Another week in the 2026 season has brought about another round of upsets, and after multiple losses to top-10 teams, there are set to be some more changes to the new college football rankings. No. 2 BYU and No. 8 Texas Tech each took their first loss of the season to unranked opponents, while No. 7 Ole Miss lost at No. 19 Texas, and we still await the conclusion of No. 8 Utah hosting No. 14 Houston at the time of publication. If you combine those results with No. 15 Iowa and No. 16 USC both taking their second losses of the season, both to unranked teams, we have a week where the very top of the rankings might be easier to figure out than most of the spots outside the top 10.
No. 1 Miami made things easy by putting a 50-burger on the board against Pitt, and more than half of the top five were off in Week 8 to provide very little room for upward momentum. But some of the changes further down in the rankings, including the result of Texas' win against Ole Miss, present the voters with unique challenges. How should voters react, for example, to the fact that Texas has a trio of great wins but also two stunning losses?
The Longhorns were projected to be one of the best teams in the country, and they have provided results that make them merely one of the "very good" teams as October comes to a close. The good news for Texas, from a rankings perspective, is that "very good" seems to be good enough to sneak back into the top 10, which is an ideal spot for a College Football Playoff hopeful. Another thing to watch is a much more dispersed set of ballots.
Last week the voters were extremely dialed in on the top 25. Most voters saw eye-to-eye on the top 24 teams in the country, and then everyone seemed to have their own unique flavor for No. 25. Last week only 32 teams received votes in the balloting, and this week it would not be a surprise at all to see as many as 40 teams getting a look for those last two or three spots on the ballot after multiple ranked losses outside the top 10.
Here's how we think the new AP Top 25 will look on Sunday after Week 8. 1. Miami (Last week -- 1): The Hurricanes played their first game as the No. 1 team in the country since 2002 and quickly made it clear there would not be a third straight week of change at the top of the poll. Miami raced out to a 17-0 lead and went to the locker room up 31-7, tacking on a couple extra scores after halftime to cruise to a 52-23 win.
A win as AP No. 1 is yet another marker of success for Mario Cristobal, who got to honor the 2001 title team with some throwback uniforms and a final score fitting of their title standard. 2. Ohio State (3): The Buckeyes were off in Week 8 and will be back in action next week at USC. 3. Notre Dame (4): The Fighting Irish were off in Week 8 and will be back in action next week against Navy at home. 4.
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