Coaches Poll top 25: USC, Ole Miss jump back into top 10 in college football rankings

The Trojans and Rebels are on the move in the Coaches Poll after Week 9 action

By David Cobb

Oct 30, 2022 at 12:42 pm ET • 1 min read

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USC and Ole Miss returned to the top 10 of the Coaches Poll on Sunday after road wins over conference foes in Week 9. The Trojans came in at No. 9 after their 45-37 win at Arizona in which quarterback Caleb Williams threw for 411 yards and five touchdowns. Ole Miss landed at No. 10 after rushing for 390 yards in a 31-28 win at Texas A&M.

Room was cleared in the top 10 for USC and Ole Miss because of blowout losses by Oklahoma State and Wake Forest. The Cowboys dropped nine spots to No. 18 following their 48-0 loss at Kansas State, and Wake Forest dropped nine spots to No. 19 following its 48-21 loss at Louisville.

The Trojans were No. 6 before losing a 43-42 heartbreaker at Utah on Oct. 15 that was followed by a bye last week. Fellow Pac-12 contenders Oregon, UCLA and Utah also won in Week 9, with the Bruins making a leap in the polls from No. 15 to No. 11 and Utah jumping from No. 14 to No. 12 Oregon stayed at No. 8 since no one ahead of the Ducks in the poll lost.

The Trojans and Ducks are not scheduled to play in the regular season but could wind up facing each other in the Pac-12 title game. But with four teams in the top 12, the Pac-12 title picture remains a compelling four-team race.

Among the biggest risers in this week's poll were No. 14 Kansas State jumping eight spots and No. 15 North Carolina rising six spots while No. 13 Illinois crept up five spots.

Here's a look at the entire top 25 college football rankings as voted on by the 63 FBS coaches who make up the Coaches Poll. First-place votes are in parenthesis.