Miami jumps to No. 2, Oklahoma debuts in the top 10 of AP Top 25

As a top-10 team, Illinois had a little more wiggle room than a team like Auburn, who went from No. 22 to unranked after losing to Oklahoma. It typically takes more than one loss to knock a team from the top 10 to unranked, no matter how ugly the loss is.

Illinois’ early-season results paired with preseason expectations likely gave voters a sense that the team would bounce back. But after a 50+ point loss, the Fighting Illini have little to no margin for error in the coming weeks.

Maura Carey is an AP college football reporter.

The Cornhuskers have two major hurdles (USC and Penn State) and then a bunch of tricky games. Michigan State, Maryland, Minnesota, Iowa — those are all toss-ups.

The Michigan loss certainly isn’t a CFP deal-breaker. Nebraska almost certainly will get into the CFP with a 10-2 record. But it can only afford one more loss.

Jon Wilner has been covering college sports for decades and has been an AP Top 25 voter for over 20 years. You can follow him on X: @wilnerhotline.

No. 6 Oregon at No. 3 Penn State is a matchup Oregon and Penn State fans have had circled on their calendars for months.

The Nittany Lions had an extra week to prepare for the Ducks’ visit to Happy Valley and hope to avoid a similar outcome as the last time the two teams met in the Big Ten Championship game.

No. 17 Alabama at No. 5 Georgia comes after both teams were given bye weeks ahead of this SEC showdown. Alabama has climbed back from a disastrous start with back-to-back wins. A win against Georgia would put the Tide right back in the playoff conversation. For the Bulldogs, it’s their hardest test of the season yet and an opportunity to prove they belong at the top of the SEC standings.

Both big games start at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday.

LSU looks to defend its status as the SEC’s top-ranked team on Saturday afternoon against what could be its toughest challenge yet, No. 13 Ole Miss.

The SEC clash is sure to have AP Top 25 and playoff implications.

Meanwhile, No. 21 USC will be at No. 23 Illinois. It will be a tough test on the road against an Illinois team hungry for redemption after an embarrassing loss.

The Trojans moved from No. 25 to 21 this week after a convincing 45-31 win against Michigan State. Illinois hopes to move forward and begin a slow climb back up the rankings.

Using the entire history of AP poll data, excluding preseason and postseason polls, Reddit user FCBStar-of-the-South answered the question:

Are there any school pairings where school A has never outranked school B?

Yes, the voters watch games. But we certainly don’t watch all the games — nobody watches all the games or even the majority of games.

I spend many Saturdays watching games for 14 hours on screens and can’t watch all of them. But the AP doesn’t expect any single voter to watch all the games, which is why there are 60-something voters every year across the country, with each time zone covered.

The collective observation gets all the relevant games covered. But the AP does expect all the voters to track all the results and take the ballots seriously.

Jon Wilner has been covering college sports for decades and has been an AP Top 25 voter for over 20 years. You can follow him on X: @wilnerhotline.

There’s definitely an argument that Auburn deserves more credit. A seven-point loss against a ranked team isn’t necessarily a poor showing, and Auburn was competitive throughout.

Unfortunately, No. 22 is right on the cusp, and with unranked teams like BYU and TCU knocking on the door and delivering big wins, the Tigers really needed to boost their resume with a win to stay in the rankings.

It doesn’t help that it was Auburn’s only ranked matchup of the season so far. That being said, the Tigers have the talent and strength of schedule to return to the Top 25.

Maura Carey is an AP college football reporter.

▶ Ask her a question about the Top 25 poll

No. 6 Oregon, No. 13 Ole Miss and No. 15 Tennessee each stayed put this week.

Oregon’s 41-7 win over Oregon State didn’t sway voters to move them up any and it didn’t help that three of the top five teams ahead of Oregon had the week off.

Ole Miss beat Tulane 45-10 on Saturday, but that expected win over an unranked opponent didn’t change the rankings. Ole Miss has the chance to crack into the top 10 next week if they can defeat LSU.

Tennessee put together another high-powered offensive performance led by Joey Aguilar, beating UAB 56-24. The Vols will need to prove themselves with a ranked or noteworthy lopsided win to climb the rankings.

Oklahoma moved from No. 11 up to No. 7 after a 24-17 win against Auburn. It’s the first time the Sooners have appeared in the top 10 since 2023.

Key stat: Oklahoma’s defense sacked quarterback Jackson Arnold nine times for a loss of 44 yards and registered 14 tackles for losses. Sooners’ quarterback John Mateer threw for 271 yards and a touchdown and ran the ball in for a score.

Next test: The Sooners have the week off before hosting Kent State on Oct. 4.

AP college football reporter Maura Carey will answer a few questions now that the latest rankings are out.

AP employees don’t vote themselves, but they keep an equally close eye on the season.

Heating up: Miami (2), Oklahoma (7), Indiana (11), Texas Tech (12), TCU (24), BYU (25)

Cooling off: Illinois (23). Auburn and Utah fell out.

Steady: Oregon (6), Ole Miss (13), Tennessee (15)

I don’t typically get that granular when assessing teams — it’s mostly about the wins/losses and the competitiveness of the game.

And here’s the reason: If you evaluate Utah’s offense and defense and use that as the basis for ranking or not ranking the Utes, then you would have to do the same for every team. And with 130-something teams, that’s impossible.

Jon Wilner has been covering college sports for decades and has been an AP Top 25 voter for over 20 years. You can follow him on X: @wilnerhotline.

▶ Ask a voter and AP reporters a question about the Top 25 poll

In: TCU and BYU broke into the AP Top 25 this week.

TCU beat preseason No. 17 SMU 35-24, an effort carried by receiver Eric McAlister, who caught eight passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns. BYU cracked the rankings after knocking on the door for weeks. The Cougars improved to 3-0 with a 34-13 win over East Carolina.

Out: Auburn and Utah were knocked out of the Top 25.

Utah lost to Big 12 foe Texas Tech on Saturday. The Utes struggled with turnovers throughout, while Texas Tech seamlessly transitioned quarterbacks as Will Hammond stepped in for an injured Behren Morton midway through the game.

I ranked the Sooners 5th and the Hoosiers 11th and I’ll tell you exactly why: Indiana has beaten three marshmallows and has one win that could be considered a quality victory (Illinois); the Sooners have two (Michigan and Auburn).

If you flipped the resumes, I’d have the Hoosiers ahead of the Sooners by several spots. That said, it’s fair to wonder about the officiating gaffe that handed Oklahoma a touchdown in what became a 7-point win.

It was egregious enough that the SEC issued a (rare) public statement. Although I don’t take that into account, there’s a case to make that any officiating mistake of that magnitude could be factored into the voting process.

Jon Wilner has been covering college sports for decades and has been an AP Top 25 voter for over 20 years. You can follow him on X: @wilnerhotline.

▶ Ask a voter and AP reporters a question about the Top 25 poll

Even some teams that won by at least 30 points didn’t go anywhere in the poll: No. 6 Oregon (won 41-7 vs. Oregon State), No. 13 Ole Miss (won 45-10 vs. Tulane) and No. 15 Tennessee (won 56-24 vs. UAB).

As may have been the case with LSU and Texas, those wins didn’t impress enough voters to move the teams up. The Rebels might have the biggest beef: Tulane was and perhaps still is considered among the best teams from the Group of Five.

The Group of Five has recorded a slew of impressive wins, most of them coming courtesy of the American. In fact, the American has more wins over Power Four teams than the ACC and Big Ten (in their non-conference matchups).

I have two G5s on my ballot this week: Memphis and South Florida. The Tigers are unbeaten and just edged Arkansas. The Bulls have the loss to Miami but wins over Boise State and Florida.

And yes, strength of schedule matters — it’s arguably more important for G5 teams than for Power Four teams because their schedules have so many low-profile schools on them.

If you’re Memphis or USF, the margins are thin — you have to take advantage of every chance. Look at what Boise State’s close loss at Oregon did for the Broncos last year. They basically rode that into the CFP.

Jon Wilner has been covering college sports for decades and has been an AP Top 25 voter for over 20 years. You can follow him on X: @wilnerhotline.

▶ Ask a voter and AP reporters a question about the Top 25 poll

What we have seen over the years is that changes like this often are a result of churn in front of the team in question.

For example, this week’s top 10 has only one new team in it: No. 7 Oklahoma (at the expense of former No. 9 Illinois). It was not a simple substitution, not with 66 ballots.

Adding a new team led to a shuffling: Only No. 1 Ohio State, No. 5 Georgia and No. 6 Oregon held their spots. Teams that didn’t play at all or faced an overmatched opponent (LSU, Texas) ended up losing spots.

I have Miami on top for the second consecutive week. To me, the Hurricanes have the best resume with wins over Notre Dame, South Florida and Florida. I’m not sure any other team can claim three quality wins like that.

And before you suggest that Florida is not a quality win, I’d note that everything is relative this early in the season. There are plenty of teams that don’t have any wins over Power Four opponents. The Hurricanes have two, plus a quality win over South Florida (which beat Boise State and Florida).

My No. 2 team this week is Georgia, on the strength of that terrific win at Tennessee. Road wins in the SEC, especially against the top tier of the SEC, are gold.

Then comes Florida State, on the strength of the win over Alabama, followed by Ohio State and Oklahoma. The Sooners have a sneaky-good resume, with victories over Michigan and Auburn. But you could make the case for another six or eight teams to make the top tier of the rankings.

There is more guesswork in September than later in the season because of the unbalanced schedules.

Jon Wilner has been covering college sports for decades and has been an AP Top 25 voter for over 20 years. You can follow him on X: @wilnerhotline.

▶ Ask a voter and AP reporters a question about the Top 25 poll

Six teams that didn’t play this weekend or that actually won dropped in the new poll:

No. 3 Penn State (idle), dropped one spot.

No. 4 LSU (won 56-10 vs. SE Louisiana), dropped one spot.

No. 8 Florida State (66-10 over Kent State), dropped one spot.

No. 10 Texas (won 55-10 vs. Sam Houston), dropped two spots, while rival Texas A&M (idle) moved up a spot to No. 9.

No. 14 Iowa State (idle), dropped two spots.

No. 17 Alabama (idle), dropped three spots.

Result: Texas Tech moved from No. 17 to No. 12 after beating Utah.

Reason for jump: The Red Raiders’ defense led the charge, holding Utah to a season-low 263 yards and forcing four turnovers. Texas Tech’s offense didn’t skip a beat either, even with backup quarterback Will Hammond at the helm after Behren Morton exited with an injury in the third quarter.

Next up: A bye week comes at a good time for Texas Tech, giving the team ample rest before taking on Houston on Oct. 4.

Miami earned its highest ranking since 2017, coming in at No. 2 after beating Florida 26-7. A stout defense carried the Hurricanes to the win, holding the Gators to six three-and-outs. Penn State moved down to No. 3 after having the week off, and LSU was bumped to No. 4.

Key stat: Miami’s defense forced Florida to punt seven times. The Gators went 0 of 16 on third downs.

Next test: The Hurricanes have two weeks to prepare for one of their most challenging opponents this season, No. 8 Florida State.

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1. Ohio State
2. Miami (Fla.)
3. Penn State
4. LSU
5. Georgia
6. Oregon
7. Oklahoma
8. Florida State
9. Texas A&M
10. Texas
11. Indiana
12. Texas Tech
13. Ole Miss
14. Iowa State
15. Tennessee
16. Georgia Tech
17. Alabama
18. Vanderbilt
19. Michigan
20. Missouri
21. USC
22. Notre Dame
23. Illinois
24. TCU
25. BYU

Oklahoma sacked Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold nine times in his return to Norman.

Indiana’s 63 points against Illinois were the most a Big Ten team has ever scored against an AP top-10 opponent.

Notre Dame’s Jadrian Price went coast to coast on a kick return, scoring a 100 yard touchdown against Purdue.

Eric McCallister caught eight passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns in TCU’s win against SMU.

South Carolina finished with minus nine rushing yards in its 29-20 loss to Missouri.

Teams recently knocked out of the Top 25 — South Carolina, Florida and Clemson — didn’t help their cases on Saturday.

South Carolina lost 29-20 to No. 23 Missouri. Florida fell 26-7 to Miami. And Clemson is off to the worst start of Dabo Swinney’s career after a 34-21 loss to Syracuse.

Clemson entered the season at No. 4. Florida had ranked No. 15 and South Carolina originally came in at No. 13 in the preseason poll.

TCU could crack the Top 25 after a 35-24 win against SMU, which entered the season at No. 16. The Horned Frogs are 3-0 ahead of a Friday night matchup against Arizona State.

Mississippi State has been knocking on the door for weeks and most recently received 69 votes. The Bulldogs improved to 4-0 on Saturday with a 38-10 win over Northern Illinois.

Syracuse comes off a well-rounded 34-21 win against Clemson. Had the victory come when Clemson was ranked, the Orange would very likely have a comfortable spot in the Top 25. But the Tigers showed their true colors with losses to LSU and Georgia Tech even before falling to Syracuse.

We want to know what you think the Top 25 should be this week. Join the AP Top 25 Fan Poll, and submit your rankings.

Poll voter and decades-long college football writer Jon Wilner will answer a few questions while we wait for the latest rankings to be released.

No organization has been ranking teams and naming a major college football national champion longer than The Associated Press, since 1936.

AP employees don’t vote themselves, but they do choose the voters. AP Top 25 voters comprise around 60 writers and broadcasters who cover college football for AP members and other select outlets. The goal is to have every state with a Football Bowl Subdivision school represented by at least one voter.

There is a 1-25 point system, with a team voted No. 1 receiving 25 points down to 1 point for a 25th-place vote. After that, it’s simple: The poll lists the teams with the most points from 1 to 25, and others receiving votes are also noted.

Voting is done online, and the tabulation is automated.

▶ Read more about the history of the AP Top 25 poll and how it works

Stock up:

• No. 17 Texas Tech delivered an upset road victory against No. 16 Utah, beating the Utes in all phases of the game with a 34-10 win.
• No. 19 Indiana was the biggest stunner of the week, outscoring No. 9 Illinois 63-10. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza threw for five touchdowns for the second straight week, leading the Hoosiers to a big-time win.

Stock down:

• Utah is expected to tumble after losing to Big 12 foe Texas Tech on Saturday.
• A 63-10 loss to Indiana left Illinois shocked and looking for answers. The Fighting Illini, last ranked No. 9, will be fighting to keep the team’s ranking this week.

No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Penn State, No. 5 Georgia, No. 10 Texas A&M, No. 12 Iowa State and No. 14 Alabama all had the benefit of an early bye.

What does it mean for the rankings? Ohio State and Penn State are likely safe in the top two, but there could be some fluctuation after that.

Voters don’t typically penalize a team for having the week off, but statement wins could reshuffle standings from the mid-level on down.