Kentucky bumps up to No. 8 in AP football poll during bye week

Ohio State dropped out of the top 10 of The Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday for the first time in five years, UCLA entered the top five for the first time in 25 years and Kentucky edged up to No. 8 during a bye week.

The Buckeyes plummeted from No. 2 to No. 11 following their 30-18 loss at Southern California, making it four weeks in a row the No. 1 or 2 team has lost to an unranked opponent.

Miami was No. 1 for the third straight week after escaping North Carolina with a 38-35 victory. Georgia moved up a spot to No. 2 and was followed by Utah, Notre Dame and UCLA.

The Hurricanes, who visit Notre Dame on Saturday for their much-anticipated top-five matchup, received 62 of 70 first-place votes from the media voting panel. Georgia got seven first-place votes and Utah got one.

Indiana slipped two rungs to No. 6 after a 23-16 overtime win over Minnesota. BYU, Kentucky, Alabama and Texas rounded out the top 10.

In a key SEC matchup this weekend, No. 8 Kentucky is at No. 16 Tennessee. The Volunteers have won five in a row against Kentucky, which has won six in a row this fall and is tied with Georgia for the SEC lead.

New Mexico, which has been playing football since 1892, cracked the AP rankings for the first time at No. 22 following a 21-16 win at San Jose State. 

No. 21 Iowa continued its recent domination of Wisconsin with a 30-0 victory and is back in the poll after a one-week absence.

No. 23 South Carolina’s season and Shane Beamer’s tenure with the Gamecocks were all but written off a month ago, but now they’ve won three straight and are ranked for the first time since September 2025.

SEC (10 ranked teams): No. 2 Georgia, No. 8 Kentucky, No. 9 Alabama, No. 10 Texas, No. 12 Mississippi, No. 15 LSU, No. 16 Tennessee, No. 19 Missouri, No. 23 South Carolina, No. 25 Florida.

See the Top 25 list here .


(AP Photo Chris Seward)