No. 3 Indiana has its highest ranking ever in AP Top 25, Texas, USC back in the rankings

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Indiana moved up to No. 3 in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday for its highest ranking in program history and Texas was among five teams entering the Top 25 after eight ranked teams, three of them previously unbeaten, lost over the weekend.

Ohio State and Miami remained the top two teams while the Hoosiers earned a four-spot promotion for their 10-point win at then-No. 3 Oregon. No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 5 Mississippi traded places after the Aggies' 17-point home win over Florida and the Rebels' three-point home win over Washington State.

The Buckeyes strengthened their hold on No. 1 with a solid road win against then-No. 17 Illinois and received 50 first-place votes, 10 more than last week. Miami, which was idle, earned 13 first-place votes and Indiana got the other three.

Alabama moved up two spots to No. 6 and was followed by Texas Tech, Oregon, Georgia and LSU. Oregon dropped five spots and has its lowest ranking in 20 polls since it was No. 8 in September 2024.

Indiana’s groundbreaking run under second-year coach Curt Cignetti has been one of the biggest stories in college football since last season. The Hoosiers went into the Oregon game 0-46 on the road against top-five teams and, before Sunday, had never been ranked higher than No. 4. Their three first-place votes are their most in a poll since they got the same number when they were ranked No. 6 on Nov. 5, 1945.

Oklahoma plunged eight spots to No. 14 with its first loss, 23-6 to Texas. The Longhorns were the preseason No. 1 team, but a season-opening loss at Ohio State and Week 6 loss at Florida dropped them out of the Top 25. In beating the rival Soooners, they held a top-10 opponent without a touchdown for the first time since 1979 and re-entered the poll at No. 21.

Missouri, which started 5-0, fell two spots to No. 16 after its three-point home loss to Alabama.

— No. 20 Southern California, ranked two weeks in September, returned on the strength of its 18-point home win over Michigan.

— No. 21 Texas picked up its first win of the season against a ranked opponent and won't see another one for at least three weeks.

— No. 23 Utah is back after a three-week absence following a 32-point win over Arizona State.

— No. 24 Cincinnati beat UCF at home for its fifth straight win and is ranked for the first time since 2022.

— No. 25 Nebraska came from behind to beat Maryland on the road and has its first ranking of the season.

— Michigan (15), Illinois (17), Arizona State (21), Iowa State (22) and Florida State (25) dropped out.

— No. 4 Texas A&M has its highest ranking in a regular season since it was No. 3 in September 1995.

— No. 25 Nebraska is ranked in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2013-14.

— With five teams dropping out, it was the most turnover in a regular-season poll since seven teams fell out Oct. 2, 2022.

SEC (10) — Nos. 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 16, 17, 21.

Big Ten (5) — Nos. 1, 3, 8, 20, 25.

Big 12 (4) — Nos. 7, 15, 23, 24.

ACC (3) — Nos. 2, 12, 18.

American (2) — Nos. 19, 22.

Independent (1) — No. 13.

— No. 5 Mississippi (6-0) at No. 9 Georgia (5-1): Judging by their close call against Washington State, the Rebels might have been looking ahead to this one. They've lost six straight in Athens since 1996.

— No. 10 LSU (5-1) at No. 17 Vanderbilt (5-1): Tigers have won 10 straight in the series. Both teams will be ranked in this matchup for the first time since 1947.

— No. 11 Tennessee (5-1) at No. 6 Alabama (5-1): A Top 25 matchup for fifth straight year. Both teams coming off hard-fought, three-point wins.

— No. 20 Southern California (5-1) at No. 13 Notre Dame (4-2): High stakes in this storied series with both teams clinging to playoff hopes.

— No. 23 Utah (5-1) at No. 15 BYU (6-0): First Top 25 matchup in this one since 2009. Last year, Cougars benefited from a questionable fourth-down defensive holding penalty before kicking field goal with 4 seconds left for a 22-21 win.

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