Oregon and Penn State each moved up one spot in the college football rankings on Sunday after thrilling wins in high-profile games — and Top 25 newcomers Navy and Army are ranked together for the first time since 1960.
Texas strengthened its hold on No. 1 with its 31-point win over Oklahoma. The Longhorns received 56 of 62 first-place votes in the AP rankings, four more than last week and the most since they were a unanimous No. 1 seed in October 2008.
This weekend wasn’t as crazy as the week before, when four of the top eleven teams were upset and only two teams retained their places in the subsequent rankings.
That’s not to say that week 7 was devoid of excitement.
Oregon’s 32-31 home win over Ohio State included seven lead changes and moved the Ducks to No. 2 with the other six first-place votes. It is their highest ranking since finishing the 2014 season at No. 2 after losing to the Buckeyes in the first championship game of the College Football Playoff.
Oregon Ducks fans storm the field in Eugene after beating the Ohio State Buckeyes 32-31
Penn State rose to No. 3 with a 33-30 overtime victory in Southern California, the Nittany Lions’ highest ranking in seven years.
Penn State-USC was one of four games involving AP Top 25 teams going to OT on Saturday, including three in the top 10.
Ohio State dropped two spots to No. 4 and Georgia remained at No. 5. Miami, Alabama, LSU, Iowa State and Clemson rounded out the top 10.
Army, which defeated UAB 44-10, and Navy, which was inactive, broke through for their first simultaneous rankings since Oct. 3, 1960.
Their coinciding appearance that season lasted only a week. Army was 3-0 and ranked No. 18 before dropping two straight games to finish 6-3-1. Navy had entered the rankings a week earlier, at No. 17, and finished the season 9-2 and ranked No. 4.
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers celebrates with teammates and fans after the latest win
Army (6-0) and Navy (5-0) are each undefeated at this point in a season since 1945, weeks after the end of World War II and in the era when service academies were the sport’s powerhouses .
LSU and Mississippi were the biggest gainers in the aftermath of the Tigers’ 29-26 overtime win. The Tigers moved from No. 13 to No. 8, their first appearance in the top 10 since being No. 5 in the 2023 preseason poll. Mississippi, losing for the second time in three games, fell from No. 9 to No. 18 .
No. 9 Iowa State, 6-0 for the first time since 1938, has its highest ranking since September 2021.
Tennessee was ranked in the top 10 in four straight polls before falling to No. 11 after its 23-17 overtime win over Florida.
Army (pictured) and Navy are both in the top 25 together for the first time since 1960
The Southeastern Conference occupies eight spots in the AP Top 25. The Big Ten still has three teams in the top five — Oregon, Penn State and Ohio State — and six in the Top 25.
Army and Navy are the only teams making their season debuts in the poll.
Utah, which has lost two straight, bowed out after its 27-19 loss at Arizona State.
Oklahoma, which was No. 18 before the loss to Texas, falls out of the AP Top 25 for the first time since the end of the 2022 season.