The top of the AP Top 25 is holding steady, but everything behind No. 1 Miami is getting shaken up after a wild Saturday that delivered five ranked teams losing to unranked opponents.
Miami won’t budge from the top spot, but the rest of the poll is primed for a major reset after No. 2 BYU and No.
8 Texas Tech both went down. Both teams also took their first loss of the season, leaving just three undefeated Power Four teams: Miami, No.
9 UCLA and No. 10 Utah.
The Cougars nearly survived in regulation before UCF turned the game into chaos. A blocked field goal and a 10-second runoff sent it to overtime, where UCF finally finished the job. The Golden Knights scored and converted a two-point try in the second overtime, then stopped BYU on its second chance to seal the upset.
South Carolina needed its own late surge to knock off No. 11 Tennessee. LaNorris Sellers pushed his way into the end zone to tie the game inside the final two minutes, then Dylan Stewart forced a fumble that opened the door for Malik Orsan’s 48-yard game-winning field goal.
Texas Tech, meanwhile, had no answer for Cincinnati. The Bearcats grabbed a 10-6 lead in the first quarter and controlled the night from there in a 37-24 win. Cincinnati ran the ball 40 times for 255 yards and scored the first rushing touchdown against the Red Raiders’ defense this season, but the damage also came through the air, where JC French IV threw for 172 yards and four touchdowns.
Another ranked team got pushed off the road as No. 16 USC fell 24-7 to Wisconsin in prime time.
Maiava completed 62 percent of his passes for 258 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, but he was also sacked five times and hit with multiple intentional grounding penalties. The Trojans’ ground game never gave him much support, either, with freshman running back Shahn Alston leading the team with just 28 yards on seven carries.
No. 15 Iowa also came up short in a rivalry game, dropping to unranked Minnesota with the Floyd of Rosedale on the line.
The Golden Gophers won it on a field goal at the buzzer, and they held Iowa to its lowest point total of the season, even lower than the Hawkeyes’ loss to No. 3 Ohio State.
Minnesota’s offense pieced together a successful two-minute drill to set up the winner.
There were also a pair of ranked-vs.-ranked matchups that mattered in the middle of the poll. No.
19 Texas jumped out early on No. 7 Ole Miss and managed to survive the Rebels’ second-half push, keeping the SEC’s messy middle as unsettled as ever.
At the same time, then-No. 10 Utah escaped with a 21-13 win over No.
14 Houston after trailing through the first three quarters.
No. 6 Indiana also had to grind for its win, needing overtime to get its first touchdown against Michigan and put the Wolverines away. Curt Cignetti later said quarterback Josh Hoover was not playing at 100 percent health.
The projected changes at the top reflect all that movement. One version of the new AP Top 25 keeps Miami at No. 1 with Ohio State second, followed by Georgia, Notre Dame and Indiana.
Another has BYU moving up to No. 2 behind Miami, with Ohio State third and Notre Dame fourth. Both projections feature major shifts for teams like Texas Tech, UCLA, Utah, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Houston, Iowa and USC.
Oregon, which did not enter the week in the AP top 25, was the 27th-most voted team in the country. But after suffering a third loss before Halloween, the Ducks are unlikely to receive any votes in the latest poll.
Their offense has continued to struggle with starting quarterback Dante Moore sidelined, and the schedule does not get easier with No. 24 Northwestern and No.
3 Ohio State next before Michigan, Michigan State and Washington finish the regular season.
With three losses already, Oregon’s College Football Playoff chances are essentially gone. Still, the Ducks could have a role left to play down the stretch if they can spoil somebody else’s run.
In Other News...
Texas Tech Suddenly Has A Quarterback Problem Joey McGuire Can't Ignore
Will Hammonds rough outing against Cincinnati only sharpened the question hanging over Texas Techs offense: how long can the Red Raiders ride with inconsistent quarterback play before it starts costing them in the Big 12? Hammond finished 24 of 37 for 227 yards with no touchdowns and one interception, and it came in a game where the offense never fully found a rhythm. For a program trying to stay in the mix, the margin for error is getting thin.
The timing makes the issue even more pressing, with a stretch of games ahead against offenses that can force Texas Tech to keep pace. Joey McGuire has reason to think about every option on the depth chart, including backup Tommy Castellanos, because the Red Raiders need more than competence at quarterback if they want to hold up in conference play. Whether the answer is a reset, a rotation, or simply sharper execution, the next move at the position could shape where this season goes from here. [Read more 🡒]
Caleb Douglas Gave Texas Tech Fans A Huge NFL Reason To Watch
Caleb Douglas gave Texas Tech fans a new Sunday storyline to follow, and it came in a big way for the Miami Dolphins. The former Red Raider, who had been working back from an ankle injury, made the most of limited opportunities against the New York Jets and turned them into his first NFL scores, including a decisive 63-yard catch that stood out in the game flow.
For a Texas Tech fan base already keeping tabs on a growing group of alumni in the league, Douglas breakout added another name to the watch list. Jacob Rodriguez, Jordyn Brooks and David Bailey also saw action with notable defensive performances, giving Red Raiders another reason to scan the box score and keep an eye on Sundays beyond just the college schedule. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Faces A New Rankings Problem After Its First Setback
USCs loss at Wisconsin added another wrinkle to a college football weekend already full of rankings chaos, and the ripple effects should reach well beyond the Trojans. The No. 16 Trojans were beaten 24-7 by an unranked Badgers team in a game that stood out for all the wrong reasons, including the lowest-scoring outing of Lincoln Rileys head coaching career. With several ranked teams stumbling, including BYU, Texas Tech, Tennessee and Iowa, the AP Top 25 is set for another shakeup.
For Texas Tech, the bigger issue is not just where the Red Raiders land in the poll, but how unstable the race around them has become after their first setback. USCs second loss puts the Trojans in a tougher spot with a demanding stretch ahead, and another defeat would make a College Football Playoff berth feel remote at best. In a season where one upset can rewrite the picture in a hurry, every ranking adjustment now carries more weight for the teams clustered near the middle of the board. [Read more 🡒]