AP Top 25: Indiana gives Big Ten 4 of first 5 as Georgia’s top-10 streak ends

Ohio State moved up to No. 2 behind Oregon in the AP Top 25 on Sunday, and the Big Ten captured four of the top five spots with Penn State moving to No. 4 and Indiana to No. 5. According to the AP, it’s the first time the Big Ten has had four of the top five.

It’s the first time the Big Ten has held the top two spots in the rankings since 2015, and it’s Indiana’s highest ranking since 1967. Room was created by a pair of top-five losses, as Georgia dropped from second to No. 11 after losing to Ole Miss and Miami fell from fourth to No. 12 after losing at Georgia Tech. It’s Georgia’s lowest spot in the poll since 2020, ending a 60-week streak of top-10 appearances.

The top-ranked Ducks are a unanimous No. 1 for the second straight week, making them the first team to be unanimous No. 1 for multiple weeks of a regular season since Georgia did it eight times in 2021.

The Big Ten holds the top two spots for the first time since Ohio State and Michigan State were atop the poll on Sept. 27, 2015. That was the second of consecutive weeks with the Buckeyes and Spartans at Nos. 1 and 2.

Others receiving votes: Iowa State 92, Arizona State 35, Pittsburgh 18, Louisiana 14, UNLV 10

Georgia dropping gives Ohio State the longest streak of top-10 appearances at 55, though that could actually be considered an 80-week streak. The Buckeyes were not eligible to be in the poll early in the 2020 pandemic-altered season while the Big Ten was not playing. Georgia dropped to as low as No. 13 in 2020 and spent most of the second half of that season outside the top 10 before finishing seventh. Georgia had not been ranked lower than sixth in each of the past three seasons and started 2024 as preseason No. 1 for the second consecutive year.

The only non-Big Ten team in the top five is No. 3 Texas. Tennessee is up a spot to No. 6, and No. 7 BYU and No. 8 Notre Dame each moved up two places.

Alabama is No. 9 after blowing out LSU, and Ole Miss moved up six spots to No. 10.

Is Penn State properly ranked?

No. 4 Penn State is becoming one of the most polarizing teams in the country because of its rankings in both the AP and coaches poll and by the College Football Playoff selection committee, especially for those who are stumping for unbeaten Indiana and BYU.

Is that fair?

The argument goes that Penn State is getting a helmet bump as a big-brand school over less traditional powers, especially Big Ten conference-mate Indiana. It’s a fair take: Penn State has no victories against teams in the rankings and a seven-point loss at home to Ohio State.

Indiana has taken a lot of flak for its less-than-formidable schedule while romping through its opponents with nothing but double-digit victories until Saturday against Michigan. The Hoosiers’ schedule strength is still lagging behind the rest of the highly ranked teams.

The better case might be BYU, which stayed unbeaten in dramatic fashion against Utah and has a couple of victories against ranked teams in Big 12 rival No. 20 Kansas State and No. 14 SMU, the first-place team in the ACC.

You can make a fair case that either or both the Hoosiers and Cougars should be ahead of Penn State — and maybe even Texas and/or Tennessee.

But allow me to play devil’s advocate: If the difference between Penn State, Indiana and BYU is one of these teams played Ohio State and the other two did not, is it really that egregious to have the Nittany Lions ranked highest? Penn State is not the only team impacted by this, but there is a tendency to put all teams into two buckets: ranked teams and bad teams, basically lumping everybody outside the Top 25 in the same grouping. It’s a poor evaluation. There are 134 FBS schools and another 129 more in FCS and each has a value.

It’s also not just about who you played, but how you played, and while Indiana has gotten a lot of attention for running roughshod over its opponents, Penn State has six victories of at least 14 points, too, after Saturday’s 35-6 thumping of Washington.

This is not so much making a case for Penn State as it is for a more thoughtful approach than everybody stinks. — Ralph Russo, national college football writer

In and out

After a second consecutive loss, this time at home to Virginia, Pitt is out of the rankings for the first time in six weeks. The Panthers started the season 7-0 but didn’t quite have the staying power of the turnarounds at Indiana and BYU. Iowa State faced a similar fate, going from unbeaten and ranked to out of the poll after consecutive losses. The Cyclones lost to Kansas on Saturday.

Vanderbilt also slipped out of the Top 25 again after losing to SEC rival South Carolina, which is making its season debut at No. 23. The Gamecocks (6-3) are ranked for the first time since 2022 and have one of the country’s most what-could-have-been seasons. Losses to Alabama and LSU by a combined five points, along with a blowout loss to Ole Miss, kept the Gamecocks out of SEC championship and playoff contention. The LSU game was especially painful because of a blindside block penalty that wiped out a pick six.

No. 24 Missouri (7-2) returned to the rankings after the Tigers stayed in the “Playoff hunt,” according to coach Eli Drinkwitz. The SEC has nine teams ranked this week, one short of the record of 10 it set early in the 2015 season.

No. 25 Tulane (8-2) is ranked for the first time this season, joining No. 13 Boise State and No. 16 Army as teams from Group of 5 conferences in the rankings in the pursuit of an automatic Playoff bid.

How Matt voted

• I’ve been lower than most voters on Ole Miss all season, but suddenly the Rebels’ resume looks a lot better. The loss to Kentucky still hurts and LSU is getting worse, but the Rebels dominated Georgia 28-10 for their most lopsided win against an AP top-10 team since 1969. Throw in the increased value of their 24-point win against South Carolina and the fact that they lead the FBS in yards per play margin, and the Rebels finally feel like they’ve earned their top-10 billing. I didn’t hesitate to jump them to No. 9 on my ballot — actually a spot ahead of where they are in the poll.

• Am I too high on Indiana? Possibly, but who would have thought we’d be parsing a Hoosiers win over Michigan for being too unimpressive? No, the Hoosiers haven’t played a ranked team yet, but they’re 10-0 and they dominated each of their first nine opponents. I have them at No. 3, ahead of one-loss teams like Texas (no ranked wins), Tennessee (lost to Arkansas) and Penn State (no ranked wins), and they’ve been more impressive from week to week than fellow surprise unbeaten BYU. Ultimately, the margin feels very tight from No. 1 to No. 15 — perhaps the tightest since I became a voter in 2017 — and thus I have no problem rewarding the teams that just keep winning … and being swift to penalize a loss, like dropping Miami to 13th after it fell at Georgia Tech.

• Only 30 teams received votes this week, and Tulane moved into the rankings at No. 25. The Green Wave were my runner-up for the final spot, as I opted for Arizona State, which is a surprising — and quiet — 7-2 but will have a chance to prove itself the next two weeks against Kansas State and BYU. — Matt Brown, college sports managing editor and AP Top 25 voter

How Week 12 will impact the rankings

There are two ranked matchups next Saturday, both in the SEC:

• No. 6 Tennessee at No. 11 Georgia: The Vols have a chance to do the unthinkable and all but eliminate Georgia from the 12-team Playoff. But they haven’t stayed within single digits or scored more than 21 points against the Bulldogs since 2016.

• No. 24 Missouri at No. 23 South Carolina. Nine of 16 SEC teams are ranked, though the loser here is likely to fall out.

The top four will all by heavy favorites on the road — No. 1 Oregon at Wisconsin, No. 2 Ohio State at Northwestern, No. 3 Texas at Arkansas and No. 4 Penn State at Purdue — while No. 5 Indiana is off before its showdown with the Buckeyes.

Required reading

(Photo: Justin Casterline / Getty Images)