Week 4 of college football was one of the first schedules to see conference play across the country. The arrival of this time in the season presents the first real challenge for AP Top 25 voters. The first few weeks of the season have only a handful of ranked matchups that lead to tough decisions from top to bottom of the poll. But now in conference play, voters must consider team strength beyond losses.
Michigan was heavily devalued following a loss to Texas in Week 2 and failed to perform competitively in what was widely viewed as a College Football Playoff showdown, dropping them outside the top 15. But after a quarterback change and a stunning win over USC in Week 4, Michigan proved it may have been too early to sell their stock, as their high-octane football is still good enough to compete with some of the Big Ten’s top teams.
Voters will also begin to consider the extent to which preseason biases can hold up in rankings for teams that have yet to face a tough test and record the number of wins they’ve earned in the rankings. Tennessee beat North Carolina State when the Wolfpack was ranked, but Saturday’s road win against Oklahoma will carry a bit more weight, as Tennessee has continued to climb the rankings throughout the season and could ride that momentum into the top five.
After the losses, it’s also going to be hard to determine where USC and Oklahoma rank in the Top 25. Both teams performed well enough to remain in the rankings despite the losses, but now they’ll be compared to teams that haven’t lost yet. Different voters have different ways of distinguishing the finer details and analyzing team performance, potential and history. And with each conference game added to the profile each week, it’ll become a little clearer how these teams compare to each other.
Here’s what the new AP Top 25 poll looks like after Week 4.
1. Texas (Last week — 1): Texas had a dominant performance despite being without their starting quarterback and there will be no changes at the top of the list, but unlike other teams that used backup quarterbacks in Week 4, Texas’ QB2 is Arch Manning.
2. Georgia (2): The Bulldogs were off in Week 4 but are back in action next week at Alabama.
3. Ohio State (3): Though it started out a little slow and was surprisingly behind early on, Ohio State bounced back quickly to post a dominant 49-14 home win over Marshall.
4. Alabama (4): The Crimson Tide were off in Week 4 but are back in action next week against Georgia.
5. Tennessee (6): The Volunteers join the top five after a strong road win over Oklahoma in primetime SEC action. Tennessee’s defense came out strong again, proving this team is a more complete team each week.
6. Ole Miss (5): The Rebels beat Tennessee by a wide margin in the polling points last week, but the Rebels’ best win remains their road win at Wake Forest. The blowout was impressive and Ole Miss looks good, but AP voters will place more weight on resume and profile as the season progresses.
7. Miami (8): What Miami has yet to show in recent years, or at least not consistently, is the ability to step on the gas and overwhelm opponents. USF did their best to be competitive early on, but unlike other top-10 teams, the Hurricanes were able to dominate in the second half and eliminate any chance of an upset.
No. 8 Missouri (No. 7): Missouri could be in the running after its overtime loss to Vanderbilt. The difference between No. 6 and No. 9 in last week’s poll was slim, so if the result is closer than expected, the Tigers could lose.
9. Oregon (9): The Ducks were off in Week 4 but are back in action next week at UCLA.
10. Penn State (10): Not much has changed for the Nittany Lions, who, as expected, swept Kent State.
No. 11. Michigan (18): Voting for Michigan is expected to be torn apart after Saturday’s win over USC. The Wolverines rose as high as 13th last week after going 2-1 against Fresno State, but were removed from the ballot entirely by five voters and dropped to 20th or lower by 19 voters. After handing the Trojans their first loss of the season, those low ratings are likely to be reversed, and voters who had Michigan highly rated before the game will likely bump the Wolverines into the top 10.
12. Utah (12): No Cam Rising? Not a problem for Utah, who improved to 4-0 on the season and 2-0 in the Big 12 Conference after a hard-fought win over Oklahoma State. Utah’s defense played its best in containing Ollie Gordon II and stifling the Cowboys’ offense, but a late comeback made the 22-19 result look closer than most of the afternoon.
No. 13 USC (11): A head-to-head win against LSU has placed USC in comparison to the other one-loss teams in the rankings, establishing a comfortable and predictable landing spot. While a loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor is no disgrace, it is certainly disappointing considering USC was on the brink of a thrilling, second-half comeback win against the reigning champions.
14. LSU (16): After a shaky start, LSU took control late to beat UCLA 34-17, but voters probably won’t judge them too harshly.
15. Notre Dame (17): The strength of this Notre Dame team remains its defense, and it was that very defense that remained steady during the 28-3 win over Miami (Ohio).
16. Louisville (19): The Cardinals are heavily favored by voters despite not appearing very prominently in the rankings, so we expect their 31-19 home win over Georgia Tech on Saturday to be more of a confirmation than a reason for a big jump in the rankings.
17. Iowa State (20): Returning to action for the first time since their emotional comeback win at Iowa, the Cyclones recorded a 52-7 victory over Arkansas State.
18. Clemson (21): The Tigers got off to a fast start, scoring touchdowns on six of their first seven attempts and taking a 59-14 lead into the fourth quarter against NC State. It was a great result for Clemson, which looks poised to return to the top of the ACC, but it’s not one that will cause any major changes to the Associated Press rankings.
19. Illinois (24): There were 28 voters who did not have Illinois on their ballot last week. That likely won’t be the case anymore after the Fighting Illini improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2011 with a 31-24 overtime win over Nebraska.
20. Oklahoma (15): Voters will likely be more enthusiastic about Tennessee’s ranking, but Saturday night’s game suggests the Sooners aren’t quite ready to be a top-15 contender just yet.
21. Indiana (NR): History will mark the fact that Indiana is 4-0 for the first time since 2020, but this time feels much different. Maybe it’s because of the pandemic-shortened and delayed start to the season, or maybe it’s because the Hoosiers have outscored their opponents by a combined 202-37. Saturday’s 52-14 win over Charlotte was a repeat of the same relentlessness Indiana has shown all season, and those eye-popping scores are catching more and more voters’ attention each week.
22. BYU (NR): They swept Kansas State to improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2012. The win over the Wildcats adds to a run that already includes an away win at SMU.
23. Oklahoma State (14): If rankings were based on performance alone, there’s no reason to rank Oklahoma State. The Cowboys’ best win was against Arkansas, and they looked overpowered enough by a Utah team playing its second quarterback. But with a lot of preseason bias from voters still in play, no bad losses and not many obvious replacement options, the Pockets will still be ranked heading into next week’s game against Kansas State, which could be the deciding factor in whether they stay in the running for the Big 12 title.
24. Kansas State (13): The Wildcats are at a disadvantage on the road after a big win and will need to bounce back if they want to stay atop the Big 12 title race. It was a sloppy performance punctuated by mental errors that seem fixable, but it’s still a performance that will drop them significantly in the rankings.
No. 25 Texas A&M (25): A close game late against Bowling Green will likely cause Texas A&M to fall out of the Top 25. The gap between the No. 25 Aggies and unranked teams was small last week, but a good number of those teams also lost, so poll inertia could see Texas A&M move above the cut line.
Expected to drop out are No. 22 Nebraska and No. 23 Northern Illinois.
