Ohio State Still Ranked No. 3 in Latest AP Top 25 Poll

After a 38-7 win in its Big Ten opener against Michigan State, Ohio State is staying pat at No. 3 in the AP Top 25 poll released on Sunday.

Ohio State has been ranked at the No. 3 spot since its 56-0 win over Western Michigan, moving down one spot since the preseason poll. After Alabama’s thrilling 41-34 win over conference rival Georgia, the top five had plenty of movement. Previously No. 2 ranked Georgia moved down to the No. 5 spot, while Alabama moved up from No. 4 to No. 1. Previous No. 1 Texas struggled some against now 1-4 Mississippi State in a 35-13 win and were moved down to the No. 2 spot ahead of Ohio State.

Alabama, Texas, and Ohio State were the only three teams to receive first-place votes in the poll. Alabama led the way with 40 first-place votes, while Texas received a little less than half of that amount with 19 votes, and Ohio State had four first-place votes, one less than it had a week ago.

Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Oregon and Penn State solidified their spots within the top 10 of the AP Top 25 with wins in their Big Ten openers against UCLA and Illinois, respectively. The Ducks and the Nittany Lions moved up two spots to become the No. 6 and No. 7 ranked teams in the poll.

Michigan moved back into the No. 10 spot following its third straight win and second straight win in the Big Ten.

The rest of the top 10 included Tennessee at No. 4, Miami at No. 8 and Missouri at No. 9.

 USC just missed out on the top 10 ranked at No. 11 after a dominant second-half performance against Wisconsin, that fueled a 38-21 win. 

Despite the 21-7 loss to Penn State, Illinois still hung in the top 25 at No. 24, and 5-0 Indiana made the top 25 for the first time since the 2021 preseason, following its 42-28 win over Maryland on Sept. 28. The Hoosiers are 5-0 for the first time since 1967 and are ranked No. 23 in the poll.

The Big Ten had seven teams inside the top 25 only behind the SEC, which had nine teams in the top 25.

Perhaps even more impressive than the Hoosiers’ inclusion on the list is that of UNLV. The Rebels are undefeated and are in the top 25 for the first time in program history following a convincing 59-14 win over Fresno State and a 4-0 start.

After a surprising 20-17 home loss to Kentucky, Ole Miss fell six spots from No. 6 to No. 12, while Utah fell eight spots from No. 10 to No. 18 after its home loss to Arizona. Utah’s eight-spot drop was the biggest fall from the previous week.

In its first two games in the Big 12, BYU has pulled off two significant victories. The Cougars’ latest 34-28 win over Baylor moved them up five spots from No. 22 to No. 17. The Cougars’ five-spot jump was the largest jump from week five to week six.