There was considerably less shakeup in the AP Top 25 poll this weekend as all of the top 12 teams from last week either won or were on a bye.
As such, the top six spots remain unchanged while Ole Miss and Georgia Tech flipped spots at Nos. 7-8, as did Vanderbilt and Miami at Nos. 9-10 and BYU tied for 10th in the voting. No. 3 Texas A&M did pick up a new first-place vote, with the rest going to No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana.
But six ranked teams did lose, causing some notable changes in the bottom half of the poll.
Let’s take a closer look at the teams on the move …
Notable Risers In Latest AP Top 25
No. 9 Vanderbilt: Vandy’s story just keeps getting better. Now 7-1 with three top-25 wins after a 17-10 victory over then-No. 15 Missouri on Saturday, the Commodores have their highest ranking since 1937 while moving up one spot. They also have a real chance of winning the rest of their games and playing their way into a College Football Playoff spot, with or without reaching the SEC championship game. Vanderbilt plays at No. 20 Texas this week after the Longhorns needed overtime the last two weeks to get past Kentucky and Mississippi State. Then it closes the season with home games against Auburn and Kentucky and a final road test at No. 14 Tennessee.
No. 10 BYU: The Cougars rise a spot to share the No. 10 ranking with Miami after tying in the voting and moving to 8-0 with an impressive 41-27 win at Iowa State. BYU has one win over a ranked opponent this season (Utah) and has its toughest tests still ahead with No. 13 Texas Tech and No. 17 Cincinnati on the road.
No. 14 Tennessee: The 6-2 Vols move up three spots after a 56-34 win over Kentucky. Tennessee still doesn’t have a signature win, though, as its three SEC wins have come against Mississippi State, Arkansas and Kentucky, who are the three worst teams in the conference with a combined 0-13 SEC record.
No. 16 Louisville: The 6-1 Cardinals also move up three spots, following their momentous upset win over Miami with a 38-24 victory over Boston College. Louisville’s only loss came to now-No. 15 Virginia and it doesn’t play another ranked opponent the rest of the regular season.
No. 17 Cincinnati: The Bearcats are 7-1 with seven straight wins after starting the season with a three-point loss to Nebraska. Cincinnati jumped four spots in the rankings after a thoroughly impressive 41-20 win over Baylor.
No. 21 Michigan: The 6-2 Wolverines also rose four spots in the poll this week, largely due to so many teams near the bottom of the rankings losing. Michigan took care of Michigan State, 31-10, on Saturday.
Jumping into the rankings: No. 22 Houston (7-1) after a 24-16 win over Arizona State, No. 23 USC (5-2) after a bye week, No. 24 Utah (6-2) after a 53-7 win over Colorado, No. 25 Memphis (7-1) after a 34-31 win over then-No. 18 South Florida.
Notable Teams Dropping In AP Top 25
No. 8 Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets dropped a spot despite a dominant 41-16 win over Syracuse. An Ole Miss win at Oklahoma was more impactful and gave the Rebels the boost over Georgia Tech, which is 8-0 for the first time since 1966.
No. 18 Oklahoma: The Sooners fall five spots after that 34-26 loss to Ole Miss at home. Now 6-2, the Sooners still have road games at No. 14 Tennessee and No. 4 Alabama and home games against No. 19 Missouri and LSU.
No. 19 Missouri: The 6-2 Tigers drop four spots after the 17-10 loss at Vanderbilt. Both of Missouri’s losses were against top 10 teams (also Alabama) and both were competitive.
South Florida: The 6-2 Bulls were ranked No. 18 before losing to Memphis while missing a potential game-tying 52-yard field goal in the final seconds and fall out of the rankings as a result.
LSU: The 5-3 Tigers were ranked No. 20 last week and are now unranked after losing three of their last four games. LSU fired coach Brian Kelly on Sunday night a day after the 49-25 home loss to No. 3 Texas A&M.
Illinois: The Fighting Illinois fall from No. 23 to out of the rankings after a 42-25 loss at Washington, which dropped the team to 5-3.
Arizona State: The Sun Devils were No. 24 but are now unranked after a 24-16 loss to Houston, which knocked them out of the Big 12 race and to 5-3 overall.
Most Overrated Team In AP Top 25
It’s a tie between No. 14 Tennessee and No. 15 Virginia.
As noted, the Vols don’t have a single notable win, beating the bottom three teams in the SEC (and getting pushed for four quarters by Mississippi State and Arkansas), a bad Syracuse team from the ACC, East Tennessee State and UAB. They’re getting too much credit for taking Georgia to overtime early in the season.
Virginia’s win over Florida State doesn’t look so notable now that the Seminoles have lost four straight and have a losing record. The Cavaliers did give Louisville its only loss, but the last two weeks they’ve barely gotten past a mediocre Washington State team (22-20) and a flat-out bad North Carolina team (17-16 in overtime).
Most Underrated Team In AP Top 25
No. 17 Cincinnati.
The Bearcats are riding a seven-game winning streak, just posted on their most impressive wins with the blowout of Baylor and have one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the country in Brendan Sorsby (1,830 passing yards, 20 TDs, 1 INT; 425 rushing yards and 7 TDs).
Cincinnati will get the chance to open more eyes this week vs. No. 24 Utah and later in November vs. No. 10 BYU.