Coaches Poll top 25: Texas moves past Alabama, Oregon returns to top 10 in college football rankings

North Carolina and USC took big hits in the rankings following Saturday night losses

By Chip Patterson

Oct 22, 2023 at 12:51 pm ET • 1 min read

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After a survival Saturday in college football that saw several top teams barely avoid an upset, the new rankings reflect big drops for those teams that did lose along with some other minor shuffling. The new Coaches Poll top 25 rankings, for example, features no changes in the top five and only one team (Iowa) dropping out of the rankings but 19 of the 20 teams from No. 6 to No. 25 are in new positions following Week 8 action.

Georgia remained at No. 1 while off this week, gathering 58 first-place votes while Michigan and Ohio State both remained in their positions at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. However, both gained some ground on the Bulldogs, earning more voting points than last week. The Buckeyes had the more daunting challenge against a previously undefeated Penn State squad. The coaches acknowledged the Nittany Lions strength with only a slight adjustment, dropping James Franklin's group from No. 6 to No. 10 after the 20-12 loss in Columbus.

While top-15 teams like Washington, Oklahoma, Texas and Ole Miss were able to escape with one-score wins against unranked opponents, North Carolina was not so lucky in a 31-27 defeat to Virginia. The Tar Heels were favored by more than 24 points in the game. Voters reacted harshly with a drop from No. 10 to No. 17. USC also saw a major drop after getting knocked off at home by Utah. Though the Utes were ranked and moved up in the poll (from No. 14 to No. 13) the Trojans slid from No. 16 to No. 22 after finding themselves on the losing end of a ranked-on-ranked matchup for the second-straight week.

Other notable changes in the Coaches Poll include four-spot jumps for Notre Dame, LSU and Missouri thanks to shake ups in the rankings. Those changes include a five-spot drop for Tennessee (to No. 20) and four-spot drop for Duke (to No. 21) after conference losses to higher-ranked teams.

Here's a full look at the Coaches Poll top 25 after Week 8. First-place votes are listed in parentheses.