
By MARK LONG
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.
