College football’s Week 10 chaos hit the Coaches Poll hard, and the latest top 25 reflects just how much damage was done across the country. Eight ranked teams lost over the weekend, forcing another round of shuffling near the top and plenty of movement throughout the rest of the poll.
The biggest change came at No. 1, where Miami’s first loss of the season opened the door for a new leader. The Hurricanes, playing without Malachi Toney, fell on the road to Notre Dame, and the Irish climbed into the top five in the updated Coaches Poll.
Even so, the coaches stopped short of putting Notre Dame at No. 1.
That spot instead went to Georgia, the reigning SEC champion, which moved up from No. 2 after a 42-7 beatdown of Ole Miss in Oxford. The Bulldogs also increased their first-place vote share by 50 this week.
Oregon made one of the loudest jumps in the poll, rising 12 spots after back-to-back convincing wins. That run included a victory over Northwestern last week and, more notably, a dominant showing at Ohio State.
Tennessee also made a strong move for the SEC, climbing seven places to No. 9 after a 34-6 win over one-loss rival Kentucky.
At the other end of the movement chart, Ohio State took the biggest hit. The Buckeyes dropped 10 spots after losses to USC and Oregon at home, a slide that may have knocked them out of the College Football Playoff picture for good.
LSU also fell, dropping seven spots after a 31-13 home loss to Alabama. That result leaves Lane Kiffin at 0-6 against the Crimson Tide all-time, though the Tigers may still have a path to the playoff out of the SEC.
Missouri and Northwestern both disappeared from the poll after tough defeats. Missouri was bounced after a two-touchdown home loss to Texas, while Northwestern’s second straight loss, this time to Iowa, ended its stay in the rankings.
A handful of teams received votes but not enough to crack the top 25: Duke 172; Missouri 147; Oklahoma State 27; Northwestern 17; Illinois 13; North Texas 7; Louisville 6; Liberty 6; Wisconsin 5; Oklahoma 2; Minnesota 2; Air Force 1.
In Other News...
Tennessee Just Took A Defensive Hit Vols Fans Feared
Tennessees defense absorbed an unsettling blow when Tyree Weathersby went down with an apparent left-leg injury during the game and did not return. The defensive lineman has been one of the Vols most important front-line pieces this season, giving them steady pressure off the edge and helping anchor a unit that has leaned on him heavily.
Even though his absence did not change the result on the scoreboard, it leaves Tennessee with a real question heading into the next stretch. Weathersbys production, including 8.5 sacks and 19 tackles, has made him hard to replace, and the Vols now have to sort out how much defensive depth they can trust if he is sidelined for any length of time. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Suddenly Has A Real Opening After Wild AP Poll Chaos
The first College Football Playoff rankings already added a layer of intrigue to the race, and the AP Top 25 could bring a fresh round of movement after a chaotic weekend that knocked several top-10 teams off balance. USC is one of the clubs in the middle of it, landing at No. 20 in the CFP rankings even though it sat higher in the AP poll, a reminder that the two systems are not always seeing the same thing. With Ohio State, Kentucky and other highly ranked teams taking losses, the AP order is expected to shift again and give a clearer sense of how the sports top tier is settling.
For Tennessee fans watching the broader national picture, the ripple effects matter because every shakeup around the playoff conversation changes the path ahead. USC should move up at least a little when the new AP poll arrives, but the bigger story is how unstable the pecking order has become after one wild Saturday. Oregon, sitting in the mix as the rankings churn around it, suddenly has a more favorable opening than it did a week ago, and the next set of votes will tell just how much that door has opened. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Just Turned A Rivalry Win Into A Real CFP Push
The win over No. 6 Kentucky looked less like a rivalry upset and more like a statement from a Tennessee team that is starting to look built for November. A 34-6 result pushed the Volunteers to 7-2, and the production came from across the roster, with Daune Morris, Faizon Brandon, Mike Matthews, DeSean Bishop and Qua Moss all helping drive the performance in a game that carried real weight beyond the rivalry itself.
Now the conversation around Tennessee has shifted from simply stacking wins to what those wins might mean in the larger playoff picture. ESPN has the Vols at 33 percent to reach the College Football Playoff, a number that reflects just how much this result changed the temperature around the program, even if there is still work to do before anything is decided. [Read more 🡒]