College Football Rankings After Week 9: Who Rose and Fell in Coaches Top 25 Poll

A surprising result in Hollywood forced a big change near the top of the Coaches Poll top 25 college football rankings going into the final month of the regular season.

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Five of the top 25 teams in the Coaches Poll lost their games over the weekend, introducing a little more chaos in the new college football rankings as we head into the final month of the 2026 regular season.

Most of that change resulted in the coaches reorganizing their ballots near the bottom of the poll, but one surprising result in the Big Ten forced a decision in the top-two.

What did the coaches make of what happened on the field? Here is how the new Coaches Poll ballot looks going into Week 10 action.

Coaches Poll rankings for Week 10

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First-place votes in parentheses

1. Miami (68)
2. Georgia (4)
3. Indiana
4. Utah
5. UCLA
6. Notre Dame
7. Kentucky (1)
8. BYU
9. Alabama
10. Ohio State
11. Texas
12. Ole Miss
13. Texas Tech
14. Wake Forest
15. LSU
16. Tennessee
17. USC
18. Houston
19. Missouri
20. Iowa
21. Boise State
22. Arizona
23. Northwestern
24. SMU
25. New Mexico

Who Went From Unranked to Ranked?

Welcome aboard, New Mexico. The Lobos improved to 7-1 on the season after beating San Jose State, sitting in first place in the Mountain West and playing the No. 1 scoring defense in the country. And potentially in position to take advantage in the Group of Six pecking order if Boise State slips.

Schools That Dropped Out of the Rankings

So long, Florida. Again. The Gators failed to generate much of anything from an otherwise decent rushing attack in an ugly loss to rival Georgia. That makes three losses and the likely obliteration of any lingering hopes Jon Sumrall would make the College Football Playoff in Year 1.

Biggest risers in the Coaches Poll

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USC (Up 8) was predictably the biggest positive mover in the Coaches Poll after resurrecting the Lincoln Riley tenure with a signature win against Ohio State. Now comes the real test. Can the Trojans keep doing it?

Missouri and Iowa (Up 4) saw incremental movement up the rankings after wins against conference rivals Arkansas and Wisconsin, respectively.

The coaches like what Missouri has done more, which includes key wins against SEC foes, but the Hawkeyes shut out a ranked Wisconsin this weekend to improve to 6-2.

Who Fell in the Coaches Poll?

Predictably, Ohio State (Down 8) took the biggest dive. There are real questions around what to do at quarterback after Luke Fahey laid an egg in relief of injured Julian Sayin, and whether the Buckeyes can realistically get back to the playoff now.

SMU (Down 8) looked worse, dropping a surprise three-point decision at Syracuse that could have doomed the ACC into getting multiple teams in the College Football Playoff.

Another hopeful from the Big Ten, Northwestern (Down 5) lost some of its luster after building, then losing, an impressive lead at Oregon.

Teams That Just Missed the Cut This Week

Coaches lent these teams some votes, but not enough to make the poll this week

South Carolina 91; Florida 81; UTSA 76; Duke 76; Virginia Tech 53; Oregon 41; Minnesota 10; Oklahoma State 9; Liberty 6; North Texas 4; Wisconsin 3; Memphis 2; North Dakota State 1; Nebraska 1; Cincinnati 1.