New AP Top 25 After Week 8 Puts Miami on Top and Reshuffles the SEC Picture

Miami held onto the top spot in the latest AP Top 25 released after Week 8, strengthening its case with a 52-23 home win over Pitt that moved the Hurricanes to 7-0. Quarterback Darian Mensah threw for 387 yards and four touchdowns in that game, with most of the damage going to Malachi Toney, who caught 16 passes for 194 yards and three scores. Behind Miami, Ohio State rose to No. 2 at 6-1 despite having the week off, and Georgia climbed to No. 3, also coming off a bye.

The rest of the top five brought its own drama. Indiana moved up to No. 4 after edging Michigan 13-6 in overtime in Ann Arbor, a game tied 6-6 at the end of regulation after Michigan missed two field goals, with the Hoosiers holding Michigan to 224 total yards. Notre Dame slipped to No. 5 after its bye, which followed a last-second loss to BYU. Utah, UCLA and BYU followed in the next spots, with BYU falling six places to No. 8 after a 39-31 overtime loss to UCF, its first defeat of the season.

For Tennessee, the most relevant movement came inside the SEC. Kentucky climbed to No. 9 at 7-1 after a 34-17 win over Vanderbilt, in which the Wildcats held Vanderbilt to 262 yards and forced two turnovers. That matters in Knoxville because Kentucky is Tennessee's opponent in two weeks, after Kentucky's bye, and the Wildcats will arrive in that matchup as a top-10 team. Alabama also moved up to No. 10 at 6-2 after beating Texas A&M 31-20.

Further down, Texas made the biggest jump, rising eight spots to No. 11 after a 34-27 win over Ole Miss that revived its playoff hopes, while Ole Miss fell to No. 12 after falling behind 24-3 at halftime in that game. Texas Tech dropped to No. 13 after its first loss, 37-24 at Cincinnati, and Wake Forest rose to No. 14 while on a bye. With several top teams idle and others absorbing their first losses, Week 8 left the poll steadier at the very top but considerably less settled just below it.