AP Top 25 Rankings: After Week 8

After one of the wildest weeks of college football in recent memory in Week 7, we got a bit less craziness this past weekend. Mind you, this past weekend only featured the #2 team in the country losing, as BYU fell to UCF, as well as the numbers 8, 11, 15, and 16 teams dropping games to unranked opponents. Now, all of those games saw the ranked team go on the road, which is always tough to do, but still.

With another week of wildness now done, let’s check in on where the chips fell in the latest AP Poll.

AP Top 25

1. Miami (FL) (59 first place votes)
2. Ohio State (10)
3. Georgia
4. Indiana
5. Notre Dame
6. Utah (1)
7. UCLA
8. BYU
9. Kentucky
10. Alabama
11. Texas
12. Ole Miss
13. Texas Tech
14. Wake Forest
15. LSU
16. Tennessee
17. Florida
18. Houston
19. SMU
20. Boise State
21. Northwestern (Tied for #20)
22. Arizona
23. Missouri
24. Oklahoma State
25. Wisconsin

Where is UNC?

Well… The Tar Heels were inching up towards ranked status, especially after the victories over Pitt and Duke. However, losing to Syracuse got them booted from even receiving votes, and to be frank, that’s completely fair. You cannot lose like that if you want to be taken seriously.

Biggest Winners

Texas has been on quite the roller coaster ride in the rankings this season. This week, they’re on the way back up. After downing Ole Miss on Saturday, the Longhorns moved back up eight places, getting to #11 as they broke a two-game losing streak.

Biggest Losers

BYU had jumped up to #2 after they had beaten Notre Dame. However, they fell prey to a post-big win trap game and were beaten by UCF in a wild game this past weekend. As a result, the Cougars fell eight places, which was the biggest drop of anyone this week. Ole Miss, Texas Tech, and Tennessee weren’t far behind, dropping eight places.

Conference Breakdown

• SEC: 9
• Big 12: 6
• Big Ten: 5
• ACC: 3
• Independent: 1
• Pac-12: 1

Marquee Games This Week

• #22 Arizona (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) at #13 Texas Tech (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) – Saturday at 12:00 PM ET on ESPN
• #17 Florida (5-2, 3-2 SEC) vs. #3 Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) in Atlanta – Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on ABC
• #2 Ohio State (6-1, 4-0 Big Ten) at USC (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten) – Saturday at 7:30 PM ET on NBC

Upset Alert?

• #25 Wisconsin (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) at Iowa (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) – Saturday at 12:00 PM ET on FOX (Iowa is technically the betting favorites for this one, but hey, they don’t have the number next to their name.)
• #6 Utah (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) at Cincinnati (5-2 , 2-2 Big 12) – Saturday at 3:45 PM ET on ESPN
• #1 Miami (FL) (7-0, 5-0 ACC) at North Carolina (4-3, 2-2 ACC) – Saturday at 7:30 PM ET on ABC (I mean, probably not, but we can dream.)

Coaches Poll

1. Miami (FL) (67 first place votes)
2. Ohio State (6)
3. Georgia
4. Indiana
5. Utah
6. Notre Dame
7. UCLA (1)
8. Kentucky
9. BYU
10. Alabama
11. Texas
12. Ole Miss
13. LSU
14. Texas Tech
15. Wake Forest
16. SMU
17. Tennessee
18. Northwestern
19. Houston
20. Florida
21. Arizona
22. Boise State
23. Missouri
24. Iowa
25. USC