Miami running back Javian Mallory (21) celebrates with offensive lineman Ben Congdon (58) after scoring a touchdown during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Florida State, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Miami is No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 2002, No. 2 BYU has its highest ranking since its 1984 national championship season and Notre Dame and Georgia stayed in the top five Sunday after both lost close games.
The wildest and wackiest week of the college football season so far saw five of the top seven teams lose — a first in the AP poll’s 90-year history. Miami and BYU were the biggest beneficiaries of the chaos and were joined by Ohio State in a tightly bunched top three.
The Hurricanes took over the top spot from Georgia, which lasted one week at No. 1 after losing to Auburn at home. The Bulldogs were the second No. 1 team in two weeks — Texas was the other — to lose to an unranked opponent.
Miami survived end-of-game drama to beat rival Florida State in double overtime and stay unbeaten. The Hurricanes’ two-spot jump made them No. 1 for the first time since the 2002 season ended in the national championship game against Ohio State.
The Hurricanes received 40 of the 70 first-place votes from the media voting panel and were just 22 points ahead of BYU, which won a thriller at home over Notre Dame. The Cougars got 20 first-place votes and were 26 points ahead of Ohio State. The Buckeyes got nine first-place votes and were well ahead of No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 5 Georgia.
Miami is the first No. 1 team from the Atlantic Coast Conference team since Clemson in 2020. Other than Clemson, there had not been another ACC team ranked No. 1 since Florida State in 2014.
BYU went into its game against Notre Dame as a 10.5-point underdog and came out with a 28-24 win to go 6-0 for a third straight year. Since their championship season 42 years ago, the Cougars hadn’t been higher than No. 4 in a poll or in the top five since 1996.
Every single spot in the Top 25 has a new team this week, but only two teams dropped out of the rankings. A wholesale shakeup of the top 10 did not happen largely because Notre Dame, Georgia and No. 6 Indiana had built-up capital with their 6-0 starts, plus the losses by the Fighting Irish and Hoosiers were against top-10 opponents.
Indiana, which lost at home to Ohio State, was followed by Mississippi, Texas Tech, UCLA and Utah. Texas Tech received the remaining first-place vote.
Alabama’s loss at Tennessee dropped the Crimson Tide seven spots to No. 13 and Texas plummeted 12 rungs to No. 19 after its home loss to Florida.
In and out
In: No. 20 Florida, which dropped out last week after consecutive lopsided losses, is back after going to Texas and handing the Longhorns a second loss in a row.
In: No. 25 Arizona, which had an open date, has four straight double-digit wins since losing to BYU and makes its season debut in the poll.
Out: Oklahoma State’s loss at Houston brought an end to the Cowboys’ three-week run in the poll.
Out: Mississippi State got bounced for the 31-0 loss at LSU that followed a 23-point home loss to Alabama.
Poll points
— The last time the SEC’s top team in the rankings — it’s No. 5 Georgia this week — was behind teams from each of the other power conferences was Dec. 3, 2023, when Alabama was No. 5 behind teams from the Big Ten (Michigan), Pac-12 (Washington), Big 12 (Texas) and ACC (Florida State).
— The last time the Nos. 1 and 2 teams lost in the same week in the regular season was 2017, when No. 1 Alabama lost to Auburn and No. 2 Miami lost to Pittsburgh on Thanksgiving weekend.
— The last time unranked teams knocked off No. 1s in consecutive weeks was 1990. Miami hosts unranked Pittsburgh on Saturday.
— No. 9 UCLA has matched its highest ranking since 2022 and No. 14 Houston has its highest ranking since it was No. 11 at midseason in 2016.
Conference call
SEC (9 ranked teams): No. 5 Georgia, No. 7 Mississippi, No. 11 Tennessee, No. 12 Kentucky, No. 13 Alabama, No. 18 LSU, No. 19 Texas, No. 20 Florida, No. 22 Missouri.
Big Ten (6): No. 3 Ohio State, No. 6 Indiana, No. 9 UCLA, No. 15 Iowa, No. 16 USC, No. 24 Northwestern.
Big 12 (5): No. 2 BYU, No. 8 Texas Tech, No. 10 Utah, No. 14 Houston, No. 25 Arizona.
ACC (3): No. 1 Miami, No. 17 Wake Forest, No. 23 SMU/
Pac-12 (1): No. 21 Boise State.
Independent (1): No. 4 Notre Dame.
Ranked vs. ranked
No. 7 Mississippi at No. 19 Texas: The Rebels have found their footing after that 24-point loss to Florida, outscoring Vanderbilt and Missouri by a combined 83-20. Longhorns are reeling and might have a new QB this week.
No. 14 Houston at No. 10 Utah: The Cougars have beaten one ranked team each of the last three seasons and will go for a second against an unbeaten Utah team that escaped Colorado as a 15.5-point favorite.
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