A chaotic weekend across college football sent shockwaves through the AP Top 25, and the latest poll reflects it. Five teams ranked inside the top 16 lost to unranked opponents, with No. 2 BYU among the weekend’s biggest stunners.
Even with the upheaval, Miami stayed put at No. 1 after collecting 59 first-place votes. Ohio State sits right behind the Hurricanes at No. 2 with 10 first-place votes, while Georgia, Indiana and Notre Dame fill out the rest of the top five.
The updated AP Top 25 entering Week 9 of the 2026 season looks like this:
- Miami (7-0) - 59 first-place votes
- Ohio State (6-1) - 10 first-place votes
- Georgia (6-1)
- Indiana (7-1)
- Notre Dame (6-1)
- Utah (7-0) - 1 first-place vote
- UCLA (7-0)
- BYU (6-1)
- Kentucky (7-1)
- Alabama (6-2)
- Texas (5-2)
- Ole Miss (5-2)
- Texas Tech (6-1)
- Wake Forest (6-1)
- LSU (6-2)
- Tennessee (6-2)
- Florida (5-2)
- Houston (6-2)
- SMU (6-1)
- Boise State (6-1)
- Northwestern (6-1)
- Arizona (6-1)
- Missouri (5-2)
- Oklahoma State (5-2)
- Wisconsin (5-2)
Among the teams just outside the top 25, Iowa leads the receiving-votes group with 76. New Mexico picked up 41, while Cincinnati and Oregon State each got 11. South Carolina followed with 8, Minnesota and USC each had 7, and UTSA and Virginia Tech received 1 vote apiece.
The AP poll remains the more influential of the major rankings, since it is part of the mix that helps determine which teams make the College Football Playoff. By comparison, the Coaches Poll is voted on by 65 FBS head coaches and is not part of the College Football Playoff selection committee’s formula for selecting the four teams in the national championship field.
The Associated Press has been running its college football poll since Oct. 19, 1936, making it the longest-running poll used to award national titles. The preseason version of the poll began in 1950.
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 Faces One Growing CFP Problem Despite Holding No 1
Miami held onto the No. 1 spot in the latest AP Top 25, collecting 59 first-place votes and keeping its place atop the sport as the College Football Playoff picture continues to sharpen. Ohio State moved up to No. 2 after overtaking BYU, while Texas made the weeks biggest climb among the contenders after its win over Ole Miss. Elsewhere in the poll, USC and Iowa fell out after losses, and Oklahoma State and Wisconsin moved into the rankings.
For Miami, the ranking is a reminder that being first is only part of the equation at this stage of the season. The Hurricanes are still in position to control their own path, but every shift around them matters as the field tightens and the margin for error shrinks. With Ohio State surging and Texas now pushing upward, Miamis hold on the top line may be secure for the moment, but the broader CFP pressure is only getting heavier. [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 🡒]