AP Top 25 Rankings: Florida Makes Major Leap In Week 4 Poll

Will Despart September 28, 2026 Fact checked by: Matt Moreno No Comments

Florida surged in the latest AP Top 25 poll after securing a key SEC win over Ole Miss in Week 4 of the college football season.

Another edition of the AP Top 25 College Football rankings were released on Sunday morning, headlined by an unchanged top 3 and rapid riser that we predicted would make a huge jump last week. 

Texas remained a convincing No. 1, receiving 62 first-place votes after a 20-17 win at Tennessee on Saturday despite a shaky performance from Arch Manning. No. 2 Georgia received a season-high six first-place votes after dismantling Oklahoma, 41-13. Notre Dame didn’t receive a single first-place vote for the second straight week despite coming in at No. 3, though No. 4 Miami and No. 6 Indiana each received a single first-place vote. 

Florida Gators Philo, Baugh
QB Aaron Philo and RB Jadan Baugh are leading Florida’s Top 25 ascent. (Photo by: Dustin Markland/Getty Images)

AP Top 25 Risers and Fallers

Ohio State, which fell from No. 1 in Week 1 to No. 7 in Week 3, pushed its way back into the top 5 with a convincing 42-19 blowout against Illinois. The rapid riser we mentioned was Florida, which rose from its season debut at No. 21 last week all the way to No. 8 with its clinic of a win over Ole Miss. Mississippi State, which debuted at No. 24 last week, rose eight spots to No. 16 ahead of the Bulldogs’ matchup against No. 7 Alabama this coming Saturday.

Entering the polls this week is Oklahoma State at No. 19, Boise State at No. 22, UCLA at No. 23 and Kentucky at No. 24. Penn State fell from No. 13 in last week’s poll to unranked completely this week after being upset by Wisconsin. Michigan also fell out of the rankings from No. 18 after a last-second loss to Iowa, which was only the Wolverines’ first loss on paper but second in the eyes of many voters after the Western Michigan fiasco. 

Five Takeaways From The Latest AP Top 25 Release Following Week 4

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Florida Is Now In Position For A College Football Playoff Run

No result from this past weekend was more impactful than the Florida Gators’ shellacking of Ole Miss in The Swamp, bringing the Rebels back to Earth after their thrilling victory over LSU last week. The win officially took Florida from being an interesting story in the SEC in Jon Sumrall’s first season to being a legitimate contender not just to make an at-large College Football Playoff berth, but to win the SEC Championship outright. One thing’s for certain, no running back tandem in the country is harder to stop then Jadan Baugh and Duke Clark.

Boise State Is Now A Heavy G6 Favorite

Perhaps the second most impactful outcome from this past weekend from the standpoint of determining College Football Playoff participants was a game that most ball knowers have circled on their calendars, but many casuals may have ignored. That was Boise State’s 32-7 pummeling of Western Michigan, which won the hearts of the nation Week 1 in Ann Arbor and are still favorites to take the MAC despite Saturday’s disappointing outcome. With the win, Boise State not only pushed itself into the rankings, but cemented its position as the overwhelming favorite to become this year’s guaranteed G6 playoff representative.

UCLA’s Entry Is The First Of Many In Bob Chesney Era

UCLA football has had some rough times in the last decade or so, but it honestly never seemed as precarious as it did during the team’s disastrous 3-9 campaign last year. But like Curt Cignetti at Indiana, Bob Chesney has proven that a power conference college football program can be essentially rebuilt overnight in this current era of NIL and the transfer portal with the right architect. Chesney was hired directly from James Madison like Cignetti was, ironically, and each had success at the FCS level before making that jump. The blueprint is in place in Westwood, and Saturday’s 54-3 thrashing of Maryland proved it’s being followed to perfection. These Bruins will be a mainstay in the polls as long as Chesney is in the driver’s seat. 

Mississippi State Has Earned Fast Respect

In my Week 2 AP Poll Takeaways, I predicted that Mississippi State would soon make an appearance in the Top 25 and had the potential to make a steady climb through the rankings if the Bulldogs simply win more games during this gauntlet SEC stretch than they lose. They debuted at No. 24 last week after beating South Carolina, and Saturday’s win over then-No. 25 Missouri boosted the Bulldogs to No. 16 in the latest rankings. If Mississippi State can stun a red-hot No. 7 Alabama team this weekend, the Bulldogs will almost certainly climb into the top 10.

The ACC Is In Trouble

With just two entries in this week’s AP poll, it’s getting harder and harder to reconcile with the fact that the ACC is still technically considered to be on the same level as the Big 12, much less the Big Ten and the SEC. Miami is obviously a national title contender and one of the most talented rosters we’ve seen this decade, but No. 21 SMU is currently the conference’s only other representative in the poll, and they can be trusted about as far as you can throw a mustang.

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