Every spot in the AP Top 25 changed except No. 1

Alabama replaces Miami as a top-four seed in the College Football Playoff based on this week’s Top 25 rankings and Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt and BYU are on the mock bracket for the first time.

Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M and Alabama would be the top four seeds as the Nos. 1-4 teams in the AP poll.

▶ Read more about the AP Top 25 playoff predictions

No. 3 Texas A&M travels to No. 20 LSU for a Saturday night showdown next weekend. The Tigers will look to bounce back from a Week 8 loss and dethrone Texas A&M, the highest ranked and only undefeated SEC team.

No. 10 Vanderbilt, fresh off a big win and riding its highest ranking since 1947, will host No. 15 Missouri in another critical conference game. Both teams are 6-1 and eager to keep their potential paths to the College Football Playoff alive.

No. 8 Ole Miss heads to No. 13 Oklahoma. Both programs have something to prove, with Ole Miss coming off a loss to Georgia and Oklahoma still feeling the sting of a Red River Rivalry loss to Texas.

That’s a complex question, but I’ll try to answer as best I can.

First, not all records are created equal because not all schedules are created equal. Notre Dame had two losses to begin the season, but it’s reasonable to think they would beat a 2-0 team from (no disrespect) the Mountain West or Conference USA, right?

Especially since those defeats came against highly ranked Power 4 opponents.

Second, everyone compiles their ballot differently so I can only speak for myself. But I look, of course, at records but opponents, common opponents, a ton of stats and then the ol’ eye test.

And sometimes that’s the biggest factor other than wins-losses — you can sometimes just tell when a team is average, good or even elite. You can tell when one is pretty bad, too, and that’s when things get easy for us.

Scott Hamilton is a sports columnist for The Charleston Post and Courier and has been an AP Top 25 voter for eight years. You can follow him on X: @scotthamiltonpc.

Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt, two teams that fell short of the preseason rankings, are making noise in October.

Both reached their highest rankings in years after big wins on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets improved to 7-0 with a 27-18 win against Duke. Georgia Tech moved up to No. 7, the program’s highest ranking since 2009.

Vanderbilt came in at No. 10 after a 31-24 win against LSU. It’s the Commodores’ highest ranking since 1947 and the fourth time the team has landed in the top 10.

Louisville might have the head-to-head win, but Miami has the better overall resume. The Hurricanes beat three teams that were ranked at the time of competition: Notre Dame, South Florida and Florida State.

Miami has been consistent against top teams, and voters tend to weigh full season results more heavily than a single game.

Four top 10 teams lost in Week 8 and only two remain in the upper half of the rankings.

Miami’s loss to Louisville knocked the Hurricanes from No. 2 to No. 9. Mississippi slid from No. 5 to No. 8 after falling to Georgia. Texas Tech dropped from No. 7 to No. 14 after losing to a then-unranked Arizona State team.

LSU took the hardest tumble, falling from No. 10 to No. 20 following a loss to Vanderbilt.

There are now three co-favorites in the Heisman Trophy race, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, and all of them are quarterbacks.

Julian Sayin of No. 1 Ohio State, Fernando Mendoza of No. 2 Indiana and Ty Simpson of No. 4 Alabama are all 3-1 favorites going into this week’s games.

All top six favorites are QBs, including Marcel Reed of No. 3 Texas A&M, Gunner Stockton of No. 5 Georgia and Diego Pavia of No. 10 Vanderbilt.

Heating up: Alabama (4), Georgia (5), Oregon (6), Georgia Tech (7), Vanderbilt (10), BYU (11), Notre Dame (12), Louisville (19), Illinois (23), Arizona State (24), Michigan (25).

Cooling down: Ole Miss (8), Miami (9), Texas Tech (14), Tennessee (17), LSU (20).

Steady: Ohio State (1)

AP college football reporter Maura Carey will answer a few questions now that the latest rankings are out.

AP employees don’t vote themselves, but they keep a close eye on the season.

Miami has been dethroned after back-to-back weeks at No. 2. The Hurricanes’ loss to Louisville cleared the path for Indiana, which improved to 7-0 on Saturday with a 38-13 win against Michigan State.

It was Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza’s fourth time this season with at least four passing touchdowns, strengthening his campaign for the Heisman.

This week’s No. 2 is the highest in program history for the Hoosiers.

Georgia returned to the top five after a 43-35 win against Ole Miss, which ranked No. 5 at the time.

It’s the Bulldogs first time landing in the top five since a late September loss to Alabama. Weeks later, Georgia ranks just one spot below the Crimson Tide.

The Bulldogs have become known for resilience and second-half comebacks. Gunner Stockton led Georgia to two touchdowns and a field-goal scoring drive in the fourth quarter, overcoming a 35-26 deficit and solidifying the victory.

Of course there’s still a couple of weeks left in October, yet the standings for every conference remain murky.

Nine teams in the Big Ten are either tied for first place or only one game behind; eight SEC teams are in that same situation. And no league has more than three teams still undefeated in conference play. So every conference is up for grabs, which is a great thing.

For all of the complaining and moaning about NIL, revenue sharing, the transfer portal, etc., we’re more and more finding ourselves in an era of parity like we’ve never seen. If not from conference to conference, then at least within the leagues.

It’s a beautiful thing.

Scott Hamilton is a sports columnist for The Charleston Post and Courier and has been an AP Top 25 voter for eight years. You can follow him on X: @scotthamiltonpc.

▶ Ask him a question about the Top 25 poll

It was a chaotic week for Top 25 teams and the new poll reflects that: The only team to stay in the same spot was No. 1 Ohio State.

This was the third time this season that four top-10 teams lost in the same weekend. It was also the second time that two unranked teams beat a top-10 opponent (the other was Oct. 4 when UCLA upset Penn State and Florida beat Texas).

In all, a season-high nine ranked teams lost this weekend, the most since Week 5 in 2022, when 10 Top 25 teams went down, according to Sportradar.

1. Ohio State
2. Indiana
3. Texas A&M
4. Alabama
5. Georgia
6. Oregon
7. Georgia Tech
8. Ole Miss
9. Miami (Fla.)
10. Vanderbilt
11. BYU
12. Notre Dame
13. Oklahoma
14. Texas Tech
15. Missouri
16. Virginia
17. Tennessee
18. USF
19. Louisville
20. LSU
21. Cincinnati
22. Texas
23. Illinois
24. Arizona State
25. Michigan

I think so. I had the Cardinals ranked for a few weeks earlier this season — I really like what Jeff Brohm has cooking there. Have them 20th on my ballot this week following that big win over Miami.

Scott Hamilton is a sports columnist for The Charleston Post and Courier and has been an AP Top 25 voter for eight years. You can follow him on X: @scotthamiltonpc.

▶ Ask him a question about the Top 25 poll

The good: Alabama continued its impressive run on Saturday, throwing off a ranked SEC opponent for the fourth consecutive week. The win positions Crimson Tide to secure its highest ranking of the season.

The bad: No. 25 Nebraska’s immediate future in the rankings is bleak after a 24-6 loss to Minnesota. The Cornhuskers’ offensive line allowed nine sacks, as evidenced by quarterback Dylan Raiola’s -34 rushing yards.

The underwhelming: Texas falls into the underwhelming category after barely beating Kentucky. The Longhorns won it in overtime with a 45-yard field goal after Kentucky risked it on a fourth and goal and wound up scoreless. A win is a win, but a narrow win against an unranked opponent with a losing record doesn’t speak much of the Longhorns’ capabilities.

I’ll be shocked if the Yellow Jackets aren’t in the neighborhood. I have them ninth.

Scott Hamilton is a sports columnist for The Charleston Post and Courier and has been an AP Top 25 voter for eight years. You can follow him on X: @scotthamiltonpc.

▶ Ask him a question about the Top 25 poll

Stock up: Indiana, Alabama, Georgia, Vanderbilt, BYU, Georgia Tech.

Stock down: Miami, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, LSU, Nebraska, Memphis.

1 of 2 | 

Louisville wide receiver Caullin Lacy (5) is tackled by Miami long snapper Adam Booker, bottom, during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

Read More

2 of 2 | 

Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt (10) leaps over Texas Tech linebacker John Curry in the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Read More

Louisville is likely to crack the Top 25 for the first time this season after overthrowing Miami on its home turf.

The Cardinals got off to a hot start and maintained the lead all game long despite Miami’s late efforts.

Arizona State has been in and out of the rankings this season, most recently dropping out of the poll after a loss to Utah. But this week the Sun Devils knocked off a top 10 Texas Tech team in a game that wasn’t short of excitement.

Texas Tech scored two touchdowns in two minutes and took the lead with two minutes on the clock. Arizona State responded with an efficient touchdown-scoring drive to secure the 26-22 win.

I get what you’re saying re: Notre Dame. But the Irish’s two losses were to elite teams by a combined four points. And Notre Dame has done what it needs to do since — execute on a weekly basis against a schedule of Power 4 opponents and Group of Six power Boise State.

The Irish have won those games by an average of 25.5 points. I’ll be shocked if the Irish don’t make the College Football Playoff — and equally shocked if Notre Dame doesn’t win a game or two in it.

Scott Hamilton is a sports columnist for The Charleston Post and Courier and has been an AP Top 25 voter for eight years. You can follow him on X: @scotthamiltonpc.

▶ Ask him a question about the Top 25 poll

I’m really bullish on both Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech for multiple reasons.

First and foremost, they’re both really good football teams. Maybe not man for man — LSU’s roster is way better than Vandy’s. But both Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech are wonderful examples of the sums being more than the parts. Every player on each team has a role, knows his role and works to execute that role to the best of his ability.

Both teams are also extremely well coached — they know who they are and what they are and embrace it. I also really like how the schedules play out for both teams going forward, especially Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets have four conferences games left (two at home, two on the road) against opponents who are a combined 13-15 overall, 5-10 in the ACC. Then they finish up with their traditional game against Georgia.

Barring a complete collapse, I don’t see how Georgia Tech doesn’t have big plans over the holidays.

Scott Hamilton is a sports columnist for The Charleston Post and Courier and has been an AP Top 25 voter for eight years. You can follow him on X: @scotthamiltonpc.

▶ Read more on how Scott’s ballot shook out this week and ask him a question about the Top 25 poll

It promised to be an eventful weekend and it definitely delivered.

There were five ranked games and three were determined by one score. Even the other two were more competitive than the final margins.

But those are the easy ones to gauge for obvious reasons — you’re not gonna penalize a ranked team for narrowly losing to another ranked team. Often times, you just flip their spots (seriously).

As far as the others, you have to weigh a few different factors: location, injuries, etc., for that specific game and then look back at the losing team’s entire body of work up to that point.

LSU is a great example. Both of the Tigers’ losses have come to ranked teams on the road (at Ole Miss, at Vanderbilt), so it’s hard to be too punishing; but they also don’t really have a bundle of quality wins to really elevate them. So I put them at No. 25 and will go from there when LSU plays at Texas A&M next week.

Scott Hamilton is a sports columnist for The Charleston Post and Courier and has been an AP Top 25 voter for eight years. You can follow him on X: @scotthamiltonpc.

▶ Ask him a question about the Top 25 poll

Five Top 25 teams maintained an undefeated record through Week 8: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 3 Indiana, No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 12 Georgia Tech and No. 15 BYU.

Ohio State shut out Wisconsin 34-0. Indiana cruised past Michigan State with a 38-13 win. Texas A&M escaped a close one against Arkansas, pulling out a 45-42 victory. Georgia Tech beat ACC foe Duke 27-18 and BYU held off Utah, coming out on top with a 24-21 win.

No. 2 Miami, No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 7 Texas Tech and No. 10 LSU lost in Week 8 of college football play, paving the way for a major reshuffle in the top 10 of this week’s poll.

They were the first losses of the season for Miami, Ole Miss and Texas Tech. The Hurricanes were stunned at home by Louisville, which picked off quarterback Carson Beck four times on Friday night and secured a 24-21 win.

Vanderbilt outscored LSU 31-24 on Saturday, an effort spearheaded by Commodores’ quarterback Diego Pavia. Ole Miss dropped 43-35 to Georgia on the road in an offensive shootout. And Arizona State handed Texas Tech a 26-22 loss in a last-minute thriller.

College football writer and Top 25 voter Scott Hamilton will answer a few questions before and after the rankings drop.

No organization has been ranking teams and naming a major college football national champion longer than The Associated Press, since 1936.

AP employees don’t vote themselves, but they do choose the voters. AP Top 25 voters comprise around 60 writers and broadcasters who cover college football for AP members and other select outlets. The goal is to have every state with a Football Bowl Subdivision school represented by at least one voter.

Voting is a straight points system: A first-place vote is worth 25 points, a second-place vote is worth 24 points, down to 1 point for a 25th-place vote.

Then it’s just a summary of which teams are 1-25 based on the totals. Others receiving votes are also noted.

Voting is done online, and the tabulation is automated.

▶ Read more about the history of the AP Top 25 poll and how it works