Coaches Poll Top 25: There's a New No. 1 in College Football After a Massive Upset

The coaches are faced with another dilemma after watching more ranked teams lose their games this weekend, including the No. 1 team in college football.

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The most consequential event that college football can give you in the regular season is when the No. 1 team in the rankings goes down, and that’s what Texas delivered with its monumental comeback rally against the top-ranked Buckeyes.

Arch Manning led three long touchdown drives and scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to overcome a disastrous start, throwing a wrench into the top of the rankings just two weeks into the 2026 college football season.

What did the coaches make of the upheaval? Here’s how the latest Coaches Poll vote looked coming out of Saturday and looking ahead to Week 3.

Coaches Poll Top 25 Rankings

First-place votes in parentheses

1. Texas (42)
2. Georgia (15)
3. Notre Dame (4)
4. Indiana (10)
5. Miami (2)
6. Ohio State
7. LSU (1)
8. Texas A&M
9. Ole Miss
10. Alabama
11. USC
12. Texas Tech
13. BYU
14. Tennessee
15. Penn State
16. SMU
17. Utah
18. Oregon
19. Michigan
20. Iowa
21. Oklahoma
22. Missouri
23. Houston
24. Washington
25. Virginia

Teams That Fell Out of the Rankings

No. 25 Florida. Despite the Gators putting a beating on Campbell, and scoring over 50 points in Jon Sumrall’s first two games as head coach – matching Billy Napier’s entire total – the coaches docked them enough votes to fall out of the top 25 after tying with Virginia in that spot.

Coaches Poll Biggest Movers

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Texas (Up 2). Revenge is sweet, especially for Arch Manning, whose previous showing against the Buckeyes resulted in a tidal wave of criticism of the Longhorns quarterback, but who may have just put himself into Heisman consideration after a gutsy come from behind effort that won’t soon be forgotten.

Ohio State (Down 5). Conversely, the Buckeyes have a few questions to answer after losing a 20-point lead in Austin. Like, how do they get more aggressive offensively? How can they stiffen their defense after losing so many key players? Who else is there beside Jeremiah Smith to go deep? More tough road games await this team in the future.

Oregon (Down 12). Another lousy showing for the Big Ten as the Ducks came out the wrong side of a huge upset at Oklahoma State, which lost to this team 69-3 a year ago. What a difference a year – and 91 transfers, a new coach, new quarterback, and new lead rusher – makes, forcing Oregon into another drop in the poll. This roster is better than that. Or is it?

Michigan (Up 5). An underdog at home coming in, the Wolverines didn’t get much faith from analysts against that Oklahoma defense, but they did just enough to score early courtesy of Bryce Underwood’s mobility and rely on their own front to stymie the visiting SEC title hopefuls.

Oklahoma (Down 11). There are still serious questions around what the Sooners can do offensively, because right now it’s not much. And much tougher games await once the SEC schedule begins in earnest, including a road trip to Georgia.

Other Teams Getting Votes

These teams received votes from the coaches, but not enough to qualify for the top 25.

Florida 183; Louisville 160; Boise State 44; Kansas State 24; South Carolina 23; Mississippi State 20; Vanderbilt 19; Duke 19; Nebraska 18; Pittsburgh 16; Oklahoma State 16; Auburn 15; Western Michigan 10; Virginia Tech 9; UCLA 8; Tulsa 7; North Dakota State 5; New Mexico 4; Clemson 3; Wake Forest 1; Arizona 1.