After some upsets in the AP top 25, there were some major changes at the top with several teams moving up and a few moving down.
Let’s start with the new No. 1 team in the country, which is the Ohio State Buckeyes. No surprise there after the Buckeyes beat the then No. 1-ranked Texas Longhorns, 14-7 in Arch Manning’s 2025 debut as Longhorns quarterback.
Speaking of the Longhorns, they tumbled all the way to No. 7. After their big win over the Clemson Tigers, LSU jumped to No. 3. In the polls, making them the highest-ranked SEC team just ahead of the Georgia Bulldogs, who landed at No. 4.
There were 10 SEC schools in this week’s top 25, including No. 3, LSU, No. 4 Georgia, No. 7 Texas, No. 10 South Carolina, No. 13 Florida, No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 19 Texas A&M, No. 20 Ole Miss, No. 21 Alabama and who had the biggest fall this week, 12 spots, and No. 22 Tennessee.
Auburn, which had a big opening win over Baylor, was also receiving votes. Some thought that because of LSU’s impressive win over Clemson, they would become the No. 1 team in the country.
In fact, ESPN's Heather Denich had LSU as her No. 1 after they soundly defeated Clemson, who now sits at No. 8.
Denich said this yesterday on “Get Up”.
"LSU should be the No. 1 team in the country. They went on the road - Ohio State won at home, albeit against a good team - and they beat a good team soundly. They made them one-dimensional. They exposed that. They limited them to 31 rushing yards, like 1.9 yards per carry," Dinich said.
"But the thing that is different about LSU is the defense. And Brian Kelly stressed this all offseason. They proved it, they backed him up. He said we have a defense capable of competing at the national title level. And the statistics, when you talk about defense, show they still win championships.
"First three years under Brian Kelly, their offense great, their defense...eh, average. Look at the last three national title winners - Georgia, Michigan and Ohio State - top five defenses. Brian Kelly has a complete team, capable of winning a national title,” she added.
Obviously, AP voters didn’t agree with her.