Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) snaps the ball during the game against UTSA at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. After spending one week atop the AP Top 25 college football poll, Alabama tumbled to No. 7 following a monumental upset at Vanderbilt on Saturday and Texas returned to the top spot after Week 6.
Texas, which was idle this week, faces its toughest test to date on Saturday when the Longhorns (5-0, 1-0 SEC) face No. 18 Oklahoma (4-1, 1-1) in Dallas in the Red River Rivalry game. It remains to be seen whether Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers will return after missing the past 2 1/2 games with an oblique injury.
Texas received 52 first-place votes, followed by nine for No. 2 Ohio State (5-0), which moved up one spot. Oregon (5-0) and Penn State (5-0) each jumped up three spots to Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, following impressive wins.
Georgia (4-1) remained No. 5, followed by No. 6 Miami (6-0), which moved up two spots following a late 25-point comeback in a 39-38 win at Cal.
Like Alabama, Tennessee (4-1) dropped in the polls to No. 8 after an upset loss at Arkansas. Ole Miss (5-1) and Clemson (4-1) round out the Top 10, as the Rebels moved up three spots and the Tigers were elevated five spots.
At No. 15, Texas A&M (5-1) moved up 10 spots after upsetting former No. 9 Missouri (4-1), which fell 12 spots to No. 21 with a 41-10 loss.
Defending national champion Michigan (4-2) saw the biggest drop in this week’s poll, plummeting from No. 10 to No. 24 with a 27-17 loss at Washington in a rematch of last year’s national championship game.
Pitt (5-0) rejoined the poll for the first time since 2022, knocking off host North Carolina 34-24 for its first 5-0 start since 1991.
SMU (5-1) also made its season debut in the poll, upsetting former No. 22 Louisville, which dropped out of the Top 25 following SMU’s 34-27 victory. SMU last appeared in the poll at No. 22 at the end of last season.
Southern California (3-2), ranked No. 11 last week, was knocked out of the Top 25 after being upset 24-17 by host Minnesota.
The full AP Top 25 poll after Week 6:
No. 1 Texas
No. 2 Ohio State
No. 3 Oregon
No. 4 Penn State
No. 5 Georgia
No. 6 Miami
No. 7 Alabama
No. 8 Tennessee
No. 9 Ole Miss
No. 10 Clemson
No. 11 Iowa State
No. 11 Notre Dame
No. 13 LSU
No. 14 BYU
No. 15 Texas A&M
No. 16 Utah
No. 17 Boise State
No. 18 Kansas State
No. 18 Indiana
No. 18 Oklahoma
No. 21 Missouri
No. 22 Pitt
No. 23 Illinois
No. 24 Michigan
No. 25 SMU
–Field Level Media
