Georgia is back where it started, Notre Dame has surged to its best perch in years, and Miami is sitting in rare air.
That was the shape of the latest AP Top 25, with Georgia reclaiming No. 1 after a hard-fought 20-17 win at Alabama. The Bulldogs had spent five straight polls at No. 2 before finally nudging back to the top, collecting 66 first-place votes after their first victory in Tuscaloosa since 2014. The defining moment came late, when a sequence ended with what looked like a missed pass interference call in the end zone, and Georgia wrapped up its sixth straight victory and first No. 1 ranking since September 2024.
Notre Dame slid up to No. 2 after blowing past Stanford 58-7, good for one first-place vote and a date with BYU that now carries top-10 weight. It is the Fighting Irish’s highest ranking since they finished No. 2 at the end of the 2024 season.
Miami kept climbing, too. The Hurricanes moved to No. 3 and picked up two first-place votes, sitting behind only Georgia and Notre Dame.
It’s Miami’s first appearance in the top three since the early 1990s. Ohio State and Indiana complete the top five, and Indiana earned the final first-place vote after edging Nebraska on the road.
The rest of the top 10 shook out with Alabama at No. 6, Texas tumbling six spots to No. 7 after its rivalry loss to Oklahoma, and BYU, Mississippi and Texas Tech rounding things out.
The weekend’s biggest crash belonged to Oregon. The Ducks, who opened the season at No. 2, dropped out of the poll entirely after a 17-15 home loss to UCLA. It’s Oregon’s first unranked showing since 2022, and the latest hit in a rough stretch that includes two losses in five games.
UCLA was rewarded with a nine-spot jump to No. 12, while Kentucky made one of the biggest moves of the season. The Wildcats vaulted from unranked to No. 15 after a wild 35-34 overtime win over LSU.
LSU slid from No. 10 to No. 22.
There were also two new names in the poll. Wake Forest re-entered at No. 21, its first ranking since late October 2022. Northwestern came in at No. 25, giving fourth-year coach David Braun his first Top 25 appearance.
Kentucky, meanwhile, climbed back in after briefly slipping out last week despite beating South Carolina. The Wildcats now have their highest ranking since October 2022.
Florida’s fall kept going. Two weeks ago the Gators were No. 8, last week No. 16, and now they’re out after a 38-19 home loss to South Carolina. Pittsburgh also fell out after managing only one touchdown on eight second-half possessions in a 21-17 loss to North Carolina.
A couple of broader trends stood out, too. This is the second time in three years that three different teams have held No. 1 in the first six polls. Georgia, Texas and Alabama all spent time at the top in 2024, and the only other season with that kind of early churn was 1990.
And there’s a bit of history with Notre Dame and Miami being up near the top together. Long tied by their “Catholic vs. Convicts” rivalry, they are both in the top three for the first time since November 1993.
Texas’ six-spot drop from No. 1 to No. 7 matches the fall it took after losing to Ohio State in last year’s opener.
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Georgia appears headed for the No. 1 spot in the projection, while Miamis rise keeps it squarely in the thick of the College Football Playoff picture. For a program trying to stay positioned near the top of the national conversation, a rankings boost like this is exactly the kind of development that can matter later, especially with so much still to play out across the sport. [Read more 🡒]