New AP Top 25 Rankings Drop for Week 5: Gators Rise, USC Sinks in College Football Poll

A third of the teams in the AP top 25 college football rankings lost their games this past weekend, leaving pollsters with several major decisions on their Week 5 ballots.

Ron Chenoy | Imagn

We knew there was going to be a ton of change in the new AP top 25 college football rankings coming out of this past weekend after a full third of the poll lost their games, rewriting some of our preseason expectations around who is a contender and who might be a pretender.

Once again, some of that change takes place in the top-five of the poll after No. 4 Ole Miss took a somewhat ugly loss at SEC insurgent Florida, but the No. 1 position stayed secure after Texas passed another critical test in opening conference play on the road against Tennessee, but still faces some pertinent questions around cleaning up penalties and if Arch Manning is a real game-changer.

Those aren’t the only questions facing AP pollsters moving into October. Here is what they made of Saturday’s actions in the new rankings looking ahead to Week 5.

AP Top 25 Rankings for Week 5

First-place votes in parentheses

1. Texas (62)
2. Georgia (6)
3. Notre Dame
4. Miami (1)
5. Ohio State
6. Indiana (1)
7. Alabama
8. Florida
9. Ole Miss
10. BYU
11. LSU
12. Texas Tech
13. Utah
14. Iowa
15. Oregon
16. Mississippi State
17. Tennessee
18. USC
19. Oklahoma State
20. Houston
21. SMU
22. Boise State
23. UCLA
24. Kentucky
25. Missouri

How did we do? Our prediction for the AP Top 25 poll

Who Rose in the Rankings?

UCLA was the biggest mover in the Week 5 rankings, improving 14 places after moving convincingly to 4-0 after a demolition on the road against Maryland.

Right behind was Florida, which jumped 13 spots in the new AP poll after improving to 4-0 itself following a signature and dominant victory against then-No. 4 Ole Miss.

AP voters moved Mississippi State up 8 places this week after improving to 2-0 in SEC play following a victory against ranked Missouri and heading into a test against Alabama.

Moving up 11 spots in the new poll was Oklahoma State, whose win against Oregon, which moved up 5 spots in these rankings, a couple weeks ago looks better now after the Ducks dominated ranked USC this past weekend.

Who Fell in the New Poll?

Ole Miss was dropped five places, still ahead of the LSU team it beat, after surrendering 52 points and over 300 rushing yards in a loss at Florida.

USC fell 6 places after it allowed Oregon to score 41 points with its backup quarterback in a loss at home, and Tennessee dropped 3 positions following a 3-point loss to top-ranked Texas.

Penn State, ranked No. 13 a week ago, dropped out entirely after losing at home to unranked Wisconsin, which received over 100 votes as a result, while losers Michigan and Louisville are outside the top 25 entering October following losses to Iowa and Wake Forest, respectively.

Teams Receiving Votes, But Not Enough to Make It

AP voters put these teams on their ballots, but didn’t get enough support to break into the Top 25 poll itself.

Wisconsin 102, Duke 101, Penn State 98, Wake Forest 88, Virginia Tech 86, Michigan 54, Pittsburgh 52, Nebraska 36, Louisville 25, Cincinnati 20, James Madison 10, Arizona 8, Minnesota 7, North Dakota State 6, Northwestern 1.

Rankings: ESPN Top 25 | Coaches Poll