College football rankings: Top 25 teams moving up, down after Rivalry Week

These college football teams are moving up, and sliding down, the top 25 rankings as we put a bow on the 2024 regular season and move into Championship Weekend.

What college football teams are on the move in the new Top 25 rankings as we come out of an intense Rivalry Week, and move into Championship Weekend as playoff selection nears. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It was another Chaos Saturday across college football in an intense Rivalry Week, with some prove-it matchups across the top 25 that will force some big decisions from AP voters when they cast their ballots for the new rankings heading into Championship Weekend.

What regular season finale it was, with stunning results in Columbus and College Station, and in Syracuse, that will have a direct impact on the new rankings and the forthcoming playoff bracket projection as we move into our first postseason action this week.

What teams will be on the move in the AP top 25 college football rankings this week? 

Let’s take a shot at predicting who’s moving up, and who’s going down, in the polls heading into Championship Weekend.

Rankings reflect AP top 25 poll

Moving up: Texas

Last week’s ranking: No. 3

It was arguably the most highly-anticipated rivalry game of the 21st century, and certainly of the last decade or so, as Texas and Texas A&M renewed their series for the first time since 2011.

But by the end of the night, the Longhorns pounded A&M’s stout front line for almost 250 rushing yards and their suffocating defense held the Aggies’ offense out of the end zone entirely, including a signature goal line stand in the second half that effectively won the game.

With the win, Texas secures a place in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia, heading into a Round 2 bout against the team responsible for its only loss, when the Bulldogs beat up on the then-No. 1 ranked Longhorns in Austin a few weeks ago.

“This is where we want to be,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said after the game.

Where the Longhorns are: almost certainly having clinched a place in the College Football Playoff, regardless of what happens against the Bulldogs in the SEC title game.

And thanks to events in Columbus, they should be the No. 2 team in the AP rankings this week.

Not bad for the Longhorns’ first season in the SEC.

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Moving down: Ohio State

Last week’s ranking: No. 2

Disaster. Utter disaster for the Buckeyes, who should’ve had this one sewn up as 20 point favorites against arch-rival Michigan, with the Big Ten Championship Game waiting for them, but instead became another embarrassing indictment of Ryan Day’s performance as head coach.

And for a team that’s built its reputation in recent years by building stealthy offenses, it was that side of the ball that utterly and repeatedly failed to live up to the moment.

Whether it was a stubborn insistence to rely on a ground game that couldn’t get going against Michigan’s front, quarterback Will Howard’s two costly interceptions, or a puzzling inability to get their receivers open consistently against a vulnerable secondary, the play of Ohio State’s offense was flat out concerning.

And despite playing against a Michigan offense with grave quarterback problems and fielding one of the nation’s worst-performing offenses, the Buckeyes’ elite defense still let that unit churn out the critical yards on what became the game-clinching drive.

It’s up to Day and his coordinators to find the answers, because right now, this doesn’t look like a team that can face the suffocating pressure of making a national championship run.

Yes, the Buckeyes are still in the College Football Playoff picture, but they almost certainly just lost their chance to host a first-round game at home with this inexplicable result.

AP top 25 voters will drop Ohio State this week, but likely not outside the top 10, considering the team’s other accomplishments, like beating two top-five ranked (at the time) opponents.

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Moving up: Notre Dame

Last week’s ranking: No. 5

Back in September, you could be forgiven for thinking that Notre Dame would finish outside the top dozen after losing at home against MAC challenger Northern Illinois.

But since then, the Irish have won 10 straight games behind the nation’s top score differential, culminating in Saturday’s 49-35 win against rival USC at the Coliseum.

It was closer than the score indicated, as the Golden Domers were protecting a 7-point lead with their defense backed up against the end zone before Christian Gray picked off Jayden Maiva and returned the ball 99 yards for a touchdown.

Minutes later, Xavier Watts returned another interception 100 yards for a touchdown, securing not just Notre Dame’s first win at the Coliseum since 2018, but plenty more besides.

Despite their success, the Fighting Irish cannot earn one of the top four seeds in the College Football Playoff or the first-round bye that comes with it.

That’s because college football’s most famous independent team can’t be a conference champion, but we should see Notre Dame move up from its projected No. 7 seed in the new bracket, and inch closer to clinching a home game in the first round of the playoff.

AP voters should put the Irish at No. 4 in the new rankings after Ohio State’s loss.

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Moving down: Miami

Last week’s ranking: No. 8

All the Hurricanes had to do was win a game at Syracuse, and it would clinch a spot in the ACC Championship Game, and from there, could earn a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff.

That’s what the selection committee foresaw, as it routinely listed the Hurricanes as their projected ACC champ with the right to rest up for the second round.

And early on Saturday, it appeared the Canes would live up to their end of that bargain, building a 21-0 lead on the Orange in the second quarter.

Then, it all came crashing down, as some more questionable game management from head coach Mario Cristobal resulted in Miami losing a 42-38 decision in the regular season finale.

Miami kicked a field goal from the Syracuse 10-yard line with under 4 minutes left in the game despite trailing the Orange by a touchdown. It never had the football again.

As a result of the loss, Miami no longer controls its playoff destiny, and has to sit and wait to see what the committee says, an unhappy conclusion to a season that saw Miami put together the most productive offense in its history.

A drop in the rankings is due for the Hurricanes, who should fall behind SMU, Indiana, Boise State, and probably even Alabama and Arizona State, all of whom won and will rise in the poll.

As for the playoff, a drop from that projected No. 3 seed is forthcoming, but likely not enough to fall out of the top dozen, although the Canes will likely have to go on the road in the first round.

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Who else could move?

- Syracuse should get more votes on this week’s ballot, and could make the poll outright, after moving to 9-3 with a signature upset against Miami.

- Clemson could slip out of the top 15 after losing to South Carolina, but has clinched a place in the ACC Championship Game after Miami’s loss.

- Conversely, the Gamecocks will inch closer to the top 10 after taking down Clemson, their sixth straight win and third against a ranked opponent.

- Colorado is due for a move up from the No. 23 position in the AP rankings after pounding Oklahoma State in a 52-0 rout that solidified Travis Hunter’s grip on the Heisman race.

- Tulane might fall out of the rankings this week after losing to underdog Memphis.

- Texas A&M could also lose its place in the AP poll after a listless performance against Texas.

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More ... When the AP top 25 rankings come out

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