Coaches Poll: Alabama, Indiana ramp up, Oklahoma slides in college football rankings

Mass changes across the latest rankings with shakeup near the top

By Brad Crawford

Oct 12, 2025 at 12:46 pm ET • 1 min read

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Curt Cignetti said he had a good feeling about Indiana's bout with Oregon heading into the Hoosiers' 30-20 win over the Ducks, the program's first away from home against a top-five opponent. And his team was rewarded in Sunday's Week 8 Coaches Poll, shooting to No. 3 behind Ohio State and Miami.

Indiana has put itself in position to not only challenge the Buckeyes for a Big Ten title, but also be in the conversation for a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff. Cignetti told CBS Sports after the win he felt his team "broke Oregon's will" in the second half and played up to their full potential. After appearing in the bracket lat fall in Cignetti's first campaign as a 11-1 at-large selection, the unbeaten Hoosiers join Alabama this week as big-time winners after the Crimson Tide posted their third straight win over a ranked opponent, knocking off Missouri.

That feat only happened once during Nick Saban's illustrious 17-year tenure at the program, a testament to how well Kalen DeBoer's team has responded since the season-opening loss at Florida State. Penn State joins the Seminoles, Iowa State and Arizona State outside of the latest Coaches Poll after suffering another stunner — a 22-21 home loss to Northwestern that further clouded James Franklin's job security.

Previously-unbeaten Oklahoma's loss to Texas in the Red River Rivalry caused the Sooners to drop several spots following John Mateer's three-interception outing and the Longhorns' dominant showing defensively. Oklahoma still has to play five ranked teams over its final six games, college football's most brutal slate down these stretch.

Texas Tech pushed to No. 8, up two spots from last week after holding Kansas scoreless in the second half of Saturday night's 42-17 win. Cameron Dickey ran for a career-high 263 yards and two touchdowns during the Red Raiders' first game as a top-10 team since 2013.

First-place votes in parenthesis

Week 8 Coaches Poll

1. Ohio State (63)
2. Miami (2)
3. Indiana (1)
4. Texas A&M
5. Ole Miss
6. Alabama
7. Georgia
8. Texas Tech
9. Oregon
10. LSU
11. Tennessee
12. Georgia Tech
13. Oklahoma
14. BYU
15. Notre Dame
16. Missouri
17. Texas
18. Vanderbilt
19. Virginia
20. Memphis
21. USC
22. Utah
23. South Florida
24. Cincinnati
25. Illinois