Five teams received first-place votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll released Sunday as Ohio State remained the No. 1 team in advance of Saturday’s Big Ten opener at Washington.
Ohio State, Penn State and LSU were 1-2-3 for the second week in a row, while Miami swiped two of Ohio State’s first-place votes to climb over Oregon for the No. 4 spot. The Hurricanes moved up after a 49-12 victory over then-No. 18 USF, which had knocked off Top 25 teams in each of its first two games.
Georgia moved up to fifth after rallying to win 44-41 in overtime at Tennessee. Oregon fell two spots despite a 34-14 win Saturday at Northwestern. The Ducks dropped to No. 6 but kept the singular first-place vote they have held all season.
Florida State, Texas, Illinois and Texas A&M round out the top 10.
Texas A&M zoomed up six spots after rallying to defeat then-No. 8 Notre Dame 41-40 on Saturday night in South Bend, Ind. The Aggies climbed as high as No. 10 once last season — rewarded for a 38-23 win on Oct. 26 over No. 8 LSU — but the Aggies lost four of their last five and finished outside the Top 25.
Notre Dame, which has started 0-2 for the first time since 2022, dropped 16 spots remained in the poll at No. 24. Both Fighting Irish losses have come against nationally ranked foes. Clemson, which absorbed a 24-21 ACC loss to Georgia Tech, dropped out of the poll for the first time since Dec. 3, 2023.
South Carolina (previously No. 11) and USF (No. 18) joined Clemson (No. 12) in tumbling out of the Top 25. No. 18 Georgia Tech, No. 20 Vanderbilt and No. 25 Southern California assumed Top 25 with 3-0 records.
Oklahoma, Iowa State, Ole Miss, Alabama and Tennessee claimed the Nos. 11-15 spots, respectively. Utah, Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, Indiana and Vanderbilt stand 16th through 20th while Michigan, Auburn, Missouri, Notre Dame and USC close out the poll.
Saturday will now include three showdowns between Top 25 teams. No. 17 Texas Tech plays at No. 16 Utah in Big 12 action, No. 22 Auburn visits No. 11 Oklahoma in the SEC’s marquee game and No. 9 Illinois goes to No. 19 Indiana in the Big Ten. The Illini and the Hoosiers have not met when both were ranked since 1950.
–Field Level Media
