College Football Rankings After Week 8: Who Rose and Fell in Coaches Top 25 Poll

More chaos on the college football front forced the coaches into some notable decisions in the top 25 rankings coming out of Week 8, including near the top of the new poll.

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Seven of the top 25 teams that made the Coaches Poll college football rankings a week ago lost their games, including two of the top-five and three of the top-ten, throwing another wrench into who is considered the best in the country heading into Week 9.

The biggest damage came in the Big 12 as BYU and Texas Tech both lost their first games of the season, further entrenching the power-sharing system between the SEC and Big Ten when it comes to being the highest-ranked teams in college football.

What’s the total damage? Here is how the Coaches Poll changed this week.

Coaches Poll Week 9 Rankings

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First-place votes in parentheses

1. Miami (67)
2. Ohio State (6)
3. Georgia
4. Indiana
5. Utah
6. Notre Dame
7. UCLA
8. Kentucky
9. BYU
10. Alabama
11. Texas
12. Ole Miss
13. LSU
14. Texas Tech
15. Wake Forest
16. SMU
17. Tennessee
18. Northwestern
19. Houston
20. Florida
21. Arizona
22. Boise State
23. Missouri
24. Iowa
25. USC

Who Went From Ranked to Unranked?

No. 25 Oregon watched its 2026 season fall off a cliff after not scoring any second-half points in a 21-10 loss at Illinois. Once considered a national title favorite in the Big Ten, the Ducks are now a 4-3 afterthought and facing key structural questions as a program.

Biggest risers in the Coaches Poll

Texas (Up 7). The coaches were impressed with the Longhorns building and then finally preserving a double-digit lead against then-No. 7 Ole Miss to stall a two-game losing skid and keep their still very fragile playoff hopes alive.

Utah (Up 4). A hard-fought win against ranked Houston propels the Utes to the top of the competitive Big 12 standings and still undefeated in a statement at home.

Arizona and Northwestern (Up 5) quietly played very dominant football over the weekend, winning easily against Iowa State and Rutgers, respectively, to hang around the top half of their respective conferences with November approaching.

Who Fell in the Coaches Poll?

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BYU (Down 6). Fresh off an emotional win over Notre Dame, the Cougars walked into a trap and dropped an overtime decision against UCF on the road. Their playoff hopes are far from dashed, but they weren’t helped, either.

Texas Tech (Down 9). Far more damaging was the Red Raiders’ lackluster loss at Cincinnati in which the offense didn’t score a touchdown until the final minute and struggled badly in the red zone. They host Arizona in a key test next week.

Tennessee (Down 6). Another trap game of sorts as South Carolina knocked off the Vols in the last second a week after Big Orange took down Alabama to complicate matters in the SEC a little more.

Iowa and USC (Down 10) were the biggest negative movers in the Coaches Poll rankings after each lost on the road to unranked Big Ten opponents, but the Trojans’ performance at Wisconsin was more concerning and could signal an actual regress for Lincoln Riley rather than just the usual concerns.

Teams That Just Missed the Cut This Week

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

Oklahoma State 120; Wisconsin 114; Cincinnati 49; New Mexico 43; Minnesota 35; UTSA 34; Nebraska 27; Virginia Tech 16; Oregon State 15; South Carolina 12; Duke 12; Oregon 5; Auburn 4; North Texas 2; Michigan 2; UCF 1; Oklahoma 1; James Madison 1.