AP Top 25 Week 10: Ohio State Falls Out, UCLA Into Top 5

Standfirst: The Associated Press released its Week 10 Top 25 poll on Sunday, November 1, 2026, and it brought the biggest shakeup of the season so far. Ohio State fell out of the top 10 for the first time in five years after its 30-18 loss at USC, UCLA climbed into the top five for the first time in 25 years, and New Mexico earned the first ranking in program history.

What we know / What we don’t know

What we know:

• Release date: The AP Top 25 for Week 10 was released on Sunday, November 1, 2026.
• No. 1: Miami (FL) stayed at No. 1 for a third straight week. The Hurricanes are 8-0 after a 38-35 win at North Carolina and received 62 of 70 first-place votes from the media panel.
• No. 2: Georgia moved up one spot to No. 2, with seven first-place votes. Utah got the other first-place vote and sits at No. 3, followed by Notre Dame at No. 4 and UCLA at No. 5.
• Ohio State’s fall: The Buckeyes dropped from No. 2 to No. 11 after losing 30-18 at USC. It is the first time Ohio State has been outside the top 10 since September 26, 2021, ending a run of 86 straight polls in the top 10.
• UCLA’s rise: The Bruins are 8-0 for the first time since 2005 under first-year coach Bob Chesney after a 27-0 shutout of Nevada. At No. 5, UCLA has its highest ranking since it was No. 4 after a 6-0 start in 2001.
• New Mexico’s first ranking: The Lobos, who have played football since 1892, cracked the AP poll for the first time at No. 22 after a 21-16 win at San Jose State. New Mexico is 7-1, its first 7-1 start since 1982.
• USC’s jump: The Trojans went from unranked to No. 18 after beating Ohio State, the biggest win of Lincoln Riley’s five seasons at USC.
• New teams in: USC, New Mexico, Iowa (No. 21), and South Carolina (No. 23) entered the poll. SMU, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, and Wisconsin dropped out.
• Primary source: The Associated Press Top 25 poll, released November 1, 2026, read directly via the AP wire report; Sports Illustrated and FBSchedules published the same full list, and all three agree on every ranking.

What we don’t know:

• The first College Football Playoff rankings of the season are due Tuesday night, and they may look different from the AP poll, since the playoff committee uses its own rankings.
• Whether Ohio State can climb back into playoff position. The Buckeyes are 6-2 and, as Sports Illustrated noted, now have almost no room for another loss.
• Whether UCLA can stay unbeaten. The Bruins’ biggest tests are still ahead.

The full AP Top 25 for Week 10

Here is the complete poll, as released by the Associated Press on November 1, 2026:

1. Miami (FL) — 8-0
2. Georgia — 7-1
3. Utah — 8-0
4. Notre Dame — 7-1
5. UCLA — 8-0
6. Indiana — 8-1
7. BYU
8. Kentucky
9. Alabama
10. Texas
11. Ohio State — 6-2
12. Ole Miss
13. Texas Tech
14. Wake Forest
15. LSU
16. Tennessee
17. Houston
18. USC — 7-2
19. Missouri
20. Boise State
21. Iowa
22. New Mexico — 7-1
23. South Carolina
24. Arizona
25. Florida

Others receiving votes: Northwestern 79, Oregon 55, UTSA 43, SMU 27, Virginia Tech 12, Duke 10, Minnesota 8, Liberty 4, Oklahoma State 3, Louisville 1.

Dropped from the rankings: SMU (No. 19 last week), Northwestern (No. 20), Oklahoma State (No. 24), Wisconsin (No. 25).

Ohio State’s fall: how a top-two team ended up at No. 11

Ohio State’s drop is the story of the poll. The Buckeyes started the season as the preseason No. 1 team, and they were still No. 2 going into Saturday’s game at USC. Then the Trojans beat them 30-18, and the voters dropped Ohio State nine spots, to No. 11.

That loss also continued a strange trend: it is now four weeks in a row that the No. 1 or No. 2 team in the country has lost to an unranked opponent. Ohio State’s last time outside the top 10 came in September 2021, when the Buckeyes slipped to No. 11 after beating Akron by 52 points, then climbed back in the next week and stayed there for 86 straight polls.

The bigger problem for Ohio State is the playoff race. At 6-2, the Buckeyes are now behind nine other teams in the AP poll, and the first College Football Playoff rankings come out Tuesday. Ohio State still has a path, but it is narrow. The Buckeyes cannot afford another slip, and they will likely need help from teams ahead of them losing.

For USC, the win changes the season. The Trojans are 7-2 and back in the poll at No. 18 after starting the week unranked, putting them right back in the playoff conversation.

UCLA: unbeaten, untested at the top, and now No. 5

UCLA’s rise has been quiet, and that is part of what makes it remarkable. The Bruins are 8-0 for the first time since 2005, and they got there under a first-year head coach, Bob Chesney, by beating Nevada 27-0 on Saturday in a non-conference game.

At No. 5, UCLA has its highest ranking since it was No. 4 after a 6-0 start in 2001. The Bruins also climbed to No. 5 in the Coaches Poll, so both major polls now agree on UCLA’s place in the top five.

UCLA’s case is simple: the Bruins have not lost, and they have not been close to losing lately. The shutout of Nevada was their latest dominant win.

New Mexico: 134 years of football, first ranking ever

The best story in the poll belongs to New Mexico. The Lobos have played football since 1892, and they had never been ranked in the AP Top 25 — until Sunday.

New Mexico is 7-1 after a 21-16 win at San Jose State, its first 7-1 start since 1982. The breakthrough comes in Jason Eck’s second season as head coach, and the Lobos are the only team in the Mountain West still unbeaten in conference play. That makes them a serious contender for the Group of Six playoff spot, which goes to the highest-ranked conference champion from outside the power conferences.

New Mexico also entered the Coaches Poll at No. 25, so both polls now include the Lobos.

The rest of the top 10

Miami’s hold on No. 1 looks safe for now. The Hurricanes survived a scare at North Carolina, winning 38-35, and they visit Notre Dame on Saturday in a top-five matchup that will be one of the biggest games of the season so far.

Georgia moved up to No. 2 after beating Florida, and the Bulldogs are now the highest-ranked team in the SEC. In fact, the SEC has 10 teams in this week’s poll: Georgia, Kentucky (No. 8), Alabama (No. 9), Texas (No. 10), Ole Miss (No. 12), LSU (No. 15), Tennessee (No. 16), Missouri (No. 19), South Carolina (No. 23), and Florida (No. 25).

Indiana slipped two spots to No. 6 even though the Hoosiers won, beating Minnesota 23-16 in overtime. BYU, Kentucky, Alabama, and Texas round out the top 10.

How the AP poll compares with the Coaches Poll

The Coaches Poll, released earlier on Sunday, mostly agrees with the AP poll at the top but differs in a few spots:

• Both polls have Miami No. 1 and Georgia No. 2.
• The Coaches Poll has Indiana No. 3 and Utah No. 4, while the AP poll flips them, with Utah No. 3 and Indiana No. 6.
• The Coaches Poll kept Ohio State in the top 10 at No. 10; the AP poll dropped the Buckeyes to No. 11.
• The Coaches Poll has USC at No. 17 and New Mexico at No. 25; the AP poll has USC at No. 18 and New Mexico at No. 22.

What happens next

1. The College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday. The playoff committee releases its first rankings Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Eastern. Those rankings, not the AP poll, decide who makes the 12-team playoff field.

2. Miami at Notre Dame on Saturday. The Hurricanes visit the Fighting Irish in a top-five matchup, one of the biggest games of the season so far.

3. Can the unbeaten teams stay unbeaten? Miami, Utah, and UCLA are all 8-0. November is when unbeaten seasons usually end, and this week’s results showed how fast the poll can change when a top-two team loses.

Sources: The Associated Press Top 25 poll, November 1, 2026 (primary source, AP wire report read directly); Sports Illustrated AP Top 25 rankings, November 1, 2026 (credible secondary, full list matches AP); FBSchedules Week 10 rankings, November 1, 2026 (credible secondary, full list matches AP). Corrections check: no correction, update, or withdrawal of the poll was found at the time of writing; the AP, SI, and FBSchedules lists agree on all 25 teams and all key movements.

Related on DailyTrend USA: Valkyries win first WNBA title in Game 7 thriller • Brewers beat Rays in Game 5, win first World Series • Titans trade Jeffery Simmons to Bears in blockbuster deal