The AP Top 25 has turned into a weekly stress test, and Week 9 only sharpened the pressure. Eight straight weeks now, at least one top-10 team has gone down, which is why November already feels like a sprint with no room for error.
Miami is living that reality at No. 1.
The Hurricanes are the fourth different team to hold the top spot, and the other three all stumbled soon after. Miami has kept escaping, but barely.
It survived a double-overtime scare against Florida State, then had to rally to beat North Carolina in Chapel Hill this past weekend.
That win came with plenty of drama. North Carolina led 28-24 in the fourth quarter before Miami ripped off two touchdowns in a row and also benefited from another controversial call. The Hurricanes now head to South Bend to face Notre Dame this weekend, and they’ll have to do it without Malachi Toney.
Indiana has also been skating on thin ice. The Hoosiers have survived back-to-back overtime games against Michigan and Minnesota, but the offense has gone missing at exactly the wrong time. Josh Hoover is banged up and lacking confidence, and the scoring problems are starting to overwhelm everything else.
The defense remains elite, but that unit can only carry so much. Indiana hosts USC next, and the Trojans just crushed No. 2 Ohio State - the only team that has beaten Curt Cignetti since the start of the 2025 season.
BYU looked like a breakout team after knocking off Notre Dame and climbing to No. 2 in the country. Since then, the Cougars have started to look vulnerable. They dropped a double-overtime game to unranked UCF, then edged Arizona State 27-20 after letting a 17-3 lead slip into a tie in the third quarter.
The defensive numbers have also turned in the wrong direction. BYU has given up 20 or more points in three straight games after allowing that many only once in its first five. If the Cougars lose to Utah in the Holy War, their CFP hopes are done.
Ohio State’s issue is more straightforward, and maybe more damaging: Julian Sayin is out for the foreseeable future with an elbow injury, and there’s a real chance he misses the rest of the year. The Buckeyes are loaded, but losing a starting quarterback is a brutal hit, no matter how much talent is left around him.
In the first full game without Sayin, backup Luke Fahey threw for 260 yards, but Ohio State still couldn’t finish drives and fell 30-18 to USC. That’s the kind of loss that can derail a season in a hurry. The Buckeyes now face Oregon in a game they have to win if they want to stay alive in the College Football Playoff race.
Tennessee rounds out the list after a week off following its 27-24 upset loss to South Carolina. The Volunteers are still hanging around the CFP picture, but the path is narrow. They need to run the table, and that means getting through home games against Kentucky and LSU plus road trips to Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
The quarterback situation makes that climb even steeper. A week off may help George MacIntyre, who has topped 200 passing yards only once in his three starts. Tennessee gets Kentucky at home Saturday night in a game that suddenly carries a lot of weight.
In Other News...
Miamis Notre Dame Plan Hinges On One Massive Malachi Toney Unknown
Notre Dame is still planning as if Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney could be part of the picture, even though the early read has him trending toward the sidelines after a high ankle sprain and surgery. Marcus Freeman said the Irish are preparing for the possibility Toney suits up, which tells you how much respect Notre Dame has for Miamis offense and how much uncertainty still hangs over this matchup.
For the Hurricanes, the bigger issue may be how they adjust if Toney is unavailable again, not just for this game but for the rest of the regular season and potentially the College Football Playoffs. Notre Dame also expects All-American cornerback Leonard Moore back after he missed recent games with a concussion, adding another layer to a game plan that already has to account for one major unknown on Miamis side. [Read more 🡒]
Miami Now Gets A Notre Dame Team With Everything To Lose
Notre Dames playoff positioning already has a strange look to it, sitting 11th in the first College Football Playoff rankings despite being fourth in the AP poll. The reason is pretty clear: the committee has not been sold on the Irishs resume, and the lack of signature wins has left little margin for error as the season tightens. Now the next stop brings a trip to No. 1 Miami, and for a team trying to prove it belongs in the top tier, the timing could hardly be more demanding.
The Hurricanes also know they will see Notre Dame without wide receiver Malachi Toney, who is out after ankle surgery and expected to miss 4 to 6 weeks. Even with that setback, the bigger pressure point is on the Irish, who need a win in Miami to strengthen their playoff case before the schedule offers fewer chances to recover from another loss. For a team already facing scrutiny from the committee, this is the kind of game that can reshape the conversation quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Darian Mensahs Huge Season Has Sparked A Real NFL Draft Debate
Darian Mensah has done just about everything a quarterback can do to force his way into the NFL conversation. Through eight games, Miamis signal-caller has thrown 25 touchdowns against just one interception while completing more than 80 percent of his passes, a run that has made him one of the most efficient passers in the country and a big reason his name is drawing so much attention beyond Coral Gables.
The debate now is less about whether Mensah belongs on draft boards and more about where he fits. Some analysts view him as a top prospect, while others have pushed him outside the first round, pointing to questions about his arm strength and the level of competition he has faced. For Miami, it is a reminder that a big season can change the conversation fast, even if the final verdict on a quarterback is still very much up in the air. [Read more 🡒]