The AP Top 25 released Sunday is the most scrambled in the poll’s history. Five of the previous top seven lost on Saturday, October 17, and when the new poll came out, not one team in it was standing in the same spot as the week before — a first since the poll began in 1936.
Miami is No. 1 with 40 first-place votes at 6–0, its first No. 1 ranking since December 8, 2002. BYU is No. 2 with 20 first-place votes at 6–0, its highest ranking since its 1984 national championship season — and its 28–24 win over Notre Dame last week came with an asterisk: the Big 12 later acknowledged a clock error on the game’s final play. Behind them: Ohio State third, Notre Dame fourth, Georgia fifth, Indiana sixth, Ole Miss seventh, Texas Tech eighth, UCLA ninth and Utah tenth. Alabama fell seven spots to No. 13 after losing to Tennessee; Texas fell twelve to No. 19 after losing to Florida; Georgia lost at home to unranked Auburn.
Saturday night’s game is in Salt Lake City. No. 14 Houston (6–1, 3–1 Big 12) plays No. 10 Utah (6–0, 3–0) at Rice-Eccles Stadium at 10:15 p.m. Eastern on ESPN, and ESPN’s College GameDay is broadcasting from Utah for the second straight week after last week’s show in Provo. Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid, who played at Utah from 2020 to 2022, is the guest picker, announced Thursday. Houston’s only loss was 28–26 at Texas Tech on September 18; the Cougars have won five straight since. (In the Coaches Poll, Utah is No. 9 and Houston No. 16.)
Saturday’s ranked schedule (all times Eastern)
- Pittsburgh at No. 1 Miami — noon, ESPN
- No. 6 Indiana at Michigan — noon, FOX
- No. 2 BYU at UCF — 3:30 p.m., FOX
- Texas A&M at No. 13 Alabama — 3:30 p.m., ABC
- No. 7 Ole Miss at No. 19 Texas — 7:30 p.m., ABC
- No. 14 Houston at No. 10 Utah — 10:15 p.m., ESPN
- The poll (Oct. 18): 1 Miami (40 first-place votes), 2 BYU (20), 3 Ohio State, 4 Notre Dame, 5 Georgia, 6 Indiana, 7 Ole Miss, 8 Texas Tech, 9 UCLA, 10 Utah
- Idle Saturday: Ohio State, Notre Dame, Georgia
The day opens with the new No. 1. Pittsburgh (5–2, 2–2 ACC) plays at Miami (6–0, 4–0) at noon Eastern on ESPN. Pitt started 5–0 and has lost two straight. Miami survived Florida State 43–35 in double overtime last week; quarterback Darian Mensah threw for 326 yards in that game and has completed 80.8 percent of his passes this season for 1,764 yards, 18 touchdowns and one interception.
Also at noon, on FOX, No. 6 Indiana (6–1, 3–1 Big Ten) plays at Michigan (4–2, 2–1). Indiana’s 22-game winning streak ended last Saturday in a 19–15 home loss to Ohio State, decided when a would-be go-ahead touchdown catch was ruled out of bounds on fourth-and-4 in the final minutes. Michigan’s quarterback is the day’s open question: Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 recruit in the 2025 class, was benched at halftime against Penn State after going 5-of-11 for 43 yards with two interceptions and Michigan down 3–0; freshman Tommy Carr came in, threw for 47 yards and ran for a 12-yard touchdown in the 21–18 comeback win. CBS Sports, On3, Reuters and ESPN have all reported Carr will start Saturday; head coach Kyle Whittingham has not announced a starter, saying Michigan will not tip its hand to the opponent. Carr would be the fifth true freshman to start at quarterback for Michigan. Underwood’s season line: 58.1 percent completions, 924 yards, five touchdowns and a Big Ten-high six interceptions.
At 3:30 p.m. Eastern, No. 2 BYU (6–0, 3–0 Big 12) plays at UCF (3–3, 1–2), on FOX, with UCF coming off its bye. BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier threw a touchdown, ran for one and caught one in the Notre Dame win. At the same time on ABC, Texas A&M (4–3, 1–3 SEC) plays at No. 13 Alabama (5–2, 3–2) at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Alabama’s homecoming. Alabama has lost two straight; A&M is unranked.
The night game on ABC, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, is No. 7 Ole Miss at No. 19 Texas — and the week’s loudest quarterback story ended with no change. Texas has lost two straight games 27–24, to Oklahoma and Florida, blowing a double-digit lead in each, with three fourth-quarter turnovers by Arch Manning, including a late strip-sack at Florida. Head coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday: “There’s no doubt about it, Arch can play better for us. He’s our starter.” ESPN reported backup redshirt freshman KJ Lacey Jr. would get more first-team repetitions; Sarkisian denied the repetitions had increased, called Manning “edgy” on Thursday and said he liked it. Manning: “I haven’t put good film on tape for the last five weeks and I’m going to be better.” His season line: 106-of-166 for 1,295 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. Ole Miss starts Trinidad Chambliss, who is 142-of-210 for 1,676 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Three of the top five are idle: Ohio State, Notre Dame and Georgia do not play Saturday. The next AP Top 25 is released Sunday, October 25.
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