Miami kept its grip on No. 1 in the latest AP Top 25, and the Hurricanes didn’t just hold serve - they widened the gap. Miami picked up 19 more first-place votes from last week, finishing with 59 and standing alone at the top as the poll turned into another reminder that the ACC hasn’t done much to help its flagship team.
Ohio State moved into the No. 2 spot, pushing BYU down after the Cougars were knocked off by UCF in overtime. Georgia, Indiana and Notre Dame rounded out the top five, with Utah at No. 6 as the lone team outside the top five to earn a first-place vote.
The most dramatic rise belonged to Texas, which climbed 11 places to No. 11 after beating Ole Miss. The Rebels took only a small tumble, slipping five spots to No. 12 despite the loss. USC and Iowa both took road losses and fell out of the Top 25 entirely, while Oklahoma State and Wisconsin moved in to fill the final two spots.
This is the penultimate AP poll before the first College Football Playoff rankings are unveiled on Nov. 3, so every move matters a little more now.
- Miami Hurricanes (59 first-place votes)
- Ohio State Buckeyes (10)
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Utah Utes (1)
- UCLA Bruins
- BYU Cougars
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Texas Longhorns
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons
- LSU Tigers
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Florida Gators
- Houston Cougars
- SMU Mustangs
- Boise State Broncos
20 (tie) Northwestern Wildcats
- Arizona Wildcats
- Missouri Tigers
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Wisconsin Badgers
For Miami, the bigger problem is the conference around it. Utah and BYU sitting inside the top 10 helps the Big XII, but the ACC’s depth still looks thin. SMU checked in at No. 19 after a blowout win over Cal, yet Virginia Tech and Duke - both 6-2 - combined for just one vote.
That leaves Miami in a familiar spot: carrying the league at the top while getting very little backup from the rest of the conference. The Hurricanes would have liked one of their remaining opponents besides Notre Dame to push into the rankings, but that still looks unlikely.
Now the pressure shifts to that Notre Dame game. A win there would strengthen Miami’s position heading into the playoff picture and keep the Hurricanes in line for a first-round bye. A loss, though, would almost certainly knock them out of the top four no matter what happens after that.
Mario Cristobal can only control what Miami does on the field. The rest of the ACC, at least right now, is giving the Hurricanes very little help.
Duke and Virginia Tech are still on the schedule, and both have earned more respect than they’re getting, but the broader picture hasn’t changed much. Miami sits at the summit, and the conference beneath it is still failing to match that level.
In Other News...
BYU Faces A Complicated Ranking Drop After Costly Upset
Miami had no trouble staying put at No. 1 in the AP college football rankings after handling Pittsburgh, with quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Malachi Toney again helping set the tone. The Hurricanes keep looking like the standard at the top, while the rest of the national picture got a shakeup behind them.
BYUs double-overtime loss to unranked UCF is expected to send the Cougars tumbling after they entered the weekend at No. 2, and Ohio State appears poised to move up into the No. 2 spot. What happens after that is less clear, with Notre Dame, Indiana and Georgia all in the mix for the top six and the final order depending on how pollsters weigh a messy weekend around the country. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Just Raised The Stakes For Everyone Chasing Them
Week 8 turned into a shakeup weekend across college football, and Miami came out of it with even more momentum than it had going in. The Hurricanes rolled past Pittsburgh to improve to 7-0, then moved to No. 1 in the AP poll as several teams ahead of them stumbled around the country, from BYU and Texas Tech to Iowa.
For Miami, the ranking is only part of the story. The bigger takeaway is how quickly the chase group is thinning out, with Indiana and Alabama escaping their own scares while others fell outright, and that kind of chaos tends to sharpen the spotlight on a program that has suddenly made itself the standard everyone else is trying to catch. [Read more 🡒]
No. 1 Miami Made Its Statement But One Concern Still Lingers
Miami left no doubt in Week 8, rolling past Pittsburgh 52-23 while honoring the 2001 national championship team in a game that felt more like a showcase than a stress test. Malachi Toney stole the spotlight with a Miami single-game reception record, piling up 16 catches for 194 yards and three touchdowns, while quarterback Darian Mensah was sharp throughout, completing 31 of 37 passes for 387 yards and four scores.
There was plenty else to like on the stat sheet, too, including true freshman safety JJ Dunnigan's active night with five tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Even so, in a season where Miami is trying to back up its No. 1 billing, the bigger question now is not whether the Hurricanes can overwhelm teams at home, but whether one lingering issue could matter once the schedule tightens and the margins shrink. [Read more 🡒]