The updated AP Top 25 Poll could see more changes than last week, despite the fact that the college football schedule for Week 9 did not include as many games between ranked team. This is due to some important results in the entire rankings. Six of the top 25 teams in the AP Top 25 poll lost games during Week 9. This left room for teams to climb up voters’ ballots. This will help teams who have a high number of wins as we head into the last stretch of the year. Avoiding a loss is just as valuable as a notable win for ranking movement. We’re predicting a notable movement from a high-quality win by a top-10 team. Ole Miss entered Norman as a underdog, but the Rebels quickly took the lead and dominated the final quarter to come out with an 8-point victory. Ole Miss’ only loss of the season came against Georgia at Athens. It is unlikely that they will move any higher than the No. 5 spot. Look for the voting points gap between No. 5 and No. 6 to narrow as a result of the Rebels’ win in the rain. Elsewhere, we’re monitoring whether Texas A&M will get any first-place votes after a dominant win against LSU in Death Valley as well as if Indiana’s first-place vote count will improve following the second 50+ point win of the season against a conference opponent. The No. The No. Both No. 3.
Vanderbilt, the SEC’s 5th team, enters the CFP bracket. BYU shows off as a new Big 12 leader.
Brad Crawford
With a half dozen ranked teams dropping out, the top 25 will see some changes, beyond the usual shuffle within the top 10. There will be some dramatic changes in the second half of the ranking. Teams with low loss totals may see a big move up in the poll, or break into the top 25 after being unranked the previous week.
The new AP Top 25 is what we expect to see on Sunday, after Week 9. Ohio State (Last week — 1): The Buckeyes were off in Week 9 and will be back in action next week against Penn State in Columbus. 2. Indiana (2) : Curt Cignetti referred to UCLA earlier this week as a 3-point team. It is clear that Indiana was paying close attention to UCLA, as they seemed like an undefeated enemy. Indiana raced out to a 35-3 halftime lead and never let up in a 56-6 victory. 3. Texas A&M (3): A thunderous result in Baton Rouge could lead to some first-place votes going the way of Texas A&M, which is now 8-0 and staring down the possibility of an all-time season in College Station. The Aggies defeated LSU in three phases in Tiger Stadium on Saturday, giving Brian Kelly only his second ever loss at night under the lights.
4. Alabama (4) – The Crimson Tide was able to escape from a tight spot in South Carolina, thanks in part because the defense made a big turnover in fourth quarter which led to the winning score. Alabama did not play its best game, but it rose to the occasion in the crunch time on both sides of the ball and escaped Columbia with a win. 5. Georgia (5): The Bulldogs were off in Week 9 and will be back in action next week against Florida in Jacksonville. 6. Ole Miss (8): The Rebels’ win over Oklahoma on Saturday in Norman may be remembered as one of their most important victories of the year. It has completely changed the outlook of the Rebels for the postseason and has certainly changed the way they will be ranked. Ole Miss, a slight underdog according to the oddsmakers’ predictions, overcame the second-half attack of the Sooners by scoring the final nine points in the game. The result was a 34-26 win. This win validates what we anticipate will be a good record by the end of the year (7-1 so far) and keeps Ole Miss right in the middle of the SEC championship race.
7. Georgia Tech (7). There’s a hard ceiling on the number of points needed to move up, but in 2025, they continue to pass all tests. Georgia Tech’s slow start was halted by multiple starters. The Yellow Jackets then dominated Syracuse with a score of 41-16. Haynes King totaled five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing) by the end of the rout, and Brent Key’s team is now 8-0 on the season and 5-0 in ACC play. 8. Oregon (6): Although Wisconsin did not threaten to win, Oregon’s 21-7 win over the Badgers came closer than expected. The voters won’t punish the Ducks for their double-digit victory, but in terms of tiebreakers between teams with one loss (or increasing momentum for undefeated squads like Georgia Tech or BYU), it was a match that opened the door for other teams to challenge the Ducks. 9. Vanderbilt (10) – Vanderbilt continues its best start in history with a 17-10 hard-fought win over Missouri. Vanderbilt now stands at 6-1. Makhilyn’s 80-yard touchdown ran by the Commodores opened the game.
10. BYU (11) : BYU’s reluctance in boosting its ranking will be put to the test, as now they are 8-0 following an impressive rally and a notable win over Iowa State. BYU flipped this game by forcing three turnovers and picking off Rocco Betcht. BYU is unlikely to beat Georgia Tech but any other team could be beaten by the Cougars, who are always finding new ways to win. 11. Miami (9): With a score of less than 100 points, the Hurricanes are in the ninth spot. This could be a result of a shift due to changes in voting momentum. Vanderbilt winning the ranking, BYU going 8-0 in the first week and Miami starting slowly before cruising into a victory could all lead to some changes around the top 10. 12. Notre Dame (12), Boston College: The Fighting Irish will return to action in Week 12 after a week off.
13. Texas Tech (14) : The Red Raiders were desperate for a win to make up for a disappointing loss against Arizona State. They drew a good opponent in Oklahoma State who came to Lubbock. Texas Tech was dominant from the beginning, scoring a touchdown of 99 yards on the opening kickoff. The Cowboys were unable to resist the Red Raiders in their 42-0 victory. 14. Tennessee (17): After last week’s loss to Alabama, the Vols offense responded well by scoring 504 yards and 56 points on a Kentucky team who had done well in previous matches against other SEC teams. Rankings shakeups elsewhere will lead to a slight bump up, but no major moves in the rankings for a Tennessee team that is now 6-2 with a thin margin for error the rest of the way. 15. Cincinnati (21): After beating Baylor at home 41-20, the Bearcats have now won seven consecutive games and are tied for first in the Big 12 standings. It’s their first seven-game streak since they won the College Football Now, the goal is to make the playoffs in 2021. This is due to the team’s position in the Big 12 race for the title. Scott Satterfield’s squad faces a difficult schedule, which includes road trips to Utah and TCU along with a home match against the Cougars.
16. Virginia (16): The last two weeks of performances may have given voters a reason to lower Virginia’s ranking. It’s fair that the Wahoos, who were double-digit underdogs against Washington State and North Carolina but won both games by just three points combined, have not lived up to their expectations since beating Louisville. The win over Louisville will be a crucial factor in any changes to the ballot, so it’s hard to go down. 17. Louisville (19) – The Cardinals were in for a challenge after beating Miami. Boston College, despite starting the game with an 1-6 record, put up a good fight throughout all four quarters. Louisville thankfully could rise the steady hand of star running back Isaac Brown, who totaled 205 yards rushing in the win. 18. Texas (22): Texas has a lot of work ahead and is on track to achieve preseason goals with a win in overtime over Mississippi State. The Longhorns weren’t very efficient, and Arch Manning was injured late in game. But they still managed to overcome a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to improve their record to 6-2 and 3-1 SEC.
Texas can be proud of its comeback. But consecutive OT wins against SEC bottom feeders reveals major flaws.
Shehan Jeyarajah
19. Oklahoma (13) : The Sooners should, in theory not suffer a major drop after losing a top-five team heading into week 10. Oklahoma’s ranking is more competitive with two wins than one. With just one loss, the race for the top five spots becomes less fierce. 20. Missouri (15): There will be a slight drop coming for Missouri as a result of the team’s second loss, but there’s also a dampened outlook down the road after losing quarterback Beau Pribula to injury. Sam Zollers is the true freshman who stepped in to help Missouri during a critical time. He now has the task of guiding Missouri for the remainder the regular season, as the team tries to save its slim CFP chances. 21. Michigan (25): With Justice Haynes in the lineup, Michigan relied on its ground-game to pull through a difficult start against Michigan State and pull out for a respectable two-digit victory.
22. Memphis (NR) : It won’t take much for AP voters in order to put Memphis back on their ballots, since the Tigers ranked at No. Just two weeks before the UAB upset, Memphis was ranked 22. While being shocked by the Blazers last week netted them zero voting points, storming back and taking down South Florida from a late disadvantage will get them into the 20s on the majority of ballots. 23. Navy (NR), the last undefeated team not ranked, must now break into the Top 25. Navy, which was 30th last week in voting points, is now 7-0 in overall play and 5-0 in the conference after beating FAU. The remainder of the schedule will include matchups against other American Conference contenders. (), so this should get sorted out on the field but for now voters should not keep the door shut on another strong start from the Midshipmen. 24. Houston (NR). Willie Fritz’s team improved to 7-1 with some crucial stops late. The only team to lose this season was Texas Tech. This should make it easy to grade the resume as one of the top 25 in the sport.
25. USC: Despite the Trojans’ absence in Week 9, their team received 97 votes in the voting last week. It was good for 26th place overall, and much closer than No. This is much better than 25. 27. USC could move back up the list with adjustments made after losses to teams ranked. Projected to fall out: No. 18 South Florida No. 20 LSU, No. 23 Illinois, No. 24 Arizona State
2025-10-26 03:51:43
