AP Top 25: Oregon, Georgia, Ohio State and Miami lead the poll ahead of the first Playoff rankings

In the latter AP Top 25 Before the College Football Playoff selection committee rules on it, Oregon became the first team to be unanimously ranked No. 1 over the past three regular seasons, and No. 8 Indiana and No. 13 SMU both rose in the rankings on Sunday.

The Ducks received 62 first-place votes, gaining the last remaining lead after receiving 61 votes last week, while Georgia received one. The Bulldogs were the last team to be a unanimous No. 1 seed during the regular season and held the top spot for eight straight weeks in 2021.

During the CFP era, the national champion was usually unanimously ranked No. 1 in the final poll.

Georgia remained No. 2 with a win against Florida, seven points ahead of Ohio State after the Buckeyes defeated Penn State 20-13 on Saturday in Happy Valley. No. No. 4 Miami and No. 5 Texas each moved up one spot. Penn State fell three spots to No. 6 after losing for the first time this season, and Tennessee remained at No. 7.

Indiana jumped five spots into the top 10 for the first time this season. The Hoosiers are 9-0 for the first time in program history. Indiana last cracked the top 10, peaking at No. 7 for four weeks of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Before that, the Hoosiers’ last appearance in the top 10 was in 1969.

Others receiving votes: Missouri 81, South Carolina 58, Tulane 41, UNLV 9, Louisiana 9, Washington 4, Arizona State 3, Iowa 2, Texas Tech 2

SMU was the biggest gainer, climbing seven spots from No. 20 to 13th on the season after beating previously undefeated Pitt. The Mustangs have their highest ranking since the pre-NCAA death penalty in 1987. SMU started 1985 ranked third in the nation before finishing unranked. While in the American Athletic Conference, the Mustangs had four seasons in which they were ranked at one time, peaking at No. 15 in 2019.

BYU is No. 9 and Notre Dame rounds out the top 10. After both Iowa State and Kansas State lost to unranked opponents on Saturday, BYU is the only Big 12 team in the top 16. The Cyclones are 17th, Colorado is 21st and Kansas State is No. 22.

Undefeated Army is at number 18, its highest ranking since it entered the top 10 in 1962.

How will the poll compare to the CFP rankings?

The first CFP rankings in the expanded 12-team playoff will be announced Tuesday evening. During the ten years of four-team play, the initial selection committee rankings and the previous AP poll have had the same No. 1 team five times.

In only three cases, including last year, have the same four teams been in the top four of both the AP poll and the first CFP Top 25 – but never in the same order.

Small differences seem big when the limit is the top four. Overall, the two rankings are not dramatically different. This season the hotspot will be number 10-14.

The AP’s 10-14 was shaken up this week with three setbacks. Texas A&M, Clemson and Iowa State all lost to unranked teams on Saturday. That cleared the way for No. 11 Alabama and No. 14 LSU to advance for their matchup in Baton Rouge, La., next Saturday night.

Boise State moved up three spots to No. 12, its highest AP ranking since 2011. The committee has historically been less bullish on Group of 5 teams, but where they land in the rankings comes with high stakes.

The 12-team CFP format reserves spots for the five highest-ranked conference champions, guaranteeing a spot for at least one team from outside the Power 5 conferences. Those teams are also eligible to receive at-large bids, but in the four-team system, without automatic entry for conference champions, only once has a non-Power 5 team entered the field: Cincinnati from the AAC in 2021. Ralph Russo, national college football writer

In and out

Illinois (6-3) ended a seven-week streak in the rankings, bowing out after a loss to Minnesota on Saturday.

No. 25 Louisville (6-3) jumped back into the Top 25 after spending five weeks in the rankings earlier this season. The Cardinals defeated Clemson for the first time in program history on Saturday night in Death Valley.

No. No. 24 Vanderbilt (6-3) is back in the polls after the Commodores broke an 11-year drought earlier this season. Vandy won Saturday at Auburn, giving the school its first win since 1955 against both Alabama SEC teams.

Missouri, which had barely held on to its position at No. 25, dropped out during an inactive week. – Russo

How I voted this week

• Indiana has been the most underrated team in the polls for a while, but voters are finally starting to show respect for the biggest surprise team of the season. No, the Hoosiers haven’t played a tough schedule, but they have dominated their opponents week after week. They rank second in yards per play differential and first in point differential. In other words, they do what a good team should do. I have Indiana right at the top at No. 5 on my ballot, and it ultimately moved up five spots in the poll to No. 8 after its 47-10 win against Michigan State moved it to 9-0 for the first time.

• A case could be made for Ohio State ahead of Georgia for the No. 2 seed after winning at Penn State, especially given the Bulldogs’ struggle to pull away from Florida for much of Saturday. On the other hand, Ohio State had the same problem against Nebraska last week. Ultimately, they feel the same, both are among the most talented teams in the country and capable of winning the national championship, but neither consistently reaches their full potential. I kept Georgia at No. 2, but moved the Buckeyes up two spots after having them lower than the poll at fifth place last week. It’s close. Georgia can strengthen its position next week with a win over Ole Miss.

• I moved Louisville to No. 23, one spot ahead of Clemson. Clemson had been given the benefit of the doubt as the only loss came to Georgia, but the team was blown out in that game and had to feast on a weak ACC slate. Although Louisville is yet to suffer one loss, its three losses are up by seven points each for the ranked teams (Notre Dame, Miami and SMU), and now the nation has a dominant road win against the Tigers – the biggest win on the away against a ranked team since 2000. Clemson has done nothing to deserve an edge over the Cardinals, who came into the poll at least at No. 25.

• I also rank higher on SMU than most of the rest of the voting panel. I moved the Mustangs to No. 10 on my ballot after their biggest win against a ranked team since 1985. Not only did they blow out Pitt, who is still ranked, but their win against Louisville was boosted by the big night of the Cardinals at Clemson. Additionally, SMU’s only loss is a loss of three to undefeated BYU. — Matt Brown, college sports editor and AP Top 25 voter

What’s next in week 11?

No. No. 1 Oregon will be heavily favored when hosting Maryland this Saturday, as will No. 3 Ohio State against Purdue. In the rest of the top five, No. 4 Miami visits Georgia Tech and No. 5 Texas hosts Florida, which may have to do with the third-string quarterback. The week features a pair of ranked matchups, both in the SEC:

No. No. 11 Alabama at No. 14 LSU. The Tigers and Tide will meet for the 32nd time as ranked teams, including 17 of the past 19 meetings.

No. 2 Georgia at No. 16 Ole Miss. This will be the third consecutive meeting dating back to 2016. The Bulldogs and Rebels will both be ranked.

Required reading

(Photo by Traeshon Holden: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)