Miami is No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2002; BYU climbs to No. 2

As of 2:10 p.m. ET, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026

Miami is No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll for the first time since 2002, and BYU is No. 2, its highest ranking since its 1984 national championship season, the AP reported Sunday. The AP released the poll shortly after 2 p.m. ET.

The Hurricanes got 40 of the 70 first-place votes from the AP's media panel and finished 22 points ahead of BYU, 1,697 to 1,675. The Cougars received 20 first-place votes and were 26 points ahead of No. 3 Ohio State, which got nine. Texas Tech received the other first-place vote.

A week of upsets

Five of the top seven teams lost this weekend, a first in the poll's 90-year history, the AP said. Georgia, No. 1 for only a week, lost at home to unranked Auburn, the second time in two weeks a No. 1 team lost to an unranked opponent.

Miami jumped two spots after beating Florida State in double overtime to stay unbeaten. BYU beat Notre Dame 28-24 at home as a 10.5-point underdog to improve to 6-0.

Every spot in the Top 25 has a different team than last week, though only two teams fell out of the rankings, according to the AP. Notre Dame, Georgia and Indiana stayed in the top six after their first losses of the season.

Alabama fell seven spots to No. 13 after losing at Tennessee, and Texas dropped 12 places to No. 19 after a home loss to Florida.

Miami is the first team from the Atlantic Coast Conference to be ranked No. 1 since Clemson in 2020, the AP said.

The new AP Top 25

Points are shown in parentheses, with first-place votes where a team received any.

1. Miami (1,697; 40 first-place votes)
2. BYU (1,675; 20 first-place votes)
3. Ohio State (1,649; 9 first-place votes)
4. Notre Dame (1,395)
5. Georgia (1,382)
6. Indiana (1,370)
7. Mississippi (Ole Miss) (1,360)
8. Texas Tech (1,336; 1 first-place vote)
9. UCLA (1,159)
10. Utah (1,153)
11. Tennessee (1,151)
12. Kentucky (932)
13. Alabama (870)
14. Houston (785)
15. Iowa (747)
16. USC (592)
17. Wake Forest (574)
18. LSU (529)
19. Texas (440)
20. Florida (355)
21. Boise State (295)
22. Missouri (290)
23. SMU (265)
24. Northwestern (254)
25. Arizona (136)

Florida returned to the poll and Arizona made its season debut. Oklahoma State and Mississippi State dropped out.

Next up

Miami hosts unranked Pittsburgh on Saturday. The week's matchups between ranked teams are No. 7 Mississippi at No. 19 Texas and No. 14 Houston at No. 10 Utah.

Why it matters

The No. 1 ranking has now changed hands in back-to-back weeks, with Texas and then Georgia losing to unranked teams, and Miami's place at the top is not secure: it is only 22 points ahead of BYU.