Miami is No. 1 after college football’s wildest AP poll shake-up originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
College football’s latest AP Top 25 did not just shuffle a few teams. It reset the top of the rankings.
Miami moved to No. 1 for the first time since 2002 after a weekend in which five of the previous top seven teams lost. BYU climbed to No. 2, its highest ranking since the 1984 national championship season, while Ohio State moved to No. 3.
The losses created a rare opening. Georgia, Notre Dame, Indiana, Alabama and Texas all fell, but the poll did not simply push every loser out of the top 10. Notre Dame, Georgia and Indiana remained among the top six, reflecting the strength of their records before Saturday and the quality of some of their opponents.
Miami gets the opportunity and the pressure
Taking over the top spot is a major achievement for Miami, but it also changes the conversation around the Hurricanes. They are no longer chasing the teams ahead of them. They are the team every contender will measure itself against.
Not a single team stayed put in this week’s AP Top 25. Miami is No. 1 for the first time since 2002 and BYU climbs to No. 2 after a historic weekend of upsets. See where your team landed: https://t.co/7dTTUiSC1j https://t.co/kIqcyb3Ewk
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) October 18, 2026
The poll’s movement reflects more than one upset. Five of the top seven losing on the same regular-season Saturday had never happened in the AP poll’s history, which dates to 1936, according to the Associated Press. That left voters facing an unusually difficult set of choices.
BYU’s rise is another major storyline. A No. 2 ranking gives the Cougars their strongest national standing in decades and puts the Big 12 firmly in the playoff discussion.
MORE: Indiana, Ohio State make college football history in massive Big Ten showdown
The rankings are a snapshot, not a finish line
A top ranking in October does not secure a playoff spot. Miami still has to handle the pressure that comes with being No. 1, while the teams that fell have time to recover.
The new poll also demonstrates how quickly the season can turn. One Saturday removed five of the top seven teams from the unbeaten-or-favored conversation and opened the door for programs that began the week lower in the rankings.
For fans, the result is a more crowded race. Miami has the top line, BYU has a historic opportunity and several preseason contenders now need to prove that one loss will not define their seasons.