Texas returned to the top 10 of The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday, the Atlantic Coast Conference has five teams ranked for the first time this season and two Group of Five conferences are now represented in the Top 25 a month before the playoff bracekt is set. The top five was unchanged.
The Longhorns, the preseason No. 1 team, are ranked No. 10 in advance of their visit to No. 5 Georgia this week. They had been in the top 10 for the first six polls before their loss at Florida knocked them out of the Top 25 for a week.
Four straight wins elevated them to No. 13 last week, and they jumped three spots ahead of BYU and Virginia and an idle Oklahoma, which they beat 23-6 on Oct. 11. Texas did not play over the weekend.
Ohio State was No. 1 for the 11th week in a row with 55 first-place votes. Indiana remained No. 2 after its narrow escape at 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 was 31 points behind Indiana. Alabama and Georgia rounded out the top five. Mississippi, Oregon, Texas Tech, Notre Dame and Texas rounded out the top 10.
In all, 19 spots in the Top 25 have new teams.
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 race for the Group of Five’s automatic bid in the College Football Playoff got more interesting with Memphis’ loss to Tulane on Friday. The CFP committee did not have a G5 team in its top 25 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, 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 received the most votes among the unranked.
In and out
— No. 23 Pittsburgh, No. 24 in the initial CFP rankings, is in the AP poll for the first time since last November.
— No. 24 James Madison’s previous Top 25 appearance was in 2023, when Curt Cignetti’s last Dukes team was in the final seven regular-season polls.
— No. 25 South Florida’s 32-point win over USTA helped the Bulls return after a two-week absence.
Missouri (19), Memphis (22) and Washington (24) dropped out.
Poll points
— The last time there were 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 (Liberty, James Madison).
Conference call
SEC (8): Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 21.
ACC (5): Nos. 14, 16, 19, 20, 23.
Big Ten (5): Nos. 1, 2, 7, 17, 18.
Big 12 (4): Nos. 8, 12, 15, 22.
Independent (1): No. 9.
Sun Belt (1): No. 24.
American (1): No. 25.
Ranked vs. ranked
No. 10 Texas (7-2, 4-1 SEC, No. 11 CFP) at No. 5 Georgia (8-1, 6-1, No. 5 CFP): Bulldogs won regular-season meeting and SEC championship game against Longhorns last year. Third straight time this is a top-10 matchup.
No. 9 Notre Dame (6-2, No. 10 CFP) at No. 23 Pittsburgh (7-2, No. 24 CFP): Huge playoff implications for both. Irish and Panthers both ranked at time of their meeting for first time since 1991.
No. 11 Oklahoma (7-2, 3-2, No. 12 CFP) at No. 4 Alabama (8-1, 6-0, No. 4 CFP): Last year’s embarrassing loss in Norman killed Crimson Tide’s playoff hopes.