AP Top 25: Alabama, Ole Miss plunge as SMU enters top 10 for first time since 1985

Alabama dropped out of the top 10 — again — and Indiana fell five spots to No. 10 Sunday in the AP Top 25 college football poll after eight ranked teams lost on Saturday. The Crimson Tide falling helped SMU move into the top 10 for the first time since 1985, pre-NCAA “death penalty,” and that high this late in a season for the first time since 1984.

Oregon is the unanimous No. 1 for a fourth straight week, with Ohio State at No. 2, Texas at No. 3 and Penn State at No. 4 for the third consecutive week.

Notre Dame moved up to No. 5 and Georgia jumped two spots to sixth as losses by Indiana, Alabama and Ole Miss shook up the top 10. The Crimson Tide fell six spots to No. 13 after their third loss of the season, 24-3 at Oklahoma. The Rebels’ third loss — 24-17 at Florida — sent them tumbling six spots to No. 15.

Tennessee is No. 7, Miami No. 8 and SMU up to No. 9 ahead of Indiana. The Hoosiers (10-1) were routed 38-15 at Ohio State and have still not beaten a top-five opponent since 1967. Boise State moved up to No. 11 after edging Wyoming for its best ranking since 2011. Clemson moved back up five spots to No. 12.

Alabama, which spent a week at No. 1 in late September, has lost three regular-season games for the first time since 2010. Its 16-year streak of finishing in the AP top 10 could be in danger.

Others receiving votes: Kansas State 98, Memphis 46, Syracuse 37, Louisville 24, Washington State 10, Duke 6, Louisiana 5, Florida 4, LSU 2, Georgia Tech 2

In and out

Despite all the losses, only one team fell out of the rankings: Washington State dropped what amounted to the Pac-12 championship game against Oregon State and then fell out of the Top 25.

Missouri, which has been yo-yoing in and out of the rankings in the past few weeks, slipped back in at No. 24.

The SEC leads all conferences with eight teams in the Top 25, followed by five from the Big Ten, four from the Big 12, three from the ACC, two from the American, two from the Mountain West and one independent.

Big 12 shuffle

Arizona State’s late-season surge continued with a victory against BYU that pushed the Sun Devils to No. 14 in the poll, their best showing since finishing 12th in 2014.

BYU, which peaked at No. 7 this season, is down to No. 19 after two consecutive losses. Iowa State moved up five places to No. 17. And Colorado fell seven spots to No. 23 after it lost to Kansas on Saturday. The Jayhawks’ wins against Iowa State, BYU and Colorado this month mark the first time they’ve won three in a row against ranked opponents since 1968.

Arizona State, Iowa State, BYU and Colorado enter the final weekend of the regular season tied for first place in the conference, each owning a 6-2 conference record. In a College Football Playoff bracket based on this week’s AP poll, Boise State would get a bye, while Arizona State would be the No. 12 seed. — Ralph Russo, national college football writer

How Matt voted

Eight ranked teams losing felt like an opportune time to hit reset on the ballot and reevaluate some of my decisions.

• With the SEC head-to-head bottleneck of last week broken up, I felt free to move up Georgia and put it on the same tier as Texas — prompting me to rank the Bulldogs ahead of the Longhorns. I acknowledge it looks odd after a forgettable win over UMass, but 1.) There’s no longer a need to keep Georgia behind Alabama or Ole Miss, and 2.) Even with one more loss, Georgia’s resume is clearly better than Texas’. The Bulldogs beat Texas, Clemson and Tennessee by double digits, while Texas’ best win is against … Michigan? Oklahoma? Vanderbilt? This will all be resolved, of course: Georgia will meet the winner of Texas-Texas A&M in the SEC title game in two weeks.

• OK, Notre Dame fans: I’ve held the Irish back because of their loss to Northern Illinois, but there’s no holding the Irish back now. I bumped them up to sixth after their ninth consecutive win, a blowout of the previously unbeaten Army. As other teams survive close calls or flop in upset losses, Notre Dame has strung together dominant performances. That NIU game was a long time ago, and it feels like it.

• The trickiest teams to compare might be 10-1 Indiana, Miami and SMU, none of which have a true statement win. I stuck with the Hoosiers in front at No. 8 on my ballot, as they’ve been the most dominant this season, but their offensive output against Ohio State and in the second half against Michigan is concerning.

• Most of my ballot is fairly close to the poll, with nobody both in the poll and on my ballot separated by more than three spots. The biggest difference is I have Kansas State ranked 21st — ahead of the Colorado team it beat — but UNLV is in the actual rankings in that spot. Still, there’s nothing I have a strong disagreement with this week. — Matt Brown, college sports managing editor and AP Top 25 voter

What to watch in Week 14

Rivalry weekend is here, and for the first time since 2017, Ohio State versus Michigan is not a matchup of two ranked teams. The Buckeyes and Wolverines have played as ranked teams 49 times, topping Oklahoma-Texas (44) for the most of any rivalry. An unranked Michigan team has not beaten Ohio State since a 28-0 shutout of the No. 5 Buckeyes in 1993.

It will also be the first time since Nick Saban’s first season in 2007 that Alabama isn’t ranked in the AP top 10 for the Iron Bowl against Auburn.

There will still be two matchups of ranked teams:

No. 16 South Carolina at No. 12 Clemson: The Palmetto State rivals meet for the first time as ranked teams since 2013, when the No. 10 Gamecocks beat the No. 6 Tigers.

No. 3 Texas at No. 20 Texas A&M: It’s the first meeting between the rivals since 2011 and the first ranked meeting since 2004 — and a spot in the SEC title game against Georgia is on the line. The Aggies are 1-15 against top-five Longhorns teams, winning only in 1975 while ranked No. 2 themselves.

Elsewhere at the top of the poll, No. 1 Oregon hosts Washington, No. 4 Penn State hosts Maryland, No. 5 Notre Dame visits USC and No. 6 Georgia hosts Georgia Tech.

Required reading

• College Football Playoff 2024 projections: Indiana hangs on as Alabama, Ole Miss fall out
• Mandel’s Final Thoughts: Kalen DeBoer’s bad night, Indiana’s silver lining mark wild Week 13
• What we learned about the College Football Playoff: SEC upsets, Big 12 chaos, Indiana’s hopes

(Photo: Ryan M. Kelly / Getty Images))