U.S. college football Coaches Poll after Week 8: Miami stays No. 1 as Texas surges

Miami holds the top spot in the Oct. 25 Coaches Poll

The US LBM Coaches Poll released Sunday, Oct. 25, kept Miami at No. 1 after the Hurricanes improved to 7-0 with a 52-23 win over Pittsburgh. Miami earned 1,839 points and 67 first-place votes; Ohio State is No. 2 with six first-place votes, while Georgia moved from No. 4 to No. 3. The AFCA poll is voted on by a panel of FBS head coaches, with first place worth 25 points and each subsequent position one point less. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Behind the top three, Indiana rose two spots to No. 4, Utah climbed four to No. 5, Notre Dame moved up two to No. 6 and unbeaten UCLA advanced three places to No. 7. Kentucky completes the top eight after gaining four spots. Miami's 72-point margin over Ohio State is a poll-point gap, not a prediction of a matchup; each coach's ballot contributes to the aggregate total. ^{[1] [2]}

The biggest headline is the movement behind Miami: Texas rose seven spots, from No. 18 to No. 11, after its 34-27 victory over Ole Miss. BYU, which had been No. 3, dropped six places to No. 9 after UCF won 39-31 in double overtime. Texas Tech slid nine spots to No. 14 following a 37-24 loss to Cincinnati, and Tennessee fell six places to No. 17 after South Carolina's 27-24 win. ^{[2] [3]}

Why the poll changed after Week 8

The table captures a Saturday in which upsets reached across the Top 25. AP reported that seven ranked teams lost and three top-10 teams went down. Texas' win over No. 7 Ole Miss came after the Longhorns had suffered consecutive defeats; Utah beat Houston 21-13, while Indiana survived at Michigan, 13-6 in overtime. Those results help explain the reshuffling without making the coaches' ballot a direct forecast of the College Football Playoff field. ^[3]

The likely search hook for “Coaches Poll after Week 8” is the combination of a fresh Sunday ranking and unusually consequential movement: Texas re-entered the upper tier, BYU's top-five position disappeared after one loss, and three undefeated teams—Miami, UCLA and Utah—remain. That explanation is an inference from the release timing and game results, not a claim about individual searchers' motives. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

What to watch next: the Week 9 games shaping the next poll

The next ranking update will follow Week 9. Miami visits North Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 31, while Texas hosts Mississippi State the same day; Ohio State travels to USC, and BYU hosts Arizona State. Those games give the poll's biggest movers an immediate chance either to validate Sunday's rise—or to make the next ballot more volatile. ^{[2] [4]}