AP Top 25: Oregon, Georgia, Ohio State, Miami lead poll ahead of first Playoff rankings

In the last AP Top 25 before the College Football Playoff selection committee weighs in, Oregon became the first team to be a unanimous No. 1 during the past three regular seasons and No. 8 Indiana and No. 13 SMU both surged up the rankings Sunday.

The Ducks received 62 first-place votes, winning over the last remaining holdout after getting 61 last week with Georgia receiving one. The Bulldogs were the last team to be unanimous No. 1 during the regular season, holding the top spot for eight straight weeks in 2021.

During the CFP era, the national champion has typically been a unanimous No. 1 in the final poll.

Georgia remained No. 2 with a win against Florida, seven points ahead of Ohio State after the Buckeyes beat Penn State 20-13 on Saturday in Happy Valley. No. 4 Miami and No. 5 Texas each moved up a spot. Penn State dropped three spots to No. 6 after losing for the first time this season, and Tennessee held at No. 7.

Indiana jumped five places into the top 10 for the first time this season. The Hoosiers are 9-0 for the first time in program history. Indiana last cracked the top 10 and peaked at No. 7 for four weeks of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Before that, the Hoosiers’ last top-10 appearance was in 1969.

Others receiving votes: Missouri 81, South Carolina 58, Tulane 41, UNLV 9, Louisiana 9, Washington 4, Arizona State 3, Iowa 2, Texas Tech 2

SMU was the biggest mover up, climbing seven spots from No. 20 to a season-high 13th after routing previously unbeaten Pitt. The Mustangs have their highest ranking since pre-NCAA death penalty in 1987. SMU began the 1985 No. 3 in the nation before finishing unranked. During its time in the American Athletic Conference, the Mustangs had four seasons during which they were ranked at some point, with a peak of No. 15 in 2019.

BYU is No. 9 and Notre Dame rounds out the top 10. After both Iowa State and Kansas State lost to unranked opponents Saturday, BYU is the only Big 12 team in the top 16. The Cyclones are 17th, Colorado is 21st and Kansas State is No. 22.

Undefeated Army is up to No. 18, its highest ranking since reaching the top 10 in 1962.

How will the poll compare to the CFP rankings?

The first CFP rankings in the expanded 12-team playoff will be released Tuesday night. During the 10 years of the four-team format, the selection committee’s initial rankings and the previous AP poll have had the same No. 1 team five times.

In only three instances, including last year, were the same four teams ranked in the top four in both the AP poll and first CFP Top 25 — but never in the same order.

Small differences seem huge when the cut-off is the top four. Generally, the two rankings are not drastically different. This season, the hot spot will be Nos. 10-14.

The AP’s 10-14 was shaken up this week with three upsets. Texas A&M, Clemson and Iowa State all lost to unranked teams Saturday. That cleared the way for No. 11 Alabama and No. 14 LSU to move up ahead of their matchup in Baton Rouge, La., next Saturday night.

Boise State is up three spots to No. 12, its highest AP ranking since 2011. The committee has historically been less bullish on Group of 5 teams, but where they land in the rankings has high stakes attached to it.

The 12-team CFP format reserves spots for the five highest-ranked conference champions, guaranteeing a spot for at least one team from outside the Power 5 conferences. Those teams are also eligible to receive at-large bids, but in the four-team system with no automatic access for conference champions, only once did a non-Power 5 team make the field: Cincinnati out of the AAC in 2021. — Ralph Russo, national college football writer

In and out

Illinois (6-3) ended a seven-week run in the rankings, tumbling out after losing to Minnesota on Saturday.

No. 25 Louisville (6-3) jumped back into the Top 25 after spending five weeks ranked earlier this season. The Cardinals beat Clemson for the first time in program history on Saturday night in Death Valley.

No. 24 Vanderbilt (6-3) is back in the poll after the Commodores broke an 11-year drought earlier this season. Vandy won at Auburn on Saturday, giving the school victories against both Alabama SEC teams for the first time since 1955.

Missouri, which had been barely hanging on to its ranking at No. 25, dropped out during an idle week.  — Russo

How I voted this week

• Indiana has been the most underrated team in the poll for a while, but voters are finally coming around to giving the season’s biggest surprise team respect. No, the Hoosiers haven’t played a daunting schedule, but they dominate opponents week after week. They rank second in yards per play differential and first in point differential. In other words, they do what a good team is supposed to do. I have Indiana all the way up at No. 5 on my ballot, and it finally moved up five spots in the poll to No. 8 after its 47-10 win against Michigan State moved it to 9-0 for the first time.

• A case could be made to jump Ohio State ahead of Georgia for No. 2 after winning at Penn State, especially given the Bulldogs’ struggles to pull away from Florida for much of Saturday. Then again, Ohio State had the same problem against Nebraska last week. Ultimately, they feel similar, both among the most talented teams in the country and capable of winning the national championship, but neither consistently hitting its full potential. I kept Georgia at No. 2 but moved the Buckeyes up two spots after I had them lower than the poll at fifth last week. It’s a close call. Georgia can strengthen its position with a win against Ole Miss next week.

• I moved Louisville in at No. 23, one spot ahead of Clemson. Clemson had been getting the benefit of the doubt with its only loss coming to Georgia, but it was blown out in that game and had feasted on a weak ACC slate. Though Louisville has one more loss, its three losses have come by seven points each to ranked teams (Notre Dame, Miami and SMU), and now it owns a dominant road win against the Tigers — its largest road win against a ranked team since 2000. Clemson hasn’t done anything to deserve being ranked ahead of the Cardinals, who did at least crack the poll at No. 25.

• I’m also higher on SMU than most of the rest of the voting panel. I vaulted the Mustangs to No. 10 on my ballot after their largest win against a ranked team since 1985. Not only did they blow out Pitt, which is still ranked, but their win against Louisville got a boost by the Cardinals’ big night at Clemson. Plus, SMU’s only loss is by three to unbeaten BYU.  — Matt Brown college sports managing editor and AP Top 25 voter

What’s next in Week 11?

No. 1 Oregon will be heavily favored in hosting Maryland next Saturday, as will No. 3 Ohio State against Purdue. In the rest of the top five, No. 4 Miami visits Georgia Tech and No. 5 Texas hosts Florida, which may be down to its third-string quarterback. The week has a pair of ranked matchups, both in the SEC:

No. 11 Alabama at No. 14 LSU. The Tigers and Tide will meet as ranked teams for the 32nd time, including 17 of the past 19 meetings.

No. 2 Georgia at No. 16 Ole Miss. This will be the third straight meeting dating back to 2016 the Bulldogs and Rebels will both be ranked.

Required reading

(Photo of Traeshon Holden: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)