AP Top 25: Oregon, Georgia, Ohio State and Miami top poll ahead of first playoff rankings

In the final AP Top 25 before the College Football Playoff selection committee's decision, Oregon became the first team to be a unanimous No. 1 seed in the last three regular seasons, and No. 8 Indiana and No. 13 SMU both rose in the on Sunday Ranking on .

The Ducks received 62 first-place votes, winning the last remaining holdout after receiving 61 votes last week, with Georgia receiving one. The Bulldogs were the last team to be unanimously ranked No. 1 during the regular season and held the top spot for eight straight weeks in 2021.

During the CFP era, the national champion was usually unanimously ranked No. 1 in the final poll.

Georgia remained No. 2 with a win against Florida, seven points ahead of Ohio State, after the Buckeyes beat Penn State 20-13 on Saturday in Happy Valley. No. 4 Miami and No. 5 Texas each moved up one spot. Penn State fell three spots to No. 6 after losing for the first time this season, and Tennessee remained at No. 7.

Indiana moved five spots into the top 10 for the first time this season. The Hoosiers are 9-0 for the first time in program history. Indiana last cracked the top 10, ranking seventh for four weeks in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Before that, the Hoosiers' last top-10 appearance was in 1969.

Others receiving votes: Missouri 81, South Carolina 58, Tulane 41, UNLV 9, Louisiana 9, Washington 4, Arizona State 3, Iowa 2, Texas Tech 2

SMU was the biggest mover, climbing seven spots from No. 20 to a season-high No. 13 after defeating previously unbeaten Pitt. The Mustangs have their highest ranking since the NCAA death penalty in 1987. SMU was No. 3 in the nation in 1985 before finishing unranked. During their time in the American Athletic Conference, the Mustangs have had four seasons in which they were ranked at some point, with a peak of No. 15 in 2019.

BYU is No. 9 and Notre Dame rounds out the top 10. After both Iowa State and Kansas State lost to unranked opponents on Saturday, BYU is the only Big 12 team in the Top 16. The Cyclones are 17th, Colorado is 21st and Kansas State is No. 22.

Undefeated Army has moved up to No. 18, its highest ranking since reaching the top 10 in 1962.

How does the survey compare to the CFP rankings?

The first CFP rankings in the expanded 12-team playoffs will be released Tuesday night. In the ten years of the four-team format, the selection committee's initial rankings and the previous AP poll featured the same No. 1 team five times.

Only on three occasions, including last year, were the same four teams ranked in the top four in both the AP poll and the inaugural CFP Top 25 – but never in the same order.

Small differences seem huge when the cutoff is in the first four. In general, the two rankings are not drastically different. This season numbers 10-14 will be the hotspot.

The AP's 10-14 was shaken up by three upsets this week. Texas A&M, Clemson and Iowa State all lost to unranked teams on Saturday. This paved the way for No. 11 Alabama and No. 14 LSU to advance ahead of their matchup in Baton Rouge, La., next Saturday night.

Boise State has risen three spots to No. 12, its highest AP ranking since 2011. The committee has been less optimistic about Group 5 teams in the past, but where they end up in the rankings has a lot at stake.

The 12-team CFP format reserves spots for the top five ranked conference champions and guarantees a spot for at least one team from outside the Power 5 conferences. Those teams are also eligible for at-large bids, but in the four-team system with no automatic entry for conference champions, only once has a non-Power 5 team made the field: Cincinnati dropped out of the AAC in 2021. – Ralph Russo, national college football writer

In and out

Illinois (6-3) ended a seven-week run in the rankings and was eliminated after a loss to Minnesota on Saturday.

No. 25 Louisville (6-3) jumped back into the top 25 after being ranked for five weeks earlier this season. The Cardinals defeated Clemson for the first time in program history on Saturday night in Death Valley.

No. 24 Vanderbilt (6-3) is back in the poll after the Commodores broke an 11-year losing streak earlier this season. Vandy won at Auburn on Saturday, giving the school its first wins over both Alabama SEC teams since 1955.

Missouri, barely able to maintain its ranking at No. 25, was eliminated during a non-stop week. – Russo

How I voted this week

• Indiana was the most underrated team in the poll for a while, but voters have finally come around to giving respect to the season's biggest surprise team. No, the Hoosiers haven't played a tremendous schedule, but they dominate their opponents week in and week out. They rank second in yards per play differential and first in point differential. In other words, they do what a good team should do. I have Indiana all the way up on my ballot at No. 5, and it ended up moving up five spots in the poll to No. 8 after getting to 9-0 for the first time with its 47-10 win over Michigan State.

• After the win at Penn State, Ohio State could jump ahead of Georgia to No. 2, especially considering the Bulldogs struggled to pull away from Florida for most of Saturday. On the other hand, Ohio State had the same problem last week against Nebraska. Ultimately, they feel similar, both are among the most talented teams in the country and capable of winning the national championship, but neither consistently reaches their full potential. I kept Georgia at No. 2 but moved the Buckeyes up two spots after having them at No. 5 in the poll last week. It's close. Georgia can strengthen its position with a win against Ole Miss next week.

• I have Louisville ranked 23rd, one spot ahead of Clemson. Clemson had had the benefit of the doubt with its only loss coming against Georgia, but the team lost that game and enjoyed a weak ACC team. Although Louisville suffered another loss, the three losses were by seven points each to ranked teams (Notre Dame, Miami and SMU), and now it is coming off a dominant road win over the Tigers – its biggest road win against a ranked team since Clemson in 2000 didn't deserve to be ranked ahead of the Cardinals, who were ranked No. 25 in the poll.

• I also do better at SMU than most other voters. I put the Mustangs at No. 10 as my pick after their biggest win against a ranked team since 1985. Not only did they overtake Pitt, which is still in the rankings, but their win over Louisville got a boost from the Cardinals' big night at Clemson. Additionally, SMU only has three losses to undefeated BYU. – Matt Brown, senior college sports editor and AP Top 25 voter

What's next in week 11?

No. 1 Oregon will be heavily favored to host Maryland next Saturday, as will No. 3 Ohio State against Purdue. In the rest of the top five, No. 4 Miami hosts Georgia Tech and No. 5 Texas hosts Florida, which may be due to its third-string quarterback. There are two ranking battles this week, both in the SEC:

No. 11 Alabama at No. 14 LSU. The Tigers and Tide will meet for the 32nd time as ranked teams, including 17 of the last 19 meetings.

No. 2 Georgia at No. 16 Ole Miss. This will be the third straight meeting since 2016 where both the Bulldogs and Rebels will be ranked.

Required reading

(Photo by Traeshon Holden: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)