Missouri climbed 11 places to No. 14 in the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll released Sunday, October 4, after routing Florida 45-17. Florida fell eight positions to No. 16, one week after surging into the top 10.
Texas remained No. 1 for a fourth consecutive week and received 61 of the 70 first-place votes. Georgia stayed second with six first-place votes, followed by Notre Dame, Miami and Ohio State.
Missouri and Florida trade momentum
Missouri entered the weekend ranked No. 25 and produced the poll’s largest rise. The Tigers’ move to No. 14 is their highest position since October 5, 2025. Their 11-place jump is the second biggest by any team this season, behind Florida’s 13-place climb in the previous poll.
The reversal came after Missouri controlled Saturday’s game in Columbia and beat Florida by 28 points. The Gators had reached No. 8 after defeating Ole Miss, but the loss returned them to the middle of the rankings.
AskNovus covered Florida’s earlier move in the previous AP Top 25 release. Sunday’s poll supersedes those rankings.
Alabama moves up and LSU enters top 10
Alabama and defending national champion Indiana switched places. The Crimson Tide rose to No. 6 after a 56-23 road victory over Mississippi State, while Indiana slipped to seventh despite beating Rutgers 47-15.
BYU moved two places to No. 8 after winning at TCU. Ole Miss remained ninth during an open week, and LSU rose to No. 10 following a 63-14 victory over McNeese State.
Pittsburgh entered the rankings at No. 25 after improving to 5-0 with a 35-33 victory over Virginia Tech. Kentucky dropped out despite overcoming a 17-point deficit to beat South Carolina 35-34 in overtime.
Full October 4 AP Top 25
- Texas
- Georgia
- Notre Dame
- Miami
- Ohio State
- Alabama
- Indiana
- BYU
- Ole Miss
- LSU
- Texas Tech
- Utah
- Oregon
- Missouri
- Tennessee
- Florida
- Mississippi State
- Oklahoma State
- USC
- Iowa
- UCLA
- Houston
- Boise State
- SMU
- Pittsburgh
Conference breakdown and next ranked games
The SEC leads the poll with nine ranked teams. The Big Ten has six, the Big 12 has five, the ACC has three, the Pac-12 has one, and independent Notre Dame accounts for the remaining place.
Two ranked matchups are scheduled for next weekend: No. 2 Georgia visits No. 6 Alabama, while No. 21 UCLA travels to No. 13 Oregon. No. 1 Texas also faces Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry, though Oklahoma is outside the new Top 25.
Sources
- Associated Press Top 25 report, October 4, 2026
- Reuters report on the October 4 rankings, October 4, 2026
- FOX Sports/AP poll report, updated October 4, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. ET
Illustrative photo: Scott Greer/Unsplash.