Oklahoma barely beat out Cincinnati for the No. 2 spot in the new Coaches Poll top 25, with the two schools separated by just a few voting points, but trailing No. 1 Georgia by a significant amount. The Bulldogs were a unanimous No. 1 in this week’s balloting following a decisive win against Kentucky, and the Sooners got the nod over the Bearcats after Caleb Williams‘ stellar debut as the new starting quarterback.
The No. 2 spot in the poll was available following Iowa’s home loss to Purdue. No longer undefeated, but still carrying the strength of a top-10 win against Penn State, the Hawkeyes landed nine spots down in the rankings at No. 11. That placed them behind the Nittany Lions, but ahead of Ole Miss, Notre Dame and Kentucky, which dropped to No. 14 after the loss to the Bulldogs in Athens.
Oklahoma State saw some upward movement after going into Austin and outlasting Texas in a 32-24 win. The Cowboys are one of the last undefeated teams in the country and now sit at No. 9, up three spots from last week’s ranking from the coaches.
With four teams in the back half of the top 25 all taking losses in Week 7 — Florida, Arkansas, BYU and Arizona State — there was plenty of room for new arrivals to the rankings. Baylor and Auburn were among the first in line to get back into the top 25, while Pitt and UTSA made their 2021 debut after convincing wins on Saturday.
Check out the full Coaches Poll top 25 below. First-place votes in parenthesis:
- Georgia (65)
- Oklahoma
- Cincinnati
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- Michigan State
- Penn State
- Oklahoma State
- Oregon
- Iowa
- Ole Miss
- Notre Dame
- Kentucky
- Wake Forest
- Coastal Carolina
- Texas A&M
- NC State
- SMU
- Baylor
- San Diego State
- Auburn
- Pittsburgh
- Clemson
- UTSA
Others Receiving Votes: Iowa State 38; Utah 35; Arkansas 31; Florida 23; Brigham Young 23; Air Force 20; UL Lafayette 18; Arizona State 18; Purdue 16; Houston 11; Virginia 6; Texas 4; Louisiana State 2; Fresno State 1.
Dropped from the rankings: No. 17 Florida; No. 19 Arkansas; No. 20 Brigham Young; No. 22 Arizona State.
