Coaches Poll top 25: Texas rises, USC falls in Rivalry Week college football rankings

What you need to know as the updated Coaches Poll top 25 college football rankings is revealed coming out of Saturday's action and looking ahead to Rivalry Week.

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As expected, there was no change around the top-dozen of the Coaches Poll top 25 college football rankings, but losses by lower-placed teams allowed some movement in the middle and the bottom of the poll as we head into Rivalry Week.

Michigan and Texas were two major brands that saw their fortunes improve in the latest rankings, inching back towards the top-15 after important late-season wins.

Georgia Tech and USC were the two most prominent losers both on the field and in the new poll, after ACC insurgent Pittsburgh downed the Yellow Jackets and the Trojans were got by the seemingly playoff-bound Ducks on the road.

Ohio State took 61 of the first-place votes, staying undefeated after a big win over Rutgers, but facing arguably the toughest test of its season, at least from a psychological perspective, going to arch-rival Michigan seeking its first win in the series since 2019.

Two coaches lent their first-place votes to undefeated SEC title hopeful Texas A&M, which wasn’t challenged in a rout against Samford during Cupcake Week, but will be on the road against rival Texas as both compete for attention from the playoff selectors.

Where does that leave everything in the updated Top 25 college football rankings? Let’s take a look at what teams moved up, and down, and who stayed put, in Week 14, according to the coaches’ vote.

Coaches Poll top 25 rankings for Rivalry Week

First-place votes in parentheses

1. Ohio State (61)
2. Indiana
3. Texas A&M (2)
4. Georgia
5. Oregon
6. Ole Miss
7. Texas Tech
8. Oklahoma
9. Notre Dame
10. Alabama
11. BYU
12. Vanderbilt
13. Miami
14. Utah
15. Michigan
16. Texas
17. Virginia
18. Tennessee
19. Georgia Tech
20. USC
21. James Madison
22. North Texas
23. Tulane
24. Pittsburgh
25. SMU

Coaches Poll biggest movers

Georgia Tech (Down 7). All the Jackets had to do was beat Pittsburgh and they would advance to the ACC Championship Game. But Pitt had other ideas, handing the Wreck a costly second loss.

Texas (Up 2). After dipping 8 spots in the rankings last week, the Longhorns rebounded with a historic effort from Arch Manning to beat Arkansas, with some lingering playoff hopes as they welcome undefeated rival Texas A&M in the finale.

USC (Down 4). Hanging on by their fingernails to an admittedly slim path to the College Football Playoff, the Trojans instead dropped a 15-point decision at Oregon and fell to 8-3.

Pittsburgh (Up 11). Unranked last week, the Panthers made a statement by dominating against Georgia Tech and moved into a three-way tie at 6-1 in ACC competition.

Teams that dropped out

No. 21 Missouri. Some lousy execution on offense and special teams slip ups cost the Tigers a third loss on the road against new playoff hopeful Oklahoma.

No. 24 Houston. Just when they thought they were in, the coaches pulled the Cougars back out of the rankings this week after a last-minute, three-point loss to TCU.

Other teams receiving votes

These teams got votes from the coaches, but not enough to be included in the rankings this week

Arizona State 86; Navy 58; Washington 39; Missouri 32; Iowa 32; Arizona 30; San Diego State 29; Houston 22; Penn State 4; Illinois 4; UConn 4; UNLV 2; USF 1