Miami moved up to No. 2 in the AP Top 25, the Hurricanes’ best ranking in eight seasons, and Oklahoma surged into the top 10 at No. 7 on Sunday.

Ohio State remained No. 1 during an idle weekend and received 52 first-place votes. The Hurricanes received seven first-place votes after a 26-7 victory against Florida. Miami jumped Penn State, which is down to No. 3 heading into a Big Ten showdown with No. 6 Oregon next week. The Nittany Lions received five first-place votes.

Miami has its highest ranking since it reached No. 2 in November 2017 after a 10-0 start to the season under coach Mark Richt. Those Hurricanes lost their last three games, including the ACC championship to Clemson and the Orange Bowl against Wisconsin.

LSU was No. 4, followed by Georgia and the Ducks, who received a first-place vote.

The Sooners also got a first-place vote after winning a slugfest with Auburn, recording nine sacks of their former quarterback Jackson Arnold. Oklahoma moved up four spots and is in the top 10 for the 631st time in the 89-year history of the AP rankings. That number ranks third all-time behind Ohio State (723) and Alabama (638), according to College Poll Archive.

No. 8 Florida State, No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 10 Texas round out the top 10.

Indiana was the biggest riser this week, up eight spots to No. 11 after routing Illinois. The 63-10 victory on Saturday night was Indiana’s most lopsided against a ranked team, topping its 49-0 win at No. 20 Minnesota in 1945. The Hoosiers were ranked in the top 10 of the final seven polls last season, when they went 11-2 and reached the College Football Playoff.

No. 12 Texas Tech leapt five spots. The Red Raiders have their best ranking since a brief stay at No. 10 in 2013 after beating Utah 34-10 in Salt Lake City in the Big 12’s game of the weekend.

AP Top 25 after Week 4

Rank

  

Team

  

Ralph’s vote

  

Record

  

Prev

  

1

1

3-0

1

2

2

4-0

4

3

8

3-0

2

4

6

4-0

3

5

4

3-0

5

6

7

4-0

6

7

3

4-0

11

8

9

4-0

7

9

5

3-0

10

10

12

3-1

8

11

10

4-0

19

12

11

4-0

17

13

16

4-0

13

14

13

4-0

12

15

14

3-1

15

16

20

4-0

18

17

18

2-1

14

18

21

4-0

20

19

15

3-1

21

20

17

4-0

23

21

NR

4-0

25

22

19

1-2

24

23

NR

3-1

9

24

NR

3-0

NR

25

NR

3-0

NR

NR

22

3-1

22

NR

23

3-0

NR

NR

24

3-1

NR

NR

25

4-0

NR

Others receiving votes: Auburn 122, Mississippi State 102, South Florida 77, Utah 45, Arizona St. 30, Memphis 23, Louisville 23, Maryland 6, UNLV 3, UCF 3, North Texas 2

Also considered by Ralph: TCU, USC, Kansas, Mississippi State, Arizona State

How I voted

I had been looking for a reason to move LSU down after the Tigers surged into the top five on the strength of winning at Clemson in the opening week of the season.

Well, Dabo Swinney’s team has obliged. With Clemson falling to 1-3 after losing at home to Syracuse on Saturday, it gave me an opening to reassess.

I dropped LSU to No. 6 after having the Tigers No. 3 last week. An argument could be made to drop them even lower, but they have faced better competition in struggling former national champions Clemson and Florida than either Penn State or Oregon has played so far.

As some might remember, this is my first year voting after years of working for the AP, where my role was overseeing and writing about the poll. I’m still trying to figure out the way I want to vote, especially early in the season.

I’ve been fairly aggressive in rewarding teams that have played in more competitive games, which means a lot of movement from week to week.

Oklahoma is all the way up to No. 3 on my ballot after adding a win over Auburn to a Michigan victory. Now, it’s also important to remember that OU started the season higher for me than it did for most voters. I had the Sooners 12th in the preseason, and Michigan was my preseason No. 11.

Yes, my preseason evaluations are still playing a role here, but those evaluations are looking pretty good so far for Oklahoma. Same goes for Texas A&M. I had the Aggies 10th in the preseason, so bumping them up to No. 5 after beating Notre Dame wasn’t such a stretch.

Texas Tech also got a huge bump from me this week from 24th to No. 11 in part because I had Utah ranked in the preseason, and I think the Utes will still be among the best teams in the Big 12. We’ll see.

I did leave the Utes off the ballot this week. A 34-10 home loss means Utah needs to earn back some of that confidence.

This style of voting has caused Texas and Penn State, preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, to drop significantly in the past few weeks on my ballot. Not because they did anything wrong, but because I’m pushing teams past them.

The Nittany Lions are No. 8 and the Longhorns are 12th on my ballot.

I worry that soon I’ll be looking at OU at No. 3 the same way I was looking at LSU at No. 2 after Week 1. Too much, too soon?

That brings me quickly back to last week’s voting, when I had Notre Dame at No. 15 despite being 0-2. The Irish are down to No. 19 this week after beating Purdue. Indiana, Texas Tech, Michigan, Ole Miss and Missouri all moved past Notre Dame by picking more impressive victories than what the Irish did against Purdue.

In and out

Illinois managed to hang on to its ranking, dropping 14 spots from ninth to No. 24 after being on the receiving end of a blowout.

Utah was not so lucky. Auburn also dropped out of the poll after one week.

The Utes’ misfortune makes it an especially good day for the other side of the Holy War rivalry. No. 25 BYU (3-0) moved into the rankings for the first time this season, just behind fellow newcomer TCU, giving the Big 12 four ranked teams.

The SEC still leads the way with 10 ranked teams, followed by the Big Ten with seven. The Big 12 is next, and the ACC has three. Independent Notre Dame, up to No. 22.

Next week

We have a few big ones, with four ranked matchups overall.

No. 6 Oregon at No. 3 Penn State. A rematch of the Big Ten championship game and the first trip to Happy Valley for the Ducks since 1964. This is the eighth time Beaver Stadium will host a top-six matchup.

No. 5 Georgia at No. 17 Alabama. The past seven meetings between the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide were top-10 matchups. The last time it wasn’t: 2015.

No. 4 LSU at No. 13 Ole Miss. The third straight ranked matchup between the Tigers and Rebels.

No. 21 USC at No. 23 Illinois. It’s their first matchup since the Trojans beat the Illini 49-17 in the 2008 Rose Bowl.

(Photo: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)