AP Top 25: Georgia Back on Top, Miami Falls to No. 5, Ohio State Drops to No. 21
It took one week for the AP college football poll to change leaders again. Beaten 31-24 at Notre Dame, Miami drops from No. 1 to No. 5 and hands the top spot to Georgia, a 42-7 winner at Ole Miss. Behind the Bulldogs, Utah and UCLA, the only unbeaten teams left in the Top 25, are ranked higher than they have been in years. Ohio State, meanwhile, falls to No. 21. Here is what stands out in the Week 11 poll.
Georgia reclaims No. 1, Utah reaches historic heights
Georgia (8-1) is back on top with 53 of the 70 first-place votes from the Associated Press media panel. The Bulldogs left no doubt in Oxford: Gunner Stockton accounted for five touchdowns, four passing and one rushing, including three scoring throws to Talyn Taylor (140 yards). Ole Miss did not get on the board until the fourth quarter.
Utah (9-0) moves up one spot to No. 2 with 12 first-place votes after its 28-20 win over BYU in the Holy War. According to the AP, it is the Utes' highest regular-season ranking ever, and their highest since the final poll of the 2008 season. Notre Dame (8-1) also climbs one spot, to No. 3, and picks up the remaining five first-place votes. Against Miami, CJ Carr threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns.
UCLA (9-0), a 34-20 winner at Minnesota, settles in at No. 4. Per the AP, the Bruins are 9-0 for the first time since 1998 and have not been ranked this high since 2001. Indiana (8-1), idle this week, is the only team in the Top 25 to stay exactly where it was (No. 6).
Miami and Ohio State pay a steep price
Miami (8-1) slides four spots to No. 5. According to the AP, the Hurricanes are the fourth No. 1 team knocked from the top spot this season, the most since 2008. The loss in South Bend does not end their season, but it costs them their unbeaten record and any margin for error.
The steepest fall belongs to Ohio State. No. 2 two weeks ago and No. 11 after its loss at USC, the Buckeyes tumble to No. 21 after a 41-28 home loss to Oregon. Per the AP, excluding the 2020 pandemic season, Ohio State (6-3) has not been ranked this low since 2014. Oregon (6-3) goes the other way and re-enters the poll at No. 18, its first appearance in five weeks.
The weekend's other losers slide as well. BYU drops from No. 7 to No. 12, Kentucky from No. 8 to No. 13 after a 34-6 beating at Tennessee, Ole Miss from No. 12 to No. 19, and LSU, handled 31-13 by Alabama in Baton Rouge, from No. 15 to No. 24.
The rest of the poll benefits from the carnage. Wake Forest (8-1) gains three spots to No. 11 after a 77-0 win over FCS Merrimack, Houston (No. 14) also rises three after beating Cincinnati 31-24, and idle USC (No. 15) climbs three more. Iowa (7-2) makes one of the sharpest jumps, from No. 21 to No. 16, after a 24-10 win at Northwestern.
Tennessee crashes the top 10, a Montrealer and a Frenchman in focus
Tennessee (7-2) makes the biggest jump among teams that were already ranked: seven spots, from No. 16 to No. 9, its highest ranking in two years according to the AP. Texas Tech (8-1) is also back in the top 10 (No. 10) after a wild 53-48 win over West Virginia. Alabama (No. 7) and Texas (No. 8), a 34-20 winner at Missouri, each move up two spots.
SMU (7-2) returns at No. 25 after routing Virginia Tech. Missouri, with its second loss in three games, and Florida, beaten 23-7 by Oklahoma, fall out. With eight teams, the SEC remains the most represented conference, ahead of the Big Ten (six) and the Big 12 (five).
On the international front, Ole Miss's only touchdown against Georgia came from Shekai Mills-Knight, a running back from Montreal, on an 8-yard run in the fourth quarter. At New Mexico (8-1), which slips one spot to No. 23 despite a 31-3 win at Nevada, Rouen native Malik Aliane, a product of the Rouen Léopards, was expected to play center after Kaden Robnett was lost for the season, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
What the poll means for the College Football Playoff
The AP poll is not the College Football Playoff committee's ranking, and the committee will release its second top 25 on Tuesday, Nov. 10. Still, it frames the race: Georgia, Utah, Notre Dame and UCLA now form the top four, and Miami needs someone ahead of it to stumble. The SEC, for its part, has four teams in the top 10 (Georgia, Alabama, Texas and Tennessee).
Further down, the race for the spot that usually goes to the top champion from outside the major conferences is taking shape. Boise State (8-1), a 64-38 winner at Colorado State, climbs three spots to No. 17, while New Mexico slips one. In the Big 12, Utah holds the edge, but Texas Tech (No. 10), BYU (No. 12) and Houston (No. 14) are lurking. In the Big Ten, UCLA leads the way ahead of Indiana, USC, Iowa and Oregon.
Next Saturday's headliner is in Bloomington, where Indiana (No. 6) hosts USC (No. 15) in a pivotal Big Ten game. With only two unbeaten teams left and four No. 1s already toppled, this season has made it clear that no ranking is safe until December.
The full AP Top 25 (Week 11)
Georgia (8-1), 53 first-place votes
Utah (9-0), 12 first-place votes
Notre Dame (8-1), 5 first-place votes
UCLA (9-0)
Miami (8-1)
Indiana (8-1)
Alabama (7-2)
Texas (7-2)
Tennessee (7-2)
Texas Tech (8-1)
Wake Forest (8-1)
BYU (7-2)
Kentucky (7-2)
Houston (7-2)
USC (7-2)
Iowa (7-2)
Boise State (8-1)
Oregon (6-3)
Ole Miss (6-3)
South Carolina (6-3)
Ohio State (6-3)
Arizona (7-2)
New Mexico (8-1)
LSU (6-3)
SMU (7-2)
