Big 12 lands season-high 5 teams in the AP Top 25, No. 9 Vandy’s ranking highest since 1937, LSU out

The Big 12 has five teams in the Top 25 for the first time this season, Vanderbilt earned its highest ranking in 88 years and LSU dropped out of The Associated Press college football poll Sunday following its third loss in four games.

The top six was unchanged, with Ohio State holding the No. 1 spot for a ninth straight week followed by Indiana, Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia and Oregon.

The idle Buckeyes received 53 first-place votes and the Hoosiers got 11, six more than last week. Texas A&M was No. 1 on one ballot.

No. 7 Mississippi and No. 8 Georgia Tech swapped spots, as did No. 9 Vanderbilt and Miami, which is tied at No. 10 with BYU.

The Big 12’s five ranked teams are BYU, No. 13 Texas Tech, No. 17 Cincinnati, No. 22 Houston and No. 24 Utah. The Big 12 last had five Top 25 teams in the Sept. 22, 2024, poll.

Houston, which knocked off then-No. 24 Arizona State 24-16 for its first road win against a ranked opponent since 2017, is in the Top 25 for the first time since the first two polls in 2022.

Vanderbilt’s 17-10 win over then-No. 15 Missouri gave the Commodores a 7-1 start for the first time since 1941 and, at No. 9, its highest ranking since it was No. 7 for one week in 1937. Vandy has a program-record three regular-season wins over Top 25 opponents.

LSU was ranked as high as No. 3 for three weeks in September and in the top 10 for the first five polls. Road losses to Mississippi and Vanderbilt and this weekened’s 24-point home loss against Texas A&M put the Tigers on the outside looking in.

It’s the second straight year the Tigers have taken a fast fall. They were No. 8 a year ago and dropped out after three straight losses.

In and out

— No. 22 Houston, at 7-1, has its best start since 2021, two years before it joined the Big 12. None of the Cougars’ four remaining regular-season games are against ranked opponents.

— No. 23 Southern California, which was idle following its 34-24 loss at Notre Dame, faces a challenging game at Nebraska.

— No. 24 Utah hammered Colorado 53-7 with Byrd Ficklin starting in place of injured quarterback Devon Dampier and leading an offense that rushed for 422 of its 587 total yards.

— No. 25 Memphis rebounded from its loss to UAB with a 34-31 win over South Florida to pull into a four-way tie for third place in the American behind Navy and Tulane.

— South Florida (18), LSU (20), Illinois (23) and Arizona State (24) dropped out.

Poll points

— The last time Texas A&M received a first-place vote was Oct. 11, 2015.

— No. 12 Notre Dame appeared in its 900th poll, tied for fourth-most all-time.

— No. 15 Virginia has its highest ranking since it was No. 10 on Nov. 7, 2004.

— The top six were unchanged for the first time since Nov. 12, 2023, when the top eight stood pat.

Conference call

SEC (9 teams) — Nos. 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 14, 18, 19, 20.

Big Ten (5) — Nos. 1, 2, 6, 21, 23.

Big 12 (5) — Nos. T-10, 13, 17, 22, 24.

ACC (4) — Nos. 8, T-10, 15, 16.

American (1) — No. 25.

Independent (1) — No. 12.

Ranked vs. ranked

— No. 9 Vanderbilt (7-1, 3-1 SEC) at No. 20 Texas (6-2, 3-1): Status of Texas QB Arch Manning uncertain after he banged his head on the turf on the first play of overtime in the win over Mississippi State.

— No. 17 Cincinnati (7-1, 5-0 Big 12) at No. 24 Utah (6-2, 3-2): Bearcats are on a seven-game win streak. Utes in a must-win situation the rest of season to stay in Big 12 race.

— No. 18 Oklahoma (6-2, 2-2 SEC) at No. 14 Tennessee (6-2, 3-2): Sooners’ best-in-the-SEC defense gave up a bevy of big plays to Mississippi and now face one of the most explosive offenses in the country.

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