Alabama remains No. 4 in AP Top 25; one of nine SEC teams in this week’s poll

No. 4 Alabama and the other top six teams in this week’s AP Top 25 College Football Poll are unchanged in their rankings.

Alabama rallied from behind to beat unranked South Carolina 29-22 yesterday. The win gave the Crimson Tide its fifth straight SEC victory and a 7-1 record overall.

As for other SEC teams, Vanderbilt earned its highest ranking in 88 years as it climbed to No. 9, while LSU dropped out following its third loss in four games.

Vanderbilt’s 17-10 win over then-No. 15 Missouri gave the Commodores a 7-1 start for the first time since 1941 and, at No. 9, its highest ranking since it was No. 7 for one week in 1937. Vandy has a program-record three regular-season wins over Top 25 opponents.

LSU was ranked as high as No. 3 for three weeks in September and in the top 10 for the first five polls. Road losses to Mississippi and Vanderbilt and this weekened’s 24-point home loss against Texas A&M put the Tigers on the outside looking in.

It’s the second straight year the LSU Tigers have taken a fast fall. They were No. 8 a year ago and dropped out after three straight losses.

The top six was unchanged, with Ohio State holding the No. 1 spot for a ninth straight week followed by Indiana, Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia and Oregon.

The idle Buckeyes received 53 first-place votes and the Hoosiers got 11, six more than last week. Texas A&M was No. 1 on one ballot.

No. 7 Ole Miss and No. 8 Georgia Tech swapped spots, as did No. 9 Vanderbilt and Miami, which is tied at No. 10 with BYU.

In and out

— No. 22 Houston, at 7-1, has its best start since 2021, two years before it joined the Big 12. None of the Cougars’ four remaining regular-season games are against ranked opponents.

— No. 23 Southern California, which was idle following its 34-24 loss at Notre Dame, faces a challenging game at Nebraska.

— No. 24 Utah hammered Colorado 53-7 with Byrd Ficklin starting in place of injured quarterback Devon Dampier and leading an offense that rushed for 422 of its 587 total yards.

— No. 25 Memphis rebounded from its loss to UAB with a 34-31 win over South Florida to pull into a four-way tie for third place in the American behind Navy and Tulane.

— South Florida (18), LSU (20), Illinois (23) and Arizona State (24) dropped out.

AP Top 25 College Football Poll (first-place votes in parentheses; SEC teams in bold):

1. 1. Ohio State (54)
   2. Indiana (11)
   3. Texas A&M (1)
   4. Alabama
   5. Georgia
   6. Oregon
   7. Ole Miss
   8. Georgia Tech
   9. Vanderbilt
   10. Miami
   11. BYU
   12. Notre Dame
   13. Texas Tech
   14. Tennessee
   15. Virginia
   16. Louisville
   17. Cincinnati
   18. Oklahoma
   19. Missouri
   20. Texas
   21. Michigan
   22. Houston
   23. USC
   24. Utah
   25. Memphis

Others receiving votes: Navy 86, Tulane 59, Washington 46, Iowa 27, South Florida 22, San Diego St. 14, LSU 11, James Madison 9, North Texas 4, Illinois 3, Pittsburgh 1.

Ranked vs. ranked games coming up this weekend:

— No. 9 Vanderbilt (7-1, 3-1 SEC) at No. 20 Texas (6-2, 3-1): Status of Texas QB Arch Manning uncertain after he banged his head on the turf on the first play of overtime in the win over Mississippi State.

— No. 17 Cincinnati (7-1, 5-0 Big 12) at No. 24 Utah (6-2, 3-2): Bearcats are on a seven-game win streak. Utes in a must-win situation the rest of season to stay in Big 12 race.

— No. 18 Oklahoma (6-2, 2-2 SEC) at No. 14 Tennessee (6-2, 3-2): Sooners’ best-in-the-SEC defense gave up a bevy of big plays to Mississippi and now face one of the most explosive offenses in the country.

(Copyright 2025 The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)