Texas, Oregon and Penn State lead the AP Top 25; Ohio State falls to 4th

Oregon and Penn State each moved up one spot in the Associated Press college football poll on Sunday after thrilling wins in high-profile games, and top-25 freshmen Navy and Army are ranked together for the first time since 1960 .

Texas solidified its position at No. 1 with its 31-point win over Oklahoma. The Longhorns received 56 of 62 first-place votes, four more than last week and the most since they were unanimously No. 1 in October 2008.

This weekend wasn't as crazy as the week before, when four of the top 11 teams were upset and only two teams retained their spots in the ensuing rankings shift.

That's not to say Week 7 was lacking in excitement.

Oregon's 32-31 home win over Ohio State featured seven lead changes and moved the Ducks to No. 2 with the other six first-place votes. It's their highest finish since they finished the 2014 season at No. 2 after finishing in the lost to the Buckeyes in the first College Football Playoff championship game.

Penn State rose to No. 3 with a 33-30 overtime win at USC, the Nittany Lions' highest ranking in seven years.

Penn State-USC was one of four games involving AP Top 25 teams that went to overtime on Saturday, including three in the top 10.

Ohio State fell two spots to No. 4 and Georgia remained at No. 5. Miami, Alabama, LSU, Iowa State and Clemson rounded out the top 10.

Army, which beat UAB 44-10, and Navy, which did nothing, managed to finish in the rankings at the same time for the first time since October 3, 1960.

Their simultaneous appearance this season only lasted a week. Army was 3-0 and ranked 18th before losing two straight games to finish 6-3-1. Navy had entered the rankings a week earlier at No. 17 and finished the season at 9-2 and No. 4.

Army (6-0) and Navy (5-0) have not each been undefeated at this point in a season since 1945, weeks after the end of World War II and during the era when military academies were the sport's powerhouses.

Poll Points: LSU and Ole Miss were the biggest movers after the Tigers' 29-26 overtime win. The Tigers rose from No. 13 to No. 8, their first top-10 appearance since they were ranked No. 5 in the 2023 preseason poll. Mississippi, which lost for the second time in three games, fell from No. 9 to No. 18.

No. 9 Iowa State is 6-0, its highest ranking since September 2021 for the first time since 1938.

Tennessee was ranked in the top 10 in four straight polls before slipping to No. 11 after its 23-17 overtime win over Florida.

The Southeastern Conference holds eight spots in the AP Top 25. The Big Ten still has three teams in the top five – Oregon, Penn State and Ohio State – and six in the top 25.

MOVE IN; ABSTRACT

Army and Navy are the only teams making their season debuts in the poll.

Utah, coming off two straight losses, was eliminated after losing 27-19 to Arizona State.

Oklahoma, ranked No. 18 before its loss to Texas, is out of the AP Top 25 for the first time since the end of the 2022 season.

Conference call

SEC: 8 (No. 1, 5, 7, 8, 11, 14, 18, 19).

Big Ten: 6 (No. 2, 3, 4, 16, 22, 24).

ACC: 4 (No. 6, 10, 20, 21).

Big 12: 3 (No. 9, 13, 17).

American: 2 (No. 23, 25).

Mountain West: 1 (No. 15).

Independent: 1 (No. 12).

RANKING VS. RANKING

No. 5 Georgia at No. 1 Texas: After Georgia-Alabama and Ohio State-Oregon, this is the third top 5 duel in four weeks. The Bulldogs hope things go better than they did against 'Bama. It will be just the fifth meeting between Georgia and Texas since 1949 and the first since the Longhorns' 28-21 victory in the 2019 Sugar Bowl.

No. 7 Alabama at No. 11 Tennessee: Alabama's loss to Vanderbilt and its struggle against South Carolina, as well as Tennessee's loss to Arkansas and overtime loss to Florida, added some shine to this matchup.

No. 24 Michigan at No. 22 Illinois: This is the first time since 2001 that both are ranked in the AP Top 25 in their game. Some fans may be wondering why either team is ranked this time. Michigan, coming off two losses with one game still to come, was terrible on offense. The Illini, coming off just one loss, held off Purdue 50-49 at home in overtime.