Texas shook up the top of the Coaches Poll in a big way, and it happened in dramatic fashion. The Longhorns’ rally against No. 1 Ohio State flipped the whole conversation two weeks into the 2026 season, with Arch Manning powering three long touchdown drives and scoring 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter after a rough start.
That comeback didn’t just change one game. It changed the top of the rankings, too. Texas moved up two spots, while Ohio State slid five after coughing up a 20-point lead in Austin.
For Texas, the payoff was obvious. The win came with revenge for Manning, whose last outing against the Buckeyes drew a wave of criticism. This time, he may have played his way into Heisman consideration with a comeback that won’t fade anytime soon.
Ohio State, meanwhile, now has a pile of questions hanging over it. The Buckeyes have to figure out how to become more aggressive on offense, how to tighten up a defense that has lost so many key players, and who besides Jeremiah Smith can threaten deep. And the schedule is not getting any kinder, with more difficult road games still ahead.
Oregon took the steepest hit among the other heavyweights, dropping 12 spots after a bad upset loss at Oklahoma State. That’s a rough turn for a team that beat the Cowboys 69-3 a year ago.
But a lot has changed since then - 91 transfers, a new coach, a new quarterback, and a new lead rusher all reshaped the roster - and the poll punished the Ducks for it. The bigger question now is whether this team really is as good as it looks on paper.
Michigan climbed five places after doing enough at home against Oklahoma. The Wolverines came in as an underdog, but they got an early spark from Bryce Underwood’s mobility and leaned on their front to slow down the Sooners’ SEC title hopes.
Oklahoma dropped 11 spots, and the offensive concerns are still front and center. Right now, the Sooners simply aren’t doing much on that side of the ball, and the road gets tougher once the SEC schedule starts in earnest, including a trip to Georgia.
At the bottom edge of the rankings picture, Florida missed the top 25 after tying with Virginia for the final spot last week. The Gators hammered Campbell and have scored more than 50 points in Jon Sumrall’s first two games as head coach, matching Billy Napier’s entire total, but the coaches still didn’t give them enough support to stay in.
A number of other teams picked up votes without cracking the top 25: Florida 183; Louisville 160; Boise State 44; Kansas State 24; South Carolina 23; Mississippi State 20; Vanderbilt 19; Duke 19; Nebraska 18; Pittsburgh 16; Oklahoma State 16; Auburn 15; Western Michigan 10; Virginia Tech 9; UCLA 8; Tulsa 7; North Dakota State 5; New Mexico 4; Clemson 3; Wake Forest 1; Arizona 1.
In Other News...
Michigan Controlled Oklahoma With One Weapon Fans Rarely Celebrate
Special teams usually show up at Michigan as the phase everyone notices only when something goes wrong, but through the first two games Cam Brown has made the punt unit look like a real edge. The punter has consistently driven opponents back into tough field position, and that hidden yardage has helped Michigan control games in ways that do not always show up in the flashiest box-score numbers.
Zeke Berry and other defensive players have added to the effort by closing space and limiting return yards, giving the Wolverines a steadier field-position game than opponents would like. It is the kind of detail that can get buried under the bigger headlines, but it also fits the larger point Kyle Whittingham stressed in his preseason remarks: special teams matter, and Michigan is getting real value from that part of the field. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Just Made Another Push For A Five-Star Local Receiver
Michigan kept pressing on one of its top in-state targets over the weekend, with five-star wide receiver Dakota Guerrant in Ann Arbor for the game against Oklahoma. Guerrant committed to Oregon in June, but the Wolverines have not let up, continuing to recruit the Michigan native and leaning into the appeal of staying close to home as they try to keep the local ties from fading.
The challenge, of course, is that Oregon has built a strong pitch of its own, especially when it comes to developing NFL-caliber receivers. That gives Michigan a real fight here, even with the benefit of familiarity and proximity, and it leaves the Wolverines still working to persuade Guerrant to reconsider a commitment that looked solid just a few months ago. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Defense Is Making A Statement Fans Can't Ignore
Michigans win over Oklahoma at the Big House did more than add a quality result to the resume. It gave the Wolverines another showcase for a defense that kept the Sooners to 10 points and 289 yards, forced key turnovers and stayed tight in coverage whenever Oklahoma tried to find a rhythm. Bryce Underwood did enough on the other side of the ball with his passing and rushing to keep Michigan in control without giving the game away.
The bigger message was the one coming from across the sideline. Brent Venables left impressed by what he saw from Michigans defense, and his comments only added to the feeling that this group is already making a name for itself early in the season. With Underwood also handling the moment cleanly, Michigan has a balance that makes the team harder to play against, and the defense is starting to look like the part opponents will have to solve first. [Read more 🡒]