Overview
- Both the AP Top 25 and the US LBM Coaches Poll put Georgia at No. 1 after the Bulldogs’ dominant road win over Ole Miss, with Georgia receiving 53 of 70 first-place media votes and 54 of 73 coaches’ first-place votes.
- Significant results that drove the change included Georgia’s 42-7 victory at Ole Miss, Notre Dame’s 31-24 upset of then-No. 1 Miami, Oregon’s 41-28 win over Ohio State, and Utah’s win over BYU to remain unbeaten.
- Those outcomes produced steep drops for several previous top teams: Miami fell into the top five and Ohio State tumbled to No. 21 in the AP poll, while coaches’ ballots showed similar broad movement.
- Utah and UCLA are the only remaining unbeaten FBS teams, a development that tightens College Football Playoff resumes and raises the importance of remaining conference games for contenders.
- Conference balance shifted as the SEC placed eight teams in the coaches poll, South Carolina re-entered at No. 24 after beating Texas A&M, and observers noted unusually high turnover at the top not seen at this level since 2008.