AP Top 25 college football new poll: Oregon unanimous No. 1; Shake up below the Ducks

The Associated Press Top 25’s upper echelon was destined to change this week with two top-five teams playing one another.

Outside of No. 4 Ohio State beating No. 3 Penn State, few could have foreseen the carnage that would occur below them. That’s where five ranked teams — No. 10 Texas A&M, co-No. 11s Clemson and Iowa State, No. 17 Kansas State and No. 24 Illinois — all lost to unranked teams.

In addition, No. 20 SMU knocked No. 18 Pittsburgh from the unbeaten ranks with a 48-25 pounding.

So the new AP poll will have a far different look when it is released Sunday around 2 p.m.

Oregon (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) and Georgia (7-1, 5-1 SEC) will certainly continue to occupy the first two positions after their Saturday wins. While Ohio State (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) has a case to jump past Georgia, the Buckeyes look like the No. 3 team after it won at Penn State, 20-13.

Expect Miami (9-0, 5-0 ACC) to move up a spot to No. 4 after it came from behind to beat Duke, 53-31.

Penn State (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) could land at No. 5 but Texas (7-1, 3-1 SEC) also has a strong case to be in the spot. Last week’s teams slotted from 7-9, Tennessee (7-1, 4-1 SEC), Notre Dame (7-1) and BYU (8-0, 5-0 Big 12), should be in similar spots.

The real chaos comes after that.

South Carolina brought Texas A&M (7-2, 5-1 SEC) back to earth, whipping the Aggies, 44-20, to end the seven-game winning streak that had propelled them into the top 10. Clemson saw its six-game winning streak halted when Louisville won 33-21 at Death Valley.

After opening the season with seven consecutive wins, Iowa State (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) lost 23-22 to Texas Tech at home.

None of those upsets will cost those teams their top-25 rankings, but it will cause them to fall and give Indiana (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) a clear path to finally join the top 10. The Hoosiers took care of business by hammering Michigan State 47-10 on Saturday. They could, and maybe should, even jump past one-loss teams Tennessee and Notre Dame.

SMU (8-1, 5-0 ACC) has a case to jump into the top 15 after its impressive win over Pitt (7-1, 3-1 ACC). In their first season in the league, the Mustangs are in position to make it to the ACC championship game and face Miami for a College Football Playoff berth. They’ll certainly pass Clemson in the new rankings.

The only upset that will open a spot in the rankings was Illinois losing 25-17 at home to Minnesota. That’s two losses in a row for the Illini (6-3, 3-3 Big Ten) so voters will certainly drop them from the poll.

Vanderbilt (6-3, 3-2 SEC) received the most votes of any team that didn’t make the top 25 last week, so the Commodores could jump back in the rankings. Voters could also reward Louisville (6-3, 4-2 ACC) or South Carolina (5-3, 3-3 SEC) for their wins. Both received a few votes last week so they are in the panel’s collective consciousness.

This week’s AP Top 25 poll