College Football Power Rankings: Ohio State remains No. 1 over Miami as chaos creates shakeup elsewhere
The Buckeyes keep the top spot and the Hurricanes remain at No. 2 following a historic run of upsets that leaves just three unbeatens standing
• 1 min read
We fell in love with BYU a week ago. On Saturday, the Cougars' perfect season ended in Orlando. No, they didn't take the traditional championship trip to Disney World reserved for champions. They lost on the road in double overtime at unranked, three-loss UCF.
Surprised? We should have expected it. BYU is the fifth AP top-two team to lose this season, the most since 1990 before November. Four of them have fallen in the last three weeks.
Outside the top five, Texas Tech fell at Cincinnati, James Madison lost on a walk-off field goal at Appalachian State, Tennessee couldn't overcome South Carolina and quarterback LaNorris Sellers, and USC's road woes continued at Wisconsin.
Top-10 teams have lost 11 times in three weeks, tied for the most in any three weeks in a regular season since the AP poll began in 1936. The upsets have made the CBS Sports Power Rankings fluid, but remember, these rankings don't predict the future. We rank teams based on their current resume, talent level and other on-field factors we push through the model to digest.
Three unbeaten teams remain — Miami, UCLA and Utah — but how long will they stay atop the sport? Incredibly, two of those three teams are coached by first-year head coaches.
But not all undefeated resumes are created equal. Five one-loss teams rank above Utah, and a pair of two-loss teams sit above UCLA.
Ohio State holds the No. 1 spot in the CBS Sports Power Rankings after spending its open week figuring out who replaces injured quarterback Julian Sayin. We'll get our answer Saturday at USC, which is coming off a three-score loss at Wisconsin.
We think Miami deserves more love, but the model keeps the Hurricanes at No. 2 for another week. Let's check in on where things stand in Week 9 of the CBS Sports Power Rankings.
Biggest Movers
7 Arizona
10 BYU
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Ohio State sat at home with a bye week while Ryan Day weighed Luke Fahey and Tavien St. Clair to replace the injured Julian Sayin. Day said he'll have a plan if Sayin can't return this fall. | -- | 6-1 |
| 2 |  | Malachi Toney caught 16 passes for 194 yards and three TDs in a 52-23 rout of Pitt, a school record for catches. Miami is 25-0 at home as the AP's No. 1. Can anyone in the ACC touch the 'Canes? | -- | 7-0 |
| 3 |  | Indiana won in Ann Arbor for the first time since 1967, but the 13-6 overtime win was messy. Josh Hoover, who Curt Cignetti said is injured, won it on a 4-yard run. Hoover threw for 81 yards and his first interception of the season. Minnesota visits Saturday on CBS. | 1 | 7-1 |
| 4 |  | Georgia got a much-needed breather after Auburn snapped its 53-game win streak against unranked teams. Next up is Florida (in Atlanta). The Gators already own top-10 wins over Ole Miss and Texas. | 1 | 6-1 |
| 5 |  | Notre Dame sat out after its loss to BYU. CJ Carr is 14-0 as a starter against unranked teams, with 34 TD passes and two interceptions. Navy visits Saturday. | 1 | 6-1 |
| 6 |  | Kentucky beat Vanderbilt 34-17 for its sixth straight win, matching its best eight-game start in 75 years. Will Stein has proven to be the SEC's hire of the year with a 7-1 record. | 1 | 7-1 |
| 7 |  | QB Devon Dampier ran for 150 yards and two TDs in an impressive 21-13 win over Houston. Morgan Scalley is 8-0 in his first full season as head coach, and Utah's 13 straight wins lead the FBS. | 3 | 7-0 |
| 8 |  | Sam Leavitt threw for 387 yards in a 38-17 win at Auburn, joining Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels as the only LSU QBs this century with 350 passing and 50 rushing in a game. More importantly, he's thrown seven TDs with zero interceptions the last two weeks after once leading the FBS in picks. | 5 | 6-2 |
| 9 |  | Keelon Russell threw for 311 yards and three TDs as Alabama rallied against Texas A&M, outscoring the Aggies 14-0 in the fourth quarter of a 31-20 win. Alabama has won 90 straight home games against unranked teams. | 3 | 6-2 |
| 10 |  | UCLA's defense is not getting enough attention. The Bruins beat Michigan State 28-10 to open 7-0 for the first time since 2005. Bob Chesney and Curt Cignetti, both from James Madison, are the only FBS coaches to start 7-0 after taking over a program that suffered a nine-loss season. | 4 | 7-0 |
| 11 |  | Texas blew a 21-point lead, then held off Ole Miss 34-27. Arch Manning ran for two TDs but turned the ball over three times. The Longhorns are 3-0 against ranked teams and 0-2 against unranked opponents. Make it make sense, Longhorns. | 5 | 5-2 |
| 12 |  | Malik Orsan's 48-yard kick as time expired knocked off Tennessee 27-24 at South Carolina. George MacIntyre has one total TD and five turnovers in three starts, including zero scores in back-to-back games. He gets time to fix it. Kentucky visits after a bye. | 1 | 6-2 |
| 13 |  | BYU lost 39-31 in the weirdest circumstances, double overtime at UCF, for its first loss before November since 2023. The Cougars allowed 39-plus for the first time since 2023, and their 16-game win streak against unranked teams is over. | 10 | 6-1 |
| 14 |  | Arizona crushed Iowa State 39-3 and matched its best seven-game start since 1993. Noah Fifita's 91 career TD passes are a school record and lead active FBS quarterbacks. We find out this week if it can rise to the top of the Big 12 with a trip to Texas Tech. | 7 | 6-1 |
| 15 |  | Ole Miss erased a 21-point deficit at Texas but lost 34-27. Trinidad Chambliss threw a career-high three interceptions. The Rebels are 1-11 in their last 12 road games at ranked SEC teams. | 6 | 5-2 |
| 16 |  | Texas Tech is no longer undefeated following a disheartening 37-24 loss at Cincinnati. The Bearcats' Cole Tabb ran for 173 yards. | 8 | 6-1 |
| 17 |  | Aidan Chiles accounted for five TDs in a 42-14 rout of Rutgers, Northwestern's largest Big Ten win since 2020. Next is a trip to Oregon, where Northwestern OC Chip Kelly went 46-7 as head coach. | 2 | 6-1 |
| 18 |  | Wake Forest was idle. Gio Lopez has three-plus total TDs in six of seven games, and the Deacons have won four straight on the road. Virginia is reeling after its first home loss and visits this week. | 2 | 6-1 |
| 19 |  | Conner Weigman entered with at least two TDs in 15 straight games but left Salt Lake City with zero in a 21-13 loss at Utah. Houston hasn't defeated a top-10 team on the road since 2009. | 2 | 6-2 |
| 20 |  | Missouri was idle after a 31-3 loss at Ole Miss. Both of the Tigers' losses were on the road against ranked teams. Next is a rivalry game at Arkansas, then a gauntlet of Texas and a trip to Georgia. | 2 | 5-2 |
| 21 |  | Iowa lost the Floyd of Rosedale, 13-10, on a 46-yard field goal at the gun after committing four turnovers against Minnesota. Jeremy Hecklinski was pulled for Hank Brown in the second quarter. Fast-rising Wisconsin visits this week. | 6 | 5-2 |
| 22 |  | SMU trailed Cal 20-17 at halftime and won 59-20, outscoring the Bears 42-0 after the break. Kevin Jennings passed Tanner Mordecai for SMU's career TD passes record. Are we not taking the Mustangs seriously enough in the CFP race? | NR | 6-1 |
| 23 |  | Wisconsin held USC to minus-17 rushing yards in a 24-7 win, the Badgers' first ever over USC in Madison. No Lincoln Riley team had ever scored fewer. Wisconsin is 4-0 at home for the first time in seven years. | NR | 5-2 |
| 24 |  | Nebraska was idle after back-to-back losses by a combined six points. The Huskers have lost 31 straight to ranked teams. Still, the model loves the Huskers. Washington visits on Halloween. | -- | 5-2 |
| 25 |  | Boise State outscored Washington State 21-0 in the fourth quarter of a 31-10 win, its sixth straight since a season-opening loss at Oregon. Maddux Madsen has 14 TD passes and no interceptions. | NR | 6-1 |
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