AP Top 25 poll preview: Alabama loss will change the top 5 and USF’s loss opens up race for G5 bid

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AP Top 25 poll preview: Alabama loss will change the top 5 and USF’s loss opens up race for G5 bid

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer (10) celebrates a 23-21 win over Alabama in an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

2025-11-15T14:10:05Z

                                       
   
   

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The top five of         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll">The Associated Press poll is in for a change Sunday after staying the same for three weeks.

No. 4 Alabama’s eight-game winning streak ended Saturday with its         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/oklahoma-alabama-score-761bafc72fd0eda51fa7d1df66ac46a7">23-21 loss to No. 11 Oklahoma, and voters undoubtedly will drop the Crimson Tide. More important, Alabama’s margin for error to make the Southeastern Conference championship game and College Football Playoff has narrowed.

No. 3 Texas A&M nearly had the same fate as the Tide. The Aggies had to make their         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/south-carolina-texas-am-score-b77d50b9ceb354fc8ee4dd0c298856a9">biggest comeback in program history to beat South Carolina 31-30 and stay on track to play in the SEC title game.

No. 5 Georgia posted an impressive         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-georgia-score-c0d7a9f525e4e2baef0c22ab1e7fa5f6">35-10 win over No. 10 Texas and should get a one-rung promotion.

The situation in the Group of Five is scrambled again after         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/navy-usf-football-score-609ada9f87f7f609ff50ed8addb93242">No. 25 South Florida lost 41-38 to Navy. The Bulls came into the weekend as the front-runner for the G5’s automatic CFP bid. The Bulls’ loss bolstered the hopes of fellow American Conference teams North Texas and Tulane and No. 24 James Madison of the Sun Belt Conference.

No. 1 Ohio State was in control all the way in a         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/ucla-ohio-state-score-5ae6dc62fa0178e370bd4c6a33625040">48-10 victory over UCLA. No. 2 Indiana, 11-0 for the first time,         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-indiana-score-mendoza-4cd3bd34e04d93dd3978153ca29eb292">defeated Wisconsin 31-7 and should keep its spot behind the Buckeyes in the AP poll and the CFP rankings.

   
       



   

The situation in the         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/acc-college-football-playoff-bids-05c05b1b572c0bf493023771d0b67048">Atlantic Coast Conference remains messy. There are four teams with one loss in ACC play, and two-loss Miami owns the best CFP resume.         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/nc-state-miami-score-273c50538fa9be085cd3545c0489b095">Miami hammered North Carolina State 41-7 at home while         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-tech-boston-college-football-score-718afc3babd8d66ca04fa2669313af4b">Georgia Tech escaped one-win Boston College 36-34 on a field goal in the final seconds.

Saturday’s results will give AP voters good reason to move No. 16 Miami ahead of No. 14 Georgia Tech, just as the CFP committee jumped the Hurricanes over the Yellow Jackets in its rankings earlier this week.

Look for them to move up

   
   

Think you know who belongs in the         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll">Top 25? Now it’s your turn to vote with the         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-fan-poll">AP Top 25 fan poll.

   

   
   
       
           
               
   
   


   
   

       
   

           
       
   
   

— No. 5 Georgia should be No. 4 after its dominant win over Texas.

   
       
   

— No. 7 Oregon had no problem against Minnesota on Friday in a         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-oregon-score-ad166304a26b4f69ec3066f3efc994bd">42-13 win. The Ducks were three poll points behind No. 6 Mississippi last week, slipping a spot despite beating Iowa on the road. It would make just as much sense if voters put Oregon back at No. 6 after the Rebels tussled with three-win Florida deep into the fourth quarter before         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/florida-mississippi-football-score-5025bf5b6d73fced26acb40a11310825">winning 34-24.

—         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-tech-ucf-score-top-25-77c7a98b9714398d3b99d174393a8e10">No. 8 Texas Tech’s 48-9 win over UCF was its third straight impressive victory after its loss to Arizona State.

— No. 9 Notre Dame posted a solid         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/notre-dame-pittsburgh-football-score-8d0fecd34db287bd485ec6583c390869">37-15 win at Pittsburgh in what, on paper, was the Fighting Irish’s last tough game.

— No. 11 Oklahoma’s win over Alabama was a showcase for its defense and a big boost to its playoff resume.

— No. 12 BYU punctuated its 44-13 win over TCU with Tanner Wall’s 68-yard pick-6.

—         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-baylor-score-c5f0723de3691de4bd8970659a3cc7da">No. 15 Utah’s 55-28 victory over Baylor keeps the Utes in the Big 12 race but needing help to get to the conference title game.

— No. 20 Virginia got quarterback Chandler Morris back from a concussion and bounced back from a bad loss to Wake Forest to         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/virginia-duke-score-c9c84dd89e5bfc7185e2f7cb8d44ddda">win 34-17 at Duke.

   
       
   

— No. 24 James Madison, which entered the rankings last week for the first time in two years,         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/appalachian-state-james-madison-score-2d6c93d4a365034fab2c2397fafa4633">routed Appalachian State 58-10.

Look for them to drop

— No. 4 Alabama will fall. The question is how far? The Tide and Oklahoma have two losses, but the Sooners won the head-to-head meeting and deserve to be ahead of ‘Bama.

— No. 10 Texas’ 25-point loss to Georgia put the kibosh on its hopes of going to a third straight CFP.

— No. 14 Georgia Tech must drop. The Yellow Jackets had to come from behind to get past an opponent that has not beaten an FBS team, and in their previous game they lost to an N.C. State team that got clobbered by Miami.

— No. 19 Louisville should drop out after         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/clemson-louisville-score-58a32d89f5ed8369cdb0cf2a2e1a2b83">losing 20-19 to Clemson. It was the Cardinals’ second straight loss at home. They lost to California last week.

— No. 23 Pittsburgh probably will fall out after losing by 22 to the Irish, but the Panthers still have a path to the ACC championship game.

— No. 25 South Florida had been in the driver’s seat for the G5 bid in the CFP after bouncing back from its loss to Memphis with a convincing win over UTSA last week. That bid is wide open now after the Bulls’ loss to Navy.

Wild cards

— No. 6 Ole Miss dominated the stat sheet and Kewan Lacy was spectacular, but it was a three-point game until the final two minutes.

— No. 17 Southern California got all it could handle from Iowa         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/usc-iowa-score-688e03f18e0871eefc5b4d773c5b9624">before winning 26-21.

— No. 18 Michigan had a close call against Northwestern,         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/michigan-northwestern-score-356face7a895ff23f52a5cf4b7dddb62">winning 24-22 on a field goal as time expired. It will be interesting to see how voters view it.

—         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/tennessee-new-mexico-state-score-6a3da67d12cc7287c933e4c401ed0995">No. 21 Tennessee’s workmanlike 42-9 win over New Mexico State probably won’t move the needle.

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                ERIC OLSON
           
       

       
           
                Olson is an Associated Press college football writer based in Omaha, Nebraska. He also covers the Big Ten, the NCAA, the College Football Playoff alongside local teams Nebraska and Creighton.
           
       
       
       
           
               
                   
                       
   
   
       
           
       
   
   
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Source: AP Top 25 poll preview: Alabama loss will change the top 5 and USF’s loss opens up race for G5 bid