Texas returned to the top 10 of The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday, when the Atlantic Coast Conference had five ranked teams for the first time this season, and two Group of Five conferences are now represented in the AP Top 25 a month before the 12-team bracket is set for the College Football Playoff.
In all, 19 spots in the poll have new teams, though the top five were unchanged.
Texas, the preseason No. 1 team, is ranked No. 10 in advance of its visit to No. 5 Georgia this week in a Southeastern Conference showdown. The Longhorns had been in the top 10 for the first six polls before their loss at Florida knocked them out of the poll for a week.
Four straight wins elevated them to No. 13 last week, and after their second open date of the regular season, they jumped three spots ahead of BYU and Virginia and an idle Oklahoma, which they beat 23-6 in their Red River Rivalry matchup on Oct. 11 in Dallas.
Reigning national champion Ohio State was No. 1 for the 11th week in a row with 55 first-place votes. Fellow Big Ten program Indiana remained No. 2 after its narrow escape at scuffling Penn State, but the Hoosiers’ six first-place votes were five fewer than last week.
No. 3 Texas A&M got four first-place votes, three more than a week ago, and the SEC’s Aggies were 31 points behind Indiana. Alabama, a 20-9 winner at home against LSU, remained one spot ahead of fellow SEC program Georgia.
Ole Miss of the SEC, Oregon of the Big Ten, Texas Tech of the Big 12, independent Notre Dame and Texas rounded out the top 10.
The ACC has five teams with one loss in conference play and two others with two losses. That’s reflected in the closely bunched group of ACC teams in the poll: No. 14 Georgia Tech, No. 16 Miami, No. 19 Louisville, No. 20 Virginia and No. 23 Pittsburgh. The last time the ACC had as many ranked teams was Nov. 3, 2024.
The ACC’s ranked quintet are tied with the Big Ten for the most this week but still three less than the SEC’s eight, a group that includes Tennessee — which rose two spots to No. 21 without playing this weekend after losing two of its past three games. Vanderbilt also moved up two spots, to No. 13, after needing overtime to win at home against struggling Auburn.
The race for the Group of Five’s automatic bid in the College Football Playoff got more interesting when Memphis lost to Tulane on Friday. The CFP committee did not have a G5 representative in its list of 25 ranked teams but said Memphis was first in line. That will almost certainly change when the committee’s next rankings come out Tuesday.
No. 24 James Madison of the Sun Belt Conference made its first AP poll appearance since 2023. The Dukes are 8-1, with their only loss to Louisville, and are the highest-ranked G5 team. No. 25 South Florida of the American Conference is right behind, and Tulane of the American Conference received the most votes among the unranked.
IN & OUT
Pitt, No. 24 in the initial CFP rankings, is in the AP poll for the first time since last November.
James Madison’s previous appearance was in 2023, when Curt Cignetti’s last Dukes team was in the final seven regular-season polls. Cignetti is in his second season at Indiana, where he has transformed the Hoosiers overnight.
South Florida’s 32-point win over the University of Texas at San Antonio helped the Bulls return after a two-week absence.
Dropping out were SEC member Missouri (previously No. 19), American member Memphis (22) and Big Ten member Washington (24).
POLL POINTS
The last time there teams from two G5 conferences ranked at the same time was last year, when Boise State and UNLV of the Mountain West and Army and Memphis of the American were in the final two polls of the season.
BYU, which was unbeaten before its 29-7 loss at Texas Tech, dropped four spots to No. 12 to end its two-week stay in the top 10.
Virginia and James Madison give the commonwealth two ranked teams for the first time since the final 2023 regular-season poll, when it was Liberty and James Madison.
CONFERENCE CALL
SEC: Eight ranked teams (Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 21).
ACC: Five (Nos. 14, 16, 19, 20, 23).
Big Ten: Five (Nos. 1, 2, 7, 17, 18).
Big 12: Four (Nos. 8, 12, 15, 22).
Independent: One (No. 9).
Sun Belt: One (No. 24).
American: One (No. 25).
RANKED VS. RANKED
No. 10 Texas (7-2, 4-1 SEC) at No. 5 Georgia (8-1, 6-1): The Bulldogs won a regular-season meeting in Austin and the SEC championship game in Atlanta against the Longhorns last year. This is the third straight time this is a top-10 matchup.
No. 9 Notre Dame (6-2) at No. 23 Pittsburgh (7-2): This has huge playoff implications for both, and the Fighting Irish and the Panthers are both ranked at the time of their meeting for first time since 1991.
No. 11 Oklahoma (7-2, 3-2) at No. 4 Alabama (8-1, 6-0): Last year’s embarrassing loss in Norman killed Alabama’s playoff hopes, so don’t expect the Sooners to sneak up on the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa.
AP TOP 25 SCHEDULE
Friday, Nov. 14
No. 7 Oregon (8-1) vs. Minnesota (6-3), 9 p.m.
No. 19 Louisville (7-2) vs. Clemson (4-5), 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 15
No. 1 Ohio State (9-0) vs. UCLA (3-6), 7:30 p.m.
No. 2 Indiana (10-0) vs. Wisconsin (3-6), noon
No. 3 Texas A&M (9-0) vs. South Carolina (3-6), noon
No. 4 Alabama (8-1) vs. No. 11 Oklahoma (7-2), 3:30 p.m.
No. 5 Georgia (8-1) vs. No. 10 Texas (7-2), 7:30 p.m.
No. 6 Ole Miss (9-1) vs. Florida (3-6), 7 p.m.
No. 8 Texas Tech (9-1) vs. UCF (4-5), 3:30 p.m.
No. 9 Notre Dame (7-2) at No. 23 Pittsburgh (7-2), noon
No. 12 BYU (8-1) vs. TCU (6-3), 10:15 p.m.
No. 14 Georgia Tech (8-1) at Boston College (1-9), 3:30 p.m.
No. 15 Utah (7-2) at Baylor (5-4), 7 p.m.
No. 16 Miami (7-2) vs. N.C. State (5-4), 3:30 p.m.
No. 17 USC (7-2) vs. Iowa (6-3), 3:30 p.m.
No. 18 Michigan (7-2) at Northwestern (5-4), noon
No. 20 Virginia (8-2) at Duke (5-4), 3:30 p.m.
No. 21 Tennessee (6-3) vs. New Mexico State (3-6), 4:15 p.m.
No. 22 Cincinnati (7-2) vs. Arizona (6-3), noon
No. 24 James Madison (8-1) vs. Appalachian State (4-5), 3:30 p.m.
No. 25 South Florida (7-2) at Navy (7-2), noon