Nine ranked teams lost over the weekend, including four within the top 10, causing more seismic shakeup to the AP top 25 poll for Week 9.
Former No. 2 Miami (lost to Louisville), No. 5 Ole Miss (lost at Georgia), No. 7 Texas Tech (lost at Arizona State), No. 10 LSU (lost at Vanderbilt) and No. 11 Tennessee (lost at Alabama) were the most high-profile casualties.
Meanwhile, a few schools are celebrating historically high rankings.
Let’s take a closer look at the biggest risers, fallers and our major nitpicks with the new AP top 25 …
Notable Risers in AP Top 25
No. 2 Indiana: The Hoosiers are 7-0 and move up one spot to their new highest-ever ranking. Indiana opened the season ranked No. 20 as voters were hesitant to believe in what Indiana did in coach Curt Cignetti’s first season, but there’s no denying it now. The Hoosiers are the real deal and a viable national championship contender. There was no let-down after the big win at Oregon last week as Indiana rolled to a 38-13 win over Michigan State.
No. 4 Alabama: The Crimson Tide has now won four straight games over ranked opponents — at Georgia, over Vanderbilt, at Missouri and vs. Tennessee — and moves up two spots. The case could even be made that Alabama belongs ahead of 7-0 Texas A&M at No. 3 by virtue of those four notable wins to the Aggies’ one (at Notre Dame). The Tide took it to then-No. 11 Tennessee in a 37-20 win Saturday.
No. 5 Georgia: The Bulldogs beat former No. 5 Ole Miss, 43-35, in the game of the week Saturday and deservedly jump four spots in the poll, not only with Miami, Ole Miss and Texas Tech falling but 6-1 Georgia also leapfrogged Oregon even with the Ducks winning 56-10 at Rutgers.
No. 7 Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets are 7-0 for the first time since 1966 and is up to its highest ranking since 2009, moving up five spots this week after a 27-18 win at Duke. Georgia Tech doesn’t face a ranked opponent until the regular-season finale clash with Georgia, which could be a matchup of incredible stakes.
No. 10 Vanderbilt: The 6-1 Commodores made the biggest move within the top 25, shooting up seven spots after their 31-24 win over formerly-No. 10 LSU for the program’s highest ranking since 1947. Their lone loss was to Alabama, but their best win had been an early 31-7 victory over a South Carolina team that is no longer ranked. This victory over the Tigers was huge in legitimizing Vandy’s strong start — its first 6-1 start since 1950, that is. The Commodores are simply one of the best stories in college football.
No. 11 BYU: The Cougars started the season unranked and had crept up the poll in recent weeks purely by virtue of remaining unbeaten. The really didn’t have any notable wins, but that changed Saturday night with a 24-21 victory over then-No. 23 Utah in the in-state rivalry clash. BYU is now 7-0 and moves up four spots.
No. 19 Louisville: The Cardinals made the biggest leap of any unranked team, jumping into the top 25 for the first time this season after that 24-21 road win over then-No. 2 Miami. Louisville is 5-1 with its lone loss coming by three points against Virginia (No. 16 this week).
No. 23 Illinois: The 5-2 Fighting Illini return to the rankings despite being on a bye last week. With significant attrition near the bottom of the poll, someone had to rise up.
No. 24 Arizona State: The Sun Devils started the season ranked No. 11 but had fallen out after an early non-conference loss at Mississippi State. They then got blown out by Utah while playing without starting quarterback Sam Leavitt last week, but a 26-22 win over then-No. 7 Texas Tech (playing without its starting QB) has 5-2 Arizona State back in the rankings. The Sun Devils won the Big 12 last year and reached the CFP.
No. 25 Michigan: The 5-2 Wolverines also return to the poll with a 24-7 win over Washington. Michigan has losses to Oklahoma and USC, and this was arguably its best win.
Notable Droppers in AP Top 25 Poll
No. 8 Ole Miss: The Rebels only drop three spots after their loss at Georgia, which seems fair. This is still a 6-1 team with a win over LSU.
No. 9 Miami: The 5-1 Hurricanes tumble seven spots after losing at home to Louisville as QB Carson Beck threw four interceptions and knocked himself out of the Heisman Trophy race.
No. 14 Texas Tech: It seems excessive for 6-1 Texas Tech to fall seven spots for a four-point loss on the road to reigning Big 12 champion Arizona State with the Red Raiders’ redshirt freshman backup quarterback Will Hammond making his first career start. Texas Tech even led late in that game, and with starting QB Behren Morton it has won its other six games by 24 points or more.
No. 17 Tennessee: The Vols drop six spots after their 37-20 loss at Alabama. Tennessee (5-2) doesn’t actually have a notable win, though it did push Georgia to overtime. It also narrowly won against two of the SEC’s worst teams, Mississippi State and Arkansas
No. 20 LSU: The Tigers fall 10 spots for losing on the road to a Vanderbilt team that is now considered a top-10 team. That doesn’t seem fair. That said, LSU has lost both of its big games this season (to Ole Miss and this one) and hasn’t looked overly impressive in any Power Four game.
Unranked USC: The Trojans were ranked No. 20 entering a spotlight showdown at Notre Dame, but questionable coaching decisions and turnovers doomed USC in a 34-24 loss and knocked it out of the rankings.
Unranked Memphis: The Tigers spoiled their unbeaten start to the season with a surprising 31-24 loss at UAB less than a week after the Blazers fired former head coach Trent Dilfer. Memphis, which was ranked No. 22, lost starting QB Brendon Lewis to injury early in the game, but the defense is what let it down most.
Unranked Utah: The Utes drop from No. 23 to out of the poll after that loss at BYU and may now also be out of the Big 12 race with their second loss.
Unranked Nebraska: The Cornhuskers also drop out, from No. 25 last week, after a humbling 24-6 loss at Minnesota. They’re 5-2.
Most Overrated Team in AP Top 25 Poll
That would be Tennessee. Yes, the Vols were a playoff team last year, but outside of pushing Georgia to overtime early in the season there’s nothing to really justify having them ranked ahead of South Florida, Louisville or LSU. The polls often give too much credit for losing to good teams, as if simply showing up to play Alabama deserves some merit. Tennessee got blown out by 17 points and hasn’t beaten a good team yet while barely getting by Mississippi State (41-34 in overtime) and Arkansas (34-31). Its other wins are over Syracuse, East Tennessee State and UAB.
Most Underrated Team in AP Top 25 Poll
Texas Tech. Again, in six games with veteran starting quarterback Behren Morton active, the Red Raiders won by 60 points (Arkansas-Pine Bluff), 48 (Kent State), 31 (Oregon State), 24 (at Utah), 24 (at Houston, which is 6-1) and 25 (Kansas). It’s lone loss was with a redshirt freshman QB making his first career start, on the road against the reigning conference champion and a 2024 CFP team, and Texas Tech still took the lead with 2 minutes left before Arizona State drove for the win.
Other Nitpicks With AP Top 25 Poll
– USC doesn’t necessarily deserve to be ranked, but neither does Michigan and to have the Wolverines in ahead of the Trojans is still considering they played each other just two weeks ago and USC dominated in a 31-13 win.
– The case could be made that Alabama should be one spot higher at No. 3, flipping spots with Texas A&M. Yes, the Aggies are 7-0 and have a signature win over Notre Dame. But that’s their only really notable win and they narrowly escaped Arkansas this weekend with a 45-42 win. Alabama did lose the opener to Florida State, but it has reeled off four straight wins over teams all currently ranked in the top 17.