AP Top 25 live updates: Poll shakeup looms after USC stuns Ohio State

No. 1 Miami dug deep to hold off North Carolina and keep its undefeated record intact, but No. 2 Ohio State wasn’t as fortunate. The Buckeyes fell to USC in the biggest upset of the week, setting up another major shakeup in the AP Top 25.

Seven ranked teams lost, potentially creating a domino effect in the latter half of the rankings. South Carolina, USC and Iowa all made strong cases to enter the poll.

Plenty of changes could be in store when the latest poll drops at 2 p.m. Eastern. And this poll could set the table for the initial College Football Playoff rankings coming out Tuesday night!

Stick around for projections, voter Q&A and live updates.

Poll predictions

By ERIC OLSON

Miami escaped North Carolina 38-35 and should hang on to the No. 1 ranking for a third straight week.

With Ohio State going down, No. 6 Utah is in line to crack the top five for the first time since 2019 by virtue of its 49-25 win over Cincinnati.

Major changes probably are coming toward the bottom of the poll. Six teams between Nos. 17 and 25 lost. Iowa, which shut out Wisconsin 30-0 at home, should return to the rankings after a one-week absence. USC also could return after its first top-five win since the 2017 Rose Bowl against Penn State and its highest-ranked win since it beat Oklahoma in the 2004 season’s national championship game.

A Maryland student wins just by showing up

By EDDIE PELLS

Another under-the-radar winner Saturday was mechanical engineering major Bryce Hartle.

Who’s he?

Well, attendance-challenged Maryland football (which fired coach Mike Locksley last week) was offering free spring tuition to the winner of a raffle for students who stayed through the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Big Ten showdown against Illinois.

Hartle won. Maryland lost (20-17).

And, if snapshots of the stadium at kickoff are any indication, the Terps might need to up the ante for the next game.

UCLA is undefeated but are the Bruins for real?

A Power Four team quietly takes care of business and improves to 8-0 on the season in a so-called paycheck game.

Sounds like a team destined for a No. 1 or No. 2 ranking, right?

But that team is UCLA — a program that hasn’t won 10 games since 2013 or won its conference since 1998. That makes it hard to see the Bruins more than a spot from No. 7 during a week in which Ohio State was the only team ahead of them to lose.

But what will the CFP selection committee think? Their evaluation of UCLA could be as good a sign as any as to whether they agree with the AP poll voters or are looking at completely different factors.

There’s reason for doubt: UCLA is playing without its starting quarterback, Nico Iamaleava. Then again, backup Ty Dieffenbach is avoiding mistakes, throwing for a modest three touchdowns since taking over in a 17-15 win over Oregon on Oct. 10.

How will the CFP committee view Indiana with an injured QB?

Indiana squeaked out another victory this week. Its last three wins have all been fourth-quarter or overtime affairs decided by a touchdown or less. It also lost 19-15 to Ohio State.

One factor the selection committee will look at in deciding where the defending champions belong in their first rankings is the health of Hoosiers quarterback Josh Hoover.

Hoover came into Saturday’s game against Minnesota at less than 100% with an arm injury. He left at halftime and Indiana was nothing near dominant in getting past the Gophers 23-16 in overtime.

At 8-1, the Hoosiers still carry the resume of a top-six team into Tuesday’s bracket reveal, but the committee has the latitude to dock (or elevate) teams based on player availability.

Big 12 gets back to ‘normal’ with wins from Utah, BYU, Texas Tech

All of the top four contenders in the Big 12 were in action Saturday and the results left us where we were a few weeks ago — with Utah, BYU and Texas Tech the top contenders for the title.

No. 13 Texas Tech’s 34-26 victory over No. 22 Arizona not only righted the ship in Lubbock but probably knocked the surprising Wildcats out of contention for the conference title and the automatic playoff bid that will come with it.

No. 8 BYU beat Arizona State 27-20. Like the Red Raiders, the Cougars rebounded from an upset the previous week.

Utah, after beating Cincinnati to improve to 5-0 in the conference, has a one-game lead over both teams with its game against BYU — the “Holy War” — set for next Saturday.

Halloween horrors strike lower half of the Top 25 (and No. 2 Ohio State)

Even a relatively calm Halloween in college football didn’t spare everyone in the upper reaches of the AP Top 25. Ohio State looks like it may be headed for a tumble.

The second-ranked Buckeyes, playing without starting quarterback Julian Sayin, fell hard at USC on Saturday, 30-18. They were the only team in the Top 10 to lose in the final week of games before the College Football Playoff releases its first ranking. That happens Tuesday.

Today, the latest Top 25 figures to be fairly stable — quite a difference from the last two weeks, when chaos reigned from top to bottom in the poll.

This week No. 1 Miami survived a scare from coach Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels, but persevered 38-35. No. 3 Georgia rolled over No. 17 Florida 27-8. No. 6 Utah and No. 7 UCLA both won to join Miami as the only remaining undefeated teams in the FBS.

Most of the turnover would likely happen toward the bottom of this week’s rankings, where six teams between No. 17 and 25 lost: Florida, No. 19 SMU, No. 20 Northwestern, No. 22 Arizona, No. 24 Oklahoma State and No. 25 Wisconsin.

Who decides the rankings?

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

AP Top 25 voters are writers and broadcasters who cover college football.

AP employees do not vote, but they do choose the voters, and they seek wide representation from all over the country. This season, there are 69 voters.

The focus begins with voter representation in states with a Bowl Subdivision school, and the total number of voters from each state increases with the number of FBS teams. There are also spots reserved for national voters.

The AP allows broad latitude for voters to determine their rankings. They are urged to base their votes on performance, not reputation or preseason speculation (except, of course, for the always provocative preseason poll); to avoid regional bias, for or against; to pay attention to head-to-head results; and to make significant changes if desired.

Down goes Ohio State

By ERIC OLSON

For the fourth straight week, a No. 1 or 2 team lost to an unranked opponent, and a total of seven Top 25 teams lost in Week 9.

The biggest loss Saturday belonged to No. 2 Ohio State, which was without injured quarterback Julian Sayin and went down 30-18 at Southern California. The Buckeyes lost for the second time this season and may take a big fall.

Oregon heads to Columbus next Saturday.