Three Top-10 Teams Lose in College Football’s Week 8; Miami Takes the No. 1 Spot in the New Poll

BYU lost in double overtime, Texas Tech and Mississippi fell too, and six ranked teams were beaten by unranked opponents on a Saturday that scrambled the national picture — before Sunday’s coaches poll put Miami back on top.

By Davies Daily Staff Reports · Sunday, October 25, 2026

Three teams ranked in the top 10 of the national polls lost on Saturday, six ranked teams were beaten by unranked opponents, and by Sunday afternoon the US LBM Coaches Poll had a familiar name back at No. 1: Miami, which routed Pittsburgh 52–23 and collected 67 first-place votes.

The highest-ranked team to fall was No. 3 BYU, which lost 39–31 to Central Florida in double overtime. UCF trailed in the game and forced the extra periods before outscoring the Cougars in the second overtime to close out the 39–31 win, the result of the day in the rankings.

No. 5 Texas Tech also lost, falling 37–24 to Cincinnati. The Bearcats scored the win at home against a Red Raiders team that had entered the day in the top five, and the 13-point margin made Cincinnati one of six teams to beat a ranked opponent while unranked themselves on Saturday.

The third top-10 loss came in the Southeastern Conference, where No. 18 Texas beat No. 7 Mississippi 34–27. Texas, itself ranked, was the only one of the three giant-killers on the day to hold a ranking, and the Longhorns’ seven-point win in the head-to-head matchup of ranked teams stood alongside the two upsets pulled by unranked teams against top-five opposition.

The rest of the ranked schedule produced the same pattern. South Carolina beat No. 11 Tennessee 27–24, Minnesota edged No. 14 Iowa 13–10, Wisconsin beat No. 15 USC 24–7, and Illinois beat No. 25 Oregon 21–10. In the one matchup of ranked teams outside the top 10 to go the favorite’s way on paper, No. 9 Utah beat No. 16 Houston 21–13. When the day was done, USA TODAY counted three top-10 losers and six ranked teams beaten by unranked opponents across the Saturday schedule.

Indiana Wins at Michigan for the First Time Since 1967

No. 6 Indiana beat Michigan 13–6 in overtime in Ann Arbor, the Hoosiers’ first win on Michigan’s home field since 1967. The game was decided in the extra period after the teams finished regulation tied, and Indiana’s defense held Michigan to six points for the afternoon.

Michigan started freshman quarterback Tommy Carr, who made the first start of his career in the game. The Wolverines scored six points in all against an Indiana team that came in ranked sixth and leaves the weekend ranked fourth in the new coaches poll. The win was Indiana’s first at Michigan since 1967, ending a gap of 58 years between Hoosier victories on Michigan’s home field.

Miami Heads the New Coaches Poll

The US LBM Coaches Poll released Sunday put Miami at No. 1 with 67 first-place votes after the Hurricanes’ 52–23 win over Pittsburgh. Ohio State is No. 2, Georgia No. 3, Indiana No. 4 and Utah No. 5. UCLA, which did not appear in the top five, is No. 7 in the new poll.

Indiana’s rise to fourth follows directly from the win at Michigan, and Utah’s place in the top five follows its 21–13 defeat of ranked Houston. BYU, Texas Tech and Mississippi, the three top-10 teams beaten on Saturday, all fell from the positions they held when the weekend began, on a Saturday that USA TODAY’s roundup recorded as one of the most disruptive of the season for the national rankings: three top-10 teams beaten, six ranked teams beaten by opponents with no ranking at all, and a 58-year streak ended in Ann Arbor.

Sources: USA TODAY and the Detroit Free Press, October 25, 2026.