Another wild Saturday has turned the AP Top 25 into a moving target.
The biggest headline came in South Bend, where No. 1 Miami became the latest top-ranked team to go down this season, losing on the road in prime time to then-No.
4 Notre Dame. That result alone should send shockwaves through Sunday’s poll, but it was hardly the only shakeup.
No. 9 Alabama handled No.
15 LSU 31-13 in Death Valley, No. 16 Tennessee knocked off No.
8 Kentucky, and No. 2 Georgia rolled No.
10 Ole Miss 42-7 to deepen the mess at the top of the rankings.
Georgia looks like the team most likely to grab the No. 1 spot, even with No. 3 Utah and No.
5 UCLA still unbeaten. Utah beat No.
7 BYU at home in a rivalry game, closing with 14 unanswered points in the second half to win 28-20. UCLA also stayed perfect, going on the road to beat Minnesota and then blowing the game open with two 75-yard touchdown receptions on back-to-back offensive plays from receiver Aidan Mizell.
The weekend’s loudest upset, though, may have come in Columbus. No.
11 Ohio State fell to Oregon, a team that was unranked in the AP Poll, though the matchup was ranked by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. Oregon picked up its third win while handing Ohio State a third loss, and the Ducks kept their postseason hopes alive in the process.
How far Oregon climbs will depend in part on how voters sort out the teams that lost above them, especially Ole Miss and LSU. BYU may be able to hang around the top 15 after losing to Utah, while Kentucky could be one of the biggest movers when the new AP Poll comes out Sunday.
Ohio State had the early edge before Oregon flipped the game with a fake punt and 17 points in the fourth quarter. After a loss to USC and now a 41-28 defeat to Oregon, the Buckeyes are staring at a steep drop.
Florida also took a hit, with then-ranked No. 25 Florida falling to Oklahoma 23-7, a result that likely pushes the Gators out of the AP Poll entirely.
That opens the door for Oregon to re-enter the rankings, especially after the Ducks were No. 23 in the initial CFP rankings while Ohio State checked in at No. 12.
The AP Poll should give the clearest picture of where the chaos leaves everyone heading into week 10, even if the College Football Playoff Selection Committee won’t release its next rankings until Tuesday. With Oregon still in the mix for an at-large bid, every slot matters down the stretch.
A projected AP Top 25 shakeup could look like this: 1.
Georgia 2. Utah 3.
Notre Dame 4. UCLA 5.
Indiana 6. Alabama 7.
Miami 8. Texas 9.
Tennessee 10. Texas Tech 11.
BYU 12. Wake Forest 13.
Kentucky 14. Houston 15.
USC 16. Iowa 17.
Ole Miss 18. Boise State 19.
South Carolina 20. Oregon 21.
Ohio State 22. New Mexico 23.
Missouri 24. LSU 25.
Arizona
Another projection has Miami still at No. 1, with Georgia second and Utah third, followed by Notre Dame, UCLA, Indiana, BYU, Kentucky, Alabama and Texas rounding out the top 10. In that version, Ohio State sits at No.
11, Ole Miss at No. 12, Texas Tech at No.
13, Wake Forest at No. 14, LSU at No. 15 and Tennessee at No. 16, with Oregon at No. 19 and Florida still holding the final spot at No.
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The first College Football Playoff rankings of the season already stirred up the kind of chaos that can ripple through the AP Top 25, and Oregon is positioned to benefit from it. USC landed at No. 20 in the CFP release even though it had been ranked higher in the AP poll, a reminder that the two rankings are not always aligned and that a fresh round of movement is coming after a weekend that saw several highly ranked teams lose, including Miami, Kentucky and Ohio State.
For Oregon, the timing matters. The Ducks are in the mix for a notable jump as the AP reshuffles its list, with USC, Tennessee and Texas all part of the conversation around where the next wave of movement could land. In a season where one weekend can rewrite the middle of the rankings, Oregon suddenly has a real opening to climb into a better spot and strengthen its case as the race tightens. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Just Got A Tougher Michigan Problem To Prepare For
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The biggest question now is how much changes in the short term and who ends up steering the offense. Game planning can shift quickly when a coordinator is out, but the uncertainty around Michigans quarterback situation adds another layer for Oregon to sort through. Even with the same personnel in place, the Wolverines could look different in approach, and that makes this one of those late-week developments every opponent notices. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Just Put The Rest Of Its Season Under A Brighter Spotlight
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Michigan, Michigan State and Washington now loom as the next checkpoints, and the projections are favorable enough to keep the Ducks momentum rolling. ESPNs model gives Oregon a 24.9% chance to reach the playoff and a 16.0% chance to win the conference if it wins out, which is exactly the kind of leverage a big November run can create. The opportunity is there now, but so is the pressure to keep turning strong numbers into actual results. [Read more 🡒]