AP top 25 poll: Texas, Utah take big jumps after wins in latest college football rankings

The Longhorns are back on the cusp of the top 10 after a huge home win over Ole Miss this weekend

Oct 25, 2026 at 2:22 pm ET • 2 min read

Utah and Texas both took big jumps in the latest Associated Press top 25 poll after wins over top-15 opponents this weekend. 

Utah, the lone remaining unbeaten team in the Big 12, moved all the way up to No. 6 after a 21-13 win over Houston Saturday night. The Utes were one of the biggest movers of the week after checking in at No. 10 last week.

So, too, was Texas which jumped from No. 19 to No. 11 after its 34-27 win over Ole Miss. The Rebels dropped to No. 12 from No. 7 following the loss to the Longhorns. 

BYU's time in the top three was short lived. The Cougars, who moved all the way up to No. 2 after a win over Notre Dame last week, fell down to No. 8 after a double-overtime loss to unranked Central Florida. 

Texas Tech also experienced a big drop down to No. 13 following its loss to Cincinnati. 

AP poll

Rank	Team	Points
1	Miami (FL) 7-0	1,735 (59)
2	Ohio State 6-1	1,681 (10)
3	Georgia 6-1	1,511
4	Indiana 7-1	1,459
5	Notre Dame 6-1	1,458
6	Utah 7-0	1,413 (1)
7	UCLA 7-0	1,398
8	BYU 6-1	1,325
9	Kentucky 7-1	1,185
10	Alabama 6-2	1,063
11	Texas 5-2	966
12	Ole Miss 5-2	871
13	Texas Tech 6-1	861
14	Wake Forest 6-1	822
15	LSU 6-2	813
16	Tennessee 6-2	662
17	Florida 5-2	556
18	Houston 6-2	491
19	SMU 6-1	440
20	Boise State 6-1	422
20	Northwestern 6-1	422
22	Arizona 6-1	400
23	Missouri 5-2	329
24	Oklahoma State 5-2	180
25	Wisconsin 5-2	125

Others receiving votes: Iowa 76, New Mexico 41, Cincinnati 11, Oregon State 10, South Carolina 8, Minnesota 7, USC 7, UTSA 1, Virginia Tech 1

The SEC is a battleground

Georgia remains the SEC's highest-ranked team at No. 3, but chaos again reared its head within the conference. The SEC's next two highest-ranked teams from a week ago -- No. 7 Ole Miss and No. 11 Tennessee -- both lost Saturday. No. 9 Kentucky and No. 10 Alabama moved into the top 10 after those losses, but it's clear the College Football Playoff selection committee will have an awfully hard time assessing the SEC's top teams.

The SEC has four teams ranked Nos. 9-12, including the Wildcats, who are ranked one spot ahead of a team they lost to earlier this season. The calendar hasn't even turned to November, yet there are no undefeated SEC teams and only two remaining one-loss teams in Kentucky and Georgia. Prepare for a glut of three-loss SEC teams, all with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Props to Wisconsin

Entering this season, CBS Sports experts voted on which coaches were on the hottest seats and came up with a top four of Baylor's Dave Aranda, Florida State's Mike Norvell, Maryland's Mike Locksley and Wisconsin's Luke Fickell. Aranda and Locksley have since been fired, while Norvell sits on the hottest seat in college football.

Fickell? He has a top-25 team now after a win over USC on Saturday. It's Wisconsin's first appearance in the AP Top 25 since September 2023. Wisconsin's decision to invest more in its roster and give Fickell one more shot has paid off in 2026 thus far. The Badgers are 5-2, with additional wins over Penn State and Michigan State.

With a manageable schedule that includes games against Maryland, Rutgers and Purdue, there's a very real chance Fickell could lead the Badgers to eight or nine wins this season.