You could make the argument that Indiana and Texas A&M should be ranked higher than Ohio State, though the AP voters wouldn’t dare knock Ohio State off it’s pedestal. That said, the latest polls are out and one thing is for sure, regardless of the order; Ohio State, Texas A&M and Indiana are the three best teams this season. They’ve handled business and each undefeated through the first eight games.
Georgia Tech, rightfully so, continues to climb up the polls as well as possibly the ACC’s only hope of getting to the College Football Playoff. The Yellow Jackets beat Syracuse this past weekend to also remain undefeated on the season. In the AAC, South Florida was stunned by Memphis and booted out of the top 25 for the second time this year. Memphis returns after their first ranked win this year.
Here’s a look at the updated poll and where all the shifts happened after Vanderbilt held off Missouri, LSU was handed its third loss of the season, Alabama avoided an upset in Columbia and Miami bounced back after a dud against Louisville.
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Oregon Ducks
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- Vanderbilt Commodores
- Miami Hurricanes
- BYU Cougars
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Virginia Cavaliers
- Louisville Cardinals
- Cincinnati Bearcats
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Missouri Tigers
- Texas Longhorns
- Michigan Wolverines
- Houston Cougars
- USC Trojans
- Utah Utes
- Memphis Tigers
Quite a few familiar teams return to the AP top 25 poll with USC and Memphis back in the poll after a week off. Houston makes its 2025 poll rankings debut at No. 22 and could be yet another team in the Big 12 that can make some noise. With Houston in the fold, there’s now five Big 12 teams ranked in the AP top 25 poll. Despite the ACC’s struggles this year, they have four teams ranked in the poll.
After Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt won this weekend, they both climbed deeper into the top 10 at No. 8 and No. 9 respectively. Both Missouri and Oklahoma were able to stay in the top 25 despite losing ranked conference games.
Three teams way too high in this week’s AP top 25 poll
Oregon Ducks don’t deserve to be on the fringe of the top 5
The Oregon Ducks probably should still be a top 10 team, but knocking on the door of being a top five team, well that feels like a force. The Ducks don’t have a good win this year and with a home loss to Indiana, I’m not ready to say they should be in contention for a first-round bye for the second-straight season. I feel like the way this season is going, they should have been maybe No. 9 or No. 10.
The only toughest remaining game for Oregon is against USC, who is back in the top 25 this week. But are we ready to say the Ducks should be the No. 6 team as of right now? I’m just not buying it. There’s a chance Oregon doesn’t even make it to the Big Ten title game so ranking them this high just doesn’t sit right with me.
Notre Dame is getting blessed considering they are independents with two losses
I can’t get over the fact that Notre Dame has two losses and is still the No. 12 team in the country. They don’t have the benefit of a conference schedule nor do they have any ranked opponents remaining on their schedule. It just doesn’t make sense they continue to climb as a two-loss team. Their best win is against USC and that’s still not overly impressive.
For me, Notre Dame shouldn’t be inside the top 15. I understand the teams around them keep losing, but that doesn’t mean they should be given a boost up the rankings just because they’re stringing together mediocre wins. If they were conference-affiliated, that’s one thing, but they’re not. They’re getting a whole lot of grace for a two-loss team.
Virginia failed the eye test this week and still got a bump up the rankings
Virginia climbing up to No. 15 is borderline criminal following the Cavaliers’ overtime win over North Carolina. Sure it was a road win, but they needed overtime to beat a team that doesn’t have a conference win and was on a three-game losing streak. Virginia is not one of the 15 best teams in the country and whether they won or not, should not have moved up. In fact, if they dropped a couple spots, I wouldn’t have been surprised either.
If Virginia lands in the ACC title game, they shouldn’t be afforded the chance to still make the College Football Playoff with an at-large bid if they don’t win the ACC and it’s even worse if they end up being the ACC’s representative in the CFP.
Two teams ranked too low in latest AP top 25 poll
Cincinnati Bearcats should be in the top 15 after seventh-straight win
If you would have told me that the Cincinnati Bearcats could be in contention to return to the CFP for the first time as a P4 team, I would have questioned if you’ve seen what Scott Satterfield has done since he’s been there. Be that as it may, the Bearcats are knocking on the door of getting back to the CFP for the second time in school history.
They handled Baylor and have essentially dominated conference play, en route to their seventh-straight win of the season after losing to Nebraska in the season opener. Right now Texas Tech and Cincinnati are the strongest teams in the conference and they should be ranked as such.
Taking nothing away from BYU, I just think with how well Cincinnati is playing right now, they’re better than Virginia, Louisville and you could argue better than Notre Dame too. Tennessee is a wild card, but the Bearcats deserve a higher ranking and they’ll continue to prove that.
Ole Miss should absolutely be ranked higher than Oregon
Ole Miss should be a top five team and it’s hard when Alabama beat Georgia and Georgia beat Ole Miss, but one thing’s for sure and that’s the Rebels should absolutely be ahead of Oregon. The top 5 is tricky because it’s hard to move any of them around, but despite a loss to Georgia, they should be just outside the top five if they can’t get in there.
It will be hard for the Rebels to get to the SEC title game, so it makes sense they’re still outside the top 5, but they shouldn’t be below Oregon. Ole Miss’s resume up to this point is so much stronger than the Ducks’. Their only loss is by eight points to Georgia and it was on the road at that.