Ohio State’s fall out of the AP Top 10 opened the door for a reshuffled top of the poll, and Utah is the team now sitting closest to the summit behind No. 1 Miami and No. 2 Georgia.
The Buckeyes tumbled from No. 2 to No. 11 after a 30-18 loss at Southern California, ending a run that had kept them inside the top 10 for 86 straight polls. It also marked the first time Ohio State had been outside the top 10 since Sept.
26, 2021. The slide came after a 52-point win over Akron and a 39-point victory over Rutgers had briefly kept the Buckeyes in familiar territory.
Miami held onto the top spot for a third straight week after surviving North Carolina 38-35. The Hurricanes drew 62 of 70 first-place votes from the media panel and now head into Saturday’s matchup at Notre Dame with the No. 1 ranking intact.
Georgia climbed to No. 2 and picked up seven first-place votes, while Utah got the lone remaining top vote and moved up to No. 3.
Notre Dame and UCLA rounded out the top five.
Utah’s rise matches its highest ranking since Oct. 18, 2015, when it was 6-0. The Utes now sit in front of a loaded Big 12 race that also includes No. 7 BYU, setting up a top-10 showdown in the Holy War.
Indiana dropped two spots to No. 6 after needing overtime to get past Minnesota, 23-16, while BYU, Kentucky, Alabama and Texas completed the top 10. Indiana still owns the longest active streak of consecutive top-10 appearances at 22 weeks.
UCLA made one of the biggest jumps in the poll, landing at No. 5 after a 27-0 shutout of Nevada. The Bruins are 8-0 for the first time since 2005 under first-year coach Bob Chesney, and the ranking is their highest since they were No. 4 after a 6-0 start in 2001.
New Mexico also made history, cracking the AP rankings for the first time at No. 22 after a 21-16 win at San Jose State. The Lobos, now 7-1 for the first time since 1982, are in Jason Eck’s second season and become the first Mountain West team in the poll since Boise State was No. 25 in the 2025 preseason ranking.
The week’s biggest movers in and out of the rankings told plenty of the story. USC’s win over Ohio State pushed the Trojans back into the mix at No.
- Iowa returned at No. 21 after a 30-0 win over Wisconsin.
South Carolina re-entered at No. 23 after winning three straight, while SMU, Northwestern, Oklahoma State and Wisconsin all dropped out.
There were also some notable poll markers beyond the headline changes. The No. 2 team has now lost three straight weeks, something that hadn’t happened since 2007. And the Mountain West finally has a ranked team again after a long absence.
The conference breakdown shows the SEC with 10 ranked teams, followed by the Big 12 and Big Ten with five each. The ACC has two, while the independent, Pac-12 and Mountain West each have one.
Saturday’s ranked-on-ranked slate is loaded at the top. No.
1 Miami visits No. 4 Notre Dame in a matchup that echoes the same rankings the teams had in 1988, when Notre Dame beat Miami 31-30 in the “Catholics vs.
Convicts” game. No.
2 Georgia heads to No. 12 Mississippi, No.
7 BYU travels to No. 3 Utah, and No.
9 Alabama visits No. 15 LSU.
Kentucky-Tennessee and Texas-Missouri also bring plenty of weight, with the Longhorns and Tigers meeting as SEC members for the first time in what probably is a playoff knockout game.
In Other News...
BYU Win Over Arizona State Just Sparked A Big 12 Debate
The Big 12s acknowledgment of an officiating error in BYUs 27-20 win over Arizona State has added a fresh layer to a game that already carried plenty of weight in the conference race. The issue centered on a fumble recovery that was incorrectly ruled a touchdown, a call that immediately shifted the tone of the matchup and left one side feeling as if the moment had been decided on the spot.
For BYU, the result still stands, but the debate around how the play should have been handled is impossible to ignore because the awarded points matched the final margin. The correct ruling would have given the Cougars possession where the fumble was recovered, not a touchdown, and that distinction has turned a hard-fought win into one of the more talked-about officiating controversies in the Big 12 this season. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Win Draws Fresh Scrutiny After Another Big 12 Admission
The Big 12s latest officiating admission has put BYU back in an uncomfortable spotlight, this time over a touchdown in the win against Arizona State that the league says should never have counted. The conference said running back Sione Moas score was the result of an error, and the proper ruling should have left BYU with possession at the two-yard line instead.
For a program already dealing with the lingering frustration from a timing mistake in the Notre Dame game two weeks earlier, the back-to-back acknowledgments only deepen the sense that the Cougars have been on the wrong end of some major calls. BYU still has the victory in hand, but the latest statement adds another layer to a season in which the conversation around the team has too often drifted from the field to the replay booth. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Beat Arizona State But Utah Concerns Just Got Harder To Ignore
BYU got the result it needed against Arizona State, but the way it got there did little to quiet the questions around this team. The Cougars won 27-20 in a game that featured an early turnover, a quick touchdown off that takeaway and enough timely fourth-quarter plays to finish the job, yet the offense never looked fully comfortable for long stretches. The run game was especially sluggish, and the third quarter offered little relief as BYU spent much of the afternoon fighting for rhythm.
For a team still trying to sort out how sturdy it really is, the win came with some familiar warning signs attached. BYUs defense created an early edge, but it also had to absorb enough pressure to keep the game tight, and the offensive inconsistency left the Cougars leaning on situational execution instead of control. The victory counts, of course, but it also leaves the bigger concern hanging around as the schedule keeps moving. [Read more 🡒]