The latest AP Top 25 has a new No. 1, several big movers, and three new teams entering the rankings after one of the more chaotic weekends of the college football season.
Georgia moved up one spot to No. 1 after beating Alabama 20-17 in Tuscaloosa, taking over the top position from Texas. The Bulldogs received 66 of 70 first-place votes and climbed to No. 1 for the first time since September 2024.
Notre Dame moved up to No. 2 after crushing Stanford 58-7, while Miami climbed to No. 3. Ohio State is fourth and Indiana rounds out the top five after moving up two spots. Alabama stayed at No. 6 despite losing to Georgia, while Texas took the biggest hit near the top of the poll.
The Longhorns fell from No. 1 all the way to No. 7 after losing 27-24 to Oklahoma on a last-second field goal. That six-spot drop was the biggest fall for any team still inside the top 10.
From there, the biggest movement came from teams that scored statement wins.
UCLA jumped nine spots from No. 21 to No. 12 after knocking off Oregon 17-15. That loss was especially costly for the Ducks. Oregon entered the week ranked No. 13, but fell completely out of the poll after its second loss in a month. It is the first time Oregon has been unranked since the opening week of the 2022 season.
Kentucky made an even more dramatic move, going from outside the Top 25 to No. 15 after beating LSU 35-34 in overtime. The Wildcats had actually dropped out of the poll the previous week despite a win over South Carolina, but their victory over LSU immediately pushed them back in at their highest ranking since early October 2022.
LSU went the other direction.
The Tigers dropped 12 spots from No. 10 to No. 22, one of the biggest tumbles of the week. That puts LSU in a tough position moving forward, especially with several ranked opponents still left on the schedule.
There were two other newcomers this week.
Wake Forest entered at No. 21, marking the program’s first AP ranking since October 2022. The Demon Deacons are 5-1 and have quietly played their way into relevance.
Northwestern also joined the poll at No. 25, giving the Wildcats their first ranking under head coach David Braun. Northwestern sits at 4-1 and becomes the sixth Big Ten team in the latest Top 25.
So the three teams moving into the poll were Kentucky, Wake Forest and Northwestern.
The three teams falling out were Oregon, Florida and Pittsburgh.
Florida’s fall is probably the ugliest of the three. Just two weeks ago, the Gators were ranked No. 8. They fell to No. 16 after being blown out by Missouri, then disappeared entirely after losing 38-19 at home to South Carolina.
Pittsburgh also dropped out after losing 21-17 at home to North Carolina. The Panthers had entered the weekend at No. 25.
Elsewhere, Iowa rose three spots to No. 17, Houston climbed two spots to No. 20, and Texas Tech moved into the top 10 at No. 10. BYU stayed at No. 8, Ole Miss remained ninth and Utah moved up to No. 11.
The full Week 7 poll is:
1. Georgia
2. Notre Dame
3. Miami
4. Ohio State
5. Indiana
6. Alabama
7. Texas
8. BYU
9. Ole Miss
10. Texas Tech
11. Utah
12. UCLA
13. Missouri
14. Tennessee
15. Kentucky
16. Mississippi State
17. Iowa
18. Oklahoma State
19. USC
20. Houston
21. Wake Forest
22. LSU
23. Boise State
24. SMU
25. Northwestern
The conference breakdown is also interesting. The SEC leads with nine ranked teams, followed by the Big Ten with six, the Big 12 with five, the ACC with three, Boise State representing the Pac-12 and Notre Dame as the lone independent.
And Week 7 will not exactly be quiet.
No. 4 Ohio State plays No. 5 Indiana, No. 2 Notre Dame visits No. 8 BYU, No. 16 Mississippi State faces No. 22 LSU, and No. 6 Alabama travels to No. 14 Tennessee.
So if this week’s poll feels unstable, it probably should.
Three teams entered. Three teams dropped out. Texas fell six spots. LSU fell 12. UCLA jumped nine. Kentucky went from unranked to No. 15.
And Georgia is now sitting at the top of all of it.