College football rankings revealed: New No. 1 team in the country after a week of huge upheaval

In a week of major upheaval in the college football world, Alabama was replaced by Texas as the No. 1 team in the nation.

A shocking loss to Vanderbilt – despite entering the game as a three-touchdown favorite – saw the Crimson Tide fall from No. 1 to No. 7.

The last top-ranked team to fall so far was Ohio State, which dipped to 11th in 2010 after an October loss to Wisconsin.

Texas received 52 of the AP’s 61 first-place votes and became the first team in two years to bounce in and out of the top spot in the span of three polls. The Longhorns were also only the third team since 2008 to be voted No. 1 after not playing the day before.

Ohio State beat Iowa for its fourth straight easy victory, received nine first-place votes and moved up one spot to No. 2.

Oregon and Penn State each moved up three spots, with the Ducks ranked third and the Nittany Lions ranked fourth. Georgia remained No. 5.

Miami, which came back from a 25-point second-half deficit to beat California 39-38, moved up two spots to No. 6.

The chaos was not limited to Alabama, however. Six of 18 AP Top 25 teams that played lost to unranked opponents (33%), the highest mark since six of 16 (38%) lost in the first week of October 2020.

The Tide was among four top 11 teams to lose to unranked opponents – the first time that has happened since October 2017.

Tennessee lost to Arkansas and fell from #4 to #8. Michigan lost at Washington and fell from No. 10 to No. 24. Southern California lost at Minnesota and fell from No. 11 to the Top 25. The Trojans were first among teams also receiving votes.

Texas A&M beat Missouri at home in the only Top 25 game. That earned the Aggies a tie-breaking promotion from No. 25 to No. 15 and the Tigers a demotion from No. 9 to No. 21.

The Big Ten dominates the top five, but the Southeastern Conference maintains its grip on the top 10. No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Oregon and No. 4 Penn State are reserved by Texas and Georgia from the SEC. The SEC also has Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi in the top 10.

Double-digit declines in Missouri, Michigan and USC mark the first time since Nov. 13, 2016 that three teams fell 10 or more spots in the same poll. That week, it happened to Auburn (8 to 18), Texas A&M (10 to 23) and North Carolina (15 to receive votes).

The biggest movers up were Texas A&M (25 to 15), Clemson (15 to 10) and Iowa State (16 to 11).