AP top 25 poll: Three most underrated college football teams in Week 11

Ryan Young | Nov 3, 2025

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning has his team surging up the AP top 25 poll again. Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The first seven spots in the AP top 25 poll remained unchanged heading into the Week 11.

The rest of the rankings shuffled significantly, though, with six top 25 teams losing on Saturday.

It will be interesting to see how closely the first official College Football Playoff rankings, released on Tuesday, align with the AP voters, as there are a few teams that appear to be underrated in the last poll.

No. 13 Texas (7-2, 4-1 SEC)

Well, we sure didn't expect to be calling the Longhorns and once-maligned quarterback Arch Manning underrated at any point this season, but here goes.

From preseason No. 1 to all the way out of the rankings after a 3-2 start and now surging back after four straight wins, Texas jumped seven spots to No. 12 in the new AP poll.

It hasn't all been pretty. Let's not forget Texas needed overtime in consecutive weeks to get past Kentucky and Mississippi State, but bookending those games are two very notable wins over Oklahoma (ranked No. 6 at the time) last month and then-No. 9 Vanderbilt on Saturday.

The Longhorns went into the fourth quarter with a 24-point lead on the Commodores and narrowly held on in the end for a 34-31 win after Vanderbilt just missed recovering an onside kick in the final minute.

That doesn't detract from the overall impact of the win, though. Manning completed 25 of 33 passes for 328 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions for his second straight 300-yard passing performance.

The Longhorns still have a road game at No. 5 Georgia in two weeks after their bye, followed by a home game with No. 3 Texas A&M in the regular-season finale. Knowing another loss would remove them from the CFP race. However, at the same time, Texas also essentially controls its destiny as a 10-2 Longhorns team with four big, ranked wins (potentially four top-10 wins) will likely secure an at-large berth into the playoffs.

But this is about the AP poll, and the Longhorns are ranked two or three spots too low.

No. 12 Virginia (8-1) got a major vault from beating a then-top-10 Florida State team in September, but we know now that a win doesn't mean the same as it did before everyone started beating the Seminoles. The Cavaliers also have a win over Louisville (now No. 14), but looked very iffy in narrow wins over Washington State and North Carolina. They also have a "bad" loss to NC State to match Texas' loss to Florida, but with one fewer notable win.

Most egregious, though, is Texas being ranked two spots behind No. 11 Oklahoma (7-2) despite having the same record and having dominated the Sooners in a head-to-head 23-6 win. Oklahoma's wins over Michigan and Tennessee are nice, but not enough to negate such a decisive head-to-head result. So ... this is a baffling one.

And then No. 10 Notre Dame (6-2) has one notable win -- over USC (now ranked 20th) -- and lost its two toughest games, to Texas A&M and Miami.

Yes, Texas has somehow gone from over-ranked to unranked to under-ranked.

No. 14 Louisville (7-1, 4-1 ACC)

Louisville Cardinals quarterback Miller Moss (7) throws a pass against the Virginia Tech Hokies during the third quarter at Lane Stadium. Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images / Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Now, we're about to make an argument that a head-to-head result is being weighted too heavily -- it's not hypocritical, it's very different circumstances.

While Texas absolutely stifled and shut down Oklahoma in the aforementioned reference point, Louisville's only loss all season was a 30-27 coinflip game in overtime to Virginia.

The Cardinals, as such, are ranked two spots behind the Cavaliers based purely on that result, despite the teams having otherwise very different resumes.

Louisville won on the road at Miami when the Hurricanes were ranked No. 2. Louisville won at Pittsburgh, which is now one of the hottest teams in college football. It's won every other game by double digits, including a 14-point win over James Madison (which is 7-1 and one of the best Group of Five teams).

Virginia's next-best win is over that 4-4 Florida State team? Or Coastal Carolina? Or Cal?

Louisville could also be ranked over Notre Dame as well -- the Cardinals have one fewer loss and beat Miami, while the Irish lost to the Hurricanes.

Unranked Pittsburgh (7-2, 5-1 ACC)

Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Mason Heintschel (6) passes against the Stanford Cardinal during the second quarter at Stanford Stadium. Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images / John Hefti-Imagn Images

Since benching quarterback Eli Holstein for true freshman Mason Heintschel, Pittsburgh has reeled off five straight wins while putting up 40 points per game in that stretch. The Panthers won four of those games by 15 or more points.

They are officially one of the hottest teams in college football thanks to Heintschel, who has passed for at least 300 yards in four of his five starts with 12 TDs and 5 INTs.

Yet, not only is Pitt unranked, but it wasn't especially close to cracking the top 25, receiving fewer votes than fellow unranked teams Iowa and James Madison, and barely more than San Diego State.

That said, Pitt will have its chances to win over voters as it closes the season with three straight marquee matchups against No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 16 Georgia Tech and No. 18 Miami.

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