Top Teams Fall as CFP Power Structure Wobbles

Five of the Associated Press Top 25’s seven highest-ranked teams lost on Oct. 17, 2026, marking a collapse the poll, which began in 1936, had never seen in one regular-season day. No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Texas all fell. Eight ranked teams lost overall. College football’s ranking system now faces a weekend that could reshape access to the College Football Playoff.

The top of the poll took a hit. No. 1 and No. 2 both lost on the same regular-season day for the first time since 2012. No. 3 Miami, unbeaten at 6-0, survived Florida State 43-35 in double overtime and could claim the AP poll’s top spot for the first time since 2002. No. 4 Ohio State beat Indiana 19-15, No. 8 BYU beat Notre Dame 28-24, and No. 9 Mississippi routed No. 13 Missouri 31-3.

The rankings take the hit

Georgia fell at home to unranked Auburn, 27-24, on Alex McPherson’s 34-yard field goal. The score stood tied at 24 with 58 seconds left when Auburn drove 40 yards, helped in part by a Georgia penalty, and McPherson made the winning kick. Auburn’s Gunner Stockton threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. According to Fox, Georgia had won 53 straight games against unranked opponents.

The defeat also marked the first time since 1990 that a No. 1 team lost to an unranked opponent in consecutive weeks. Texas had lost to Oklahoma the previous week. The AP report said Georgia, Notre Dame and Indiana could drop in the rankings after close losses; Alabama and Texas now each had two losses. Tennessee, 6-1, could rise after beating Alabama 26-10.

Auburn won on the road against the top-ranked team while unranked. Fox reported that the program hadn’t scored such a win since 2007. Tennessee’s DeSean Bishop rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns against Alabama, while Tennessee quarterback George MacIntyre threw for 197 yards and one interception in his second start. Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell threw two interceptions.

Officials, clocks and the playoff gate

BYU’s 28-24 win over Notre Dame ended on a disputed play. With one second remaining, Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr’s end-zone pass was deflected and fell incomplete. The Athletic said BYU should have drawn a pass-interference flag. The Big 12 later said one more second should have remained on the clock, a mistake that, Fox reported, would have given Notre Dame one final play from the BYU 8-yard line.

The conference said: “Following the Big 12's review of the final play of Saturday's Notre Dame-BYU game, it was determined that time remained on the clock when the ball hit the ground and the play was incorrectly cleared by the replay officiating crew. The Conference will conduct a complete review of its end-of-game officiating process in advance of next week's games.” Thousands of fans rushed the field after the game.

The weekend’s results also sharpened the argument over which teams will get playoff places. The Athletic reported that the SEC had no unbeaten teams in conference play and that 11 SEC teams had one or two losses. It noted that no 9-3 team had ever reached the 12-team College Football Playoff as an at-large selection, making every loss part of a fight over access decided by rankings and playoff selection.

Fox reported that a 24-team College Football Playoff expansion was planned for the following season, with the decision agreed to before the weekend. The expansion raises questions about whether a larger playoff could change the meaning of the regular season. Teams had spent more than $35 million to assemble rosters, Fox reported, while discussing parity in the NIL-revenue-sharing era.

A crowded field, still controlled from above

The SEC’s results included Kentucky’s 21-13 win at Oklahoma, Tennessee’s win over Alabama, Auburn’s win over Georgia and Florida’s 27-24 win at Texas. Kentucky coach Will Stein chose to go for it on fourth-and-3 from the 5-yard line while leading Oklahoma 14-13 late; Kentucky didn’t convert, but won after a pick-six. The Athletic ranked Kentucky first among SEC teams on its list of “vibes,” which reflected momentum, performance against expectations and general impressions, not a pure measure of team quality or playoff chances.

Miami needed two overtimes to beat Florida State. A holding penalty erased a Florida State Hail Mary touchdown in the second overtime, which would have set up an attempt to tie the game with a conversion. Miami nearly gave up another Hail Mary on fourth-and-31, too.

The scoreboard offered no settled order. No. 10 Texas Tech beat Arizona State 53-25, No. 11 Utah held off Colorado 27-24, and Ohio State ended Indiana’s 22-game winning streak. Texas lost its second straight game, with Florida’s backup quarterback making his first career start. Decisions on the field, in officiating rooms and through playoff rankings will determine who advances—and who gets left outside.