While many serious College Football Playoff contenders were off on their bye weeks, former No. 6 Texas took a big fall in the upset of the week. Losing 38-35 in a surprise against Oklahoma State, the Longhorns are back to the Week 1 feeling with the need for some bounceback performances to get to the Big 12 Title conversation. Meanwhile, Clemson, Notre Dame, Georgia and Oklahoma all took care of business to strengthen their rankings in the Associated Press Poll. Two Top 10 teams go down in Texas and Florida with other ranked losses for Washington, Texas A&M, Iowa, South Florida, NC State, Wisconsin and Stanford. In other news, it was a brief stay in the AP Top 25 for Appalachian State. The Mountaineers had five straight wins to their name (and a near upset at Penn State) to crack in at No. 25 last week. That ended with a 34-14 loss to Georgia Southern. The next step? The first series of College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed this week. How closely will the Week 10 AP poll match up? How the AP Poll works: The AP Top 25 Poll is determined by a simple points system based on how each voter ranks college football's best teams. A team receives 25 points for each first place vote, 24 for second place and so on through to the 25th team, which receives one point. The rankings are set by listing the teams' point totals from highest to lowest. The mathematical formula is the same as the one used for the AP Pro 32 rankings and the AP Top 25 rankings for men's and women's basketball.<doc-sep>Let's take a look at the last AP Top 25 poll of October: RANK SCHOOL RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS 1 Alabama (60) 8-0 1,500 1 2 Clemson 8-0 1,433 2 3 Notre Dame 8-0 1,374 3 4 LSU 7-1 1,317 4 5 Michigan 7-1 1,240 5 6 Georgia 7-1 1,202 7 7 Oklahoma 7-1 1,132 8 8 Ohio State 7-1 1,022 11 9 UCF 7-0 1,014 10 10 Washington State 7-1 938 14 11 Kentucky 7-1 905 12 12 West Virginia 6-1 891 13 13 Florida 6-2 734 9 14 Penn State 6-2 733 17 15 Texas 6-2 719 6 16 Utah 6-2 593 23 17 Houston 7-1 403 NR 18 Utah State 7-1 340 NR 19 Iowa 6-2 323 18 20 Fresno State 7-1 261 NR 21 Mississippi State 5-3 204 NR 22 Syracuse 6-2 192 NR 23 Virginia 6-2 175 NR 24 Boston College 6-2 169 NR 25 Texas A&M 5-3 132 16 All things considered it was a fairly tame week, as the top five teams stayed the same. But Georgia notched a huge win over Florida on Saturday and rose one spot to No. 6. While the Bulldogs didn’t make up a ton of ground in the poll, it was still a significant win. No. 4 LSU has to play Alabama next week. Even though the Tigers beat the Bulldogs, Georgia’s win over Florida may mean it would jump a two-loss LSU in the event that it falls to Alabama. That’s not a foregone conclusion, of course. But it’s something to keep in mind. LSU still might stay ahead of Georgia if it loses, but the Florida win gives the Bulldogs a fighting shot. MORE: 5 Week 9 outcomes that could affect the CFP picture Washington State was another team that rose. The Cougars are up to No. 10 after taking care of Stanford. Washington State is likely the Pac-12’s only shot at sending a team to the College Football Playoff. Minshew leads Washington State in last-minute win Gardner Minshew has been a revelation under center. He threw for 438 yards and three touchdowns on Saturday and now has a 26:6 touchdown to interception ratio on the year. While the Cougars have a lot of ground to make up to leap into the top four, they’re a scary group right now. The offense is absolutely lethal, with playmakers everywhere you look. Ohio State rejoined the top 10 after a bye week as a result of a few teams ahead of the Buckeyes losing. One of them was Florida, which dropped four spots to No. 13. That feels a little harsh after losing to Georgia, but not much separates teams eight through 15 or so. Texas, which is the 15th team, had a really tough loss to Oklahoma State. The Longhorns were the Big 12’s most likely Playoff team coming into the week. As it always seems to turn out, that distinction now belongs to Oklahoma. Again, falling nine spots for losing to a good Oklahoma State team may seem excessive, but the competition is real in that part of the poll. Kentucky gets the win on the last play of the game Moving on down the rankings, a bunch of new teams joined the AP Top 25 this week. Seven, to be exact, which is the most in one week since 1989. MORE: College football's top 25 re-ranked by offensive line weight It’s quite impressive that No. 17 Houston and No. 18 Utah State went from unranked to inside the top 20 in a week, but that’s how good both of those schools have been lately. The Cougars put 57(!) points on then-No. 21 South Florida on Saturday, while Utah State put up 61 on New Mexico. It’s safe to say both of those offenses are in midseason form. Fresno State, another Group of Five school, is ranked 20th. It’s the time of year where Power Five teams are beating each other up week after week. Programs like Houston, Utah State and Fresno State deserve to be recognized, and it’s nice to see them get their due. ALSO: How the first College Football Playoff rankings predict the semifinals The top of the poll may not have had as much activity as weeks prior, but next week should be interesting with LSU and Alabama squaring off. The first College Football Playoff rankings reveal also happens on Tuesday. How much will they resemble the AP’s? It will be fascinating to find out.<doc-sep>With November arriving, we’re now hitting the home stretch of the regular season. Across the nation, we’re finally starting to see separation in various conference and their divisions, including the SEC. There, we’ll see the SEC West decided this week when LSU faces Alabama. On the other side, the SEC East will be decided when Kentucky hosts Georgia. Then you’ve got a critical Big 12 showdown between Texas and West Virginia, who are looking to keep pace with Oklahoma atop the league. Then you’ve got Michigan facing Penn State as the Wolverines look to remain atop the Big Ten East and set up a monster clash with Ohio State in late November to decide who goes to the Big Ten Championship. Related Mizzou Miracle But really, the story of the week is the Kentucky Wildcats, who continued their improbable rise to national prominence with a miraculous win over Missouri. That has Kentucky surging into the top 10 of most of the new power rankings, but they just barely missed on getting there in the latest Coaches and AP Poll. College Football Coaches Top 25 Poll Week 10 AP Top 25 Poll Week 10 Alabama Crimson Tide Clemson Tigers Notre Dame Fighting Irish LSU Tigers Michigan Wolverines Georgia Bulldogs Oklahoma Sooners Ohio State Buckeyes UCF Knights Washington State Cougars Kentucky Wildcats West Virginia Mountaineers Florida Gators Penn State Nittany Lions Texas Longhorns Utah Utes Houston Cougars Utah State Aggies Iowa Hawkeyes Fresno State Bulldogs Mississippi St. Bulldogs Syracuse Orange Virginia Cavaliers Boston College Eagles Texas A&M Aggies Over at ESPN, Kentucky finally cracked the top 10, and they’ll host No. 7 Georgia this Saturday at Kroger Field. Just like everybody predicted, the SEC East title will go through Lexington, Kentucky. The Wildcats, despite being anemic offensively, found a way to grind out an improbable comeback win on the road against Missouri and will face Georgia next week at home for the SEC East title. Quarterback Terry Wilson was benched after struggling to throw the football but returned to lead the Wildcats to the victory. This is the first time since 1977 that Kentucky has been assured of a winning record in SEC play. Here’s a look at ESPN’s top 10: Alabama (8-0, 5-0 SEC) Clemson (8-0, 5-0 ACC) Notre Dame (8-0) LSU (7-1, 4-1 SEC) Michigan (7-1, 5-0 Big Ten) Oklahoma (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) Georgia (7-1, 5-1 SEC) Ohio State (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) UCF (7-0, 4-0 American) Kentucky (7-1, 5-1 SEC) The latest rankings from CBS were more of the same, as Kentucky also checked in at No. 10 there: Everything is setting up as well as Kentucky could have hoped. Georgia is coming to town next week, and the SEC East is on the line. Thanks to a walk-off touchdown against Missouri, the Wildcats have a chance to take the lead in the division race when the Bulldogs come to town. Here’s a look at CBS’ new top 10:<doc-sep>
Mark Wallheiser/Associated Press College football's Top Five is still intact. Everything else? A complete mess. Alabama remained the nation's top-ranked team following an off week, with Clemson sticking at No. 2. Notre Dame, LSU and Michigan rounded out the unchanged Top Five. Here's the full Top 25: 1. Alabama 2. Clemson 3. Notre Dame 4. LSU 5. Michigan 6. Georgia 7. Oklahoma 8. Ohio State 9. UCF 10. Washington State 11. Kentucky 12. West Virginia 13. Florida 14. Penn State 15. Texas 16. Utah 17. Houston 18. Utah State 19. Iowa 20. Fresno State 21. Mississippi State 22. Syracuse 23. Virginia 24. Boston College 25. Texas A&M The biggest win of the week was Georgia's 36-17 romp over Florida. The Bulldogs held the Gators to just 105 yards through the air and forced three turnovers in perhaps their finest performance of the season. Georgia routed Florida 42-7 last year. "It feels more special," Jake Fromm told reporters. "This year it was a fight. We were able to enjoy it and respect it a lot more." Video Play Button Videos you might like Penn State also picked up a win over Iowa, and Washington State edged Stanford in ranked action. However, it was upset city across the remainder of the sport. Eight Top 25 teams lost to unranked opponents, marking a single-week record, per Ralph D. Russo of the Associated Press. Texas dropped nine spots in the rankings to No. 15 following a 38-35 loss at Oklahoma State. The final moments were highlighted by an on-field shouting match between Longhorns coach Tom Herman and Cowboys coach Mike Gundy. "I thought Mike had come out and was having a word with one of our players," Herman told reporters after the game. "I took exception to that. When I shook his hand at the end, he said, 'Hey, I was just trying to make sure that we were smart and no fight ensued.' And I believe him. We smiled. "We go way back. I have no issues. He told me what he was trying to do. I saw differently at first, and so I'm certainly gonna go defend my player." Washington also fell, dropping all the way out of the rankings from No. 15 after a 12-10 loss at Cal. The Huskies were one of seven teams to fall out of the Top 25. Oregon, Wisconsin, South Florida, North Carolina State, Stanford and Appalachian State all dropped out of the rankings following losses. Houston was the highest-ranked new entry at No. 17 following its blowout win over South Florida. No. 18 Utah State, No. 20 Fresno State, No. 21 Mississippi State, No. 22 Syracuse, No. 23 Virginia and No. 24 Boston College rounded out the new teams. The changes were the biggest of the Top 25 era.