Four top-10 teams lost — including the No. 1 team — and seven ranked teams lost in total in a wild start to an October of college football. Of course, there would be changes in this week’s AP poll. Here’s what you need to know.
Week 7 AP Top 25 Poll
| RANK | SCHOOL | RECORD | PTS | PREV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas (52) | 5-0 | 1516 | 2 |
| 2 | Ohio State (9) | 5-0 | 1473 | 3 |
| 3 | Oregon | 5-0 | 1348 | 6 |
| 4 | Penn State | 5-0 | 1305 | 7 |
| 5 | Georgia | 4-1 | 1299 | 5 |
| 6 | Miami (FL) | 6-0 | 1187 | 8 |
| 7 | Alabama | 4-1 | 1182 | 1 |
| 8 | Tennessee | 4-1 | 1001 | 4 |
| 9 | Ole Miss | 5-1 | 978 | 12 |
| 10 | Clemson | 4-1 | 861 | 15 |
| T-11 | Iowa State | 5-0 | 853 | 16 |
| T-11 | Notre Dame | 4-1 | 853 | 14 |
| 13 | LSU | 4-1 | 827 | 13 |
| 14 | BYU | 5-0 | 753 | 17 |
| 15 | Texas A&M | 5-1 | 702 | 25 |
| 16 | Utah | 4-1 | 473 | 18 |
| 17 | Boise State | 4-1 | 463 | 21 |
| T-18 | Kansas State | 4-1 | 459 | 20 |
| T-18 | Indiana | 6-0 | 459 | 23 |
| T-18 | Oklahoma | 4-1 | 459 | 19 |
| 21 | Missouri | 4-1 | 352 | 9 |
| 22 | Pittsburgh | 5-0 | 196 | NR |
| 23 | Illinois | 4-1 | 182 | 23 |
| 24 | Michigan | 4-2 | 170 | 10 |
| 25 | SMU | 5-1 | 165 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Southern California 98, Nebraska 51, Navy 43, Army 33, Vanderbilt 26, Arkansas 17, Washington State 8, Iowa 8, Texas Tech 7, Syracuse 6, Washington 4, Louisville 4, Colorado 3, Kentucky 1.
Texas returns to No. 1
Texas and Ohio State lead the way in this week’s AP poll. The Longhorns and Buckeyes were the only teams to receive first-place votes after then-No. 1 Alabama lost to an unranked Vanderbilt squad.
| No. of First-Place Votes | Team |
|---|---|
| 52 | Texas |
| 9 | Ohio State |
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The rest of the top 10 has a new look
Undefeated Big Ten programs Oregon and Penn State follow in the rankings at No. 3 and No. 4. Then things get interesting. Unlike the Ducks and Nittany Lions who moved up three spots this week, No. 6 Miami (Fla.) only moved up two spots after barely squeaking out wins in back-to-back weeks against Virginia Tech and Cal.
Who’s at No. 5? That would be the Georgia Bulldogs, who just lost the previous week. Yes, No. 5 Georgia is ranked above Alabama, a team it lost to. The Crimson Tide dropped six spots to No. 7 after losing to an unranked Vanderbilt team. Head-to-head didn’t outweigh Alabama’s loss.
No. 8 Tennessee dropped four spots after its unranked loss to Arkansas, while No. 9 Ole Miss is back in the top 10 after rebounding from its unranked loss a week ago to Kentucky. Rounding out the top 10 is Clemson. The Tigers are 4-1 and have scored an average of 48.5 points across its four-game win streak since losing in the season opener to Georgia.
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Missouri, Miami and USC fall
Things were much calmer from Nos. 12-21 in last week’s rankings, with six teams on byes and the other schools winning their games handily. So where do last week’s top-10 teams that lost fit in among the group?
No. 24 Michigan fell 14 spots, but thanks to a head-to-head win, the Wolverines didn’t fall out of the poll like Southern California. The Trojans fell from No. 11 to the first team in the receiving votes category after a loss to Minnesota.
No. 21 Missouri lost to a ranked Texas A&M, leading the Tigers to drop 12 spots. On the other side of that game, Texas A&M rose 10 spots — the most of any team this week — to No. 15.
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Pittsburgh and SMU enter this week’s rankings
Southern California, Louisville and UNLV dropped out of last week’s 26-team rankings, leaving room for two teams to enter the top 25 this week. Joining the rankings this week are Pittsburgh and SMU.
Pitt is one of 12 undefeated teams this year after winning its first ACC game against North Carolina. Quarterback Eli Holstein has been outstanding and just one week ago was one of my darkhorse Heisman candidates. Meanwhile, SMU enters the rankings after taking down then-No. 22 Louisville. The Mustangs are on a three-game win streak and their only loss came by three points to a now-No. 14 BYU squad.
| Record | Team (Conference) |
|---|---|
| 6-0 | Indiana (Big Ten), Miami (ACC) |
| 5-0 | Army (AAC), BYU (Big 12), Iowa State (Big 12), Ohio State (Big Ten), Oregon (Big Ten), Penn State (Big Ten), Pitt (ACC), Texas (SEC), Navy (AAC) |
| 4-0 | Liberty (CUSA) |
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Ranked games to watch this week
Here are the ranked-vs.-ranked matchups in Week 7 on Saturday, Oct. 12: