Missouri didn't play last week but still moved up two spots in The Associated Press' college football poll that was released Sunday.
The Tigers (4-0) now are No. 9 as they passed Mississippi, which had been No. 6, and Utah, which had been 10th. Both had been unbeaten before being upset Saturday at home, Ole Miss by Kentucky and the Utes by Arizona. Mississippi fell to 12th, Utah to 18th.
Mizzou also moved from 11th to ninth in the USA Today (coaches) rankings.
Illinois, which was beaten 21-7 on the road by College Football Playoff contender Penn State on Saturday, dropped from 19th to 24th. The Illini are 4-1 and dipped from No. 21 to 25th in the USA Today poll.
The College Football Playoff field, expanded from four to 12 teams this season, will be determined by a committee — not polls. That group is scheduled to release the first of its six weekly rankings on Nov. 5, with the qualifiers announced on Dec. 8.
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Alabama returned to No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time in two years following its dizzying victory over Georgia, making this 16 of the past 17 seasons the Crimson Tide has held the top spot at some point.
UNLV, unbeaten through four games for the first time in its Division I history, cracked the rankings for the first time ever just days after losing its starting quarterback over an NIL dispute. The Rebels, led by former Mizzou coach Barry Odom, are tied for No. 25 with Texas A&M.
Alabama received 40 of 63 first-place votes and leapfrogged three teams to take over No. 1 from Texas, which tussled with Mississippi State deep into the second half as a five-touchdown favorite and slipped to No. 2. The Longhorns got 19 first-place votes, well off last week's 44.
Ohio State remained No. 3 with four first-place votes. Tennessee, which had an open date, moved up a spot to No. 4. Georgia, whose only three losses since 2021 have come to Alabama, dropped to No. 5.
Oregon, Penn State, Miami, Missouri and Michigan rounded out the top 10.
Alabama, which is No. 1 for the first time under coach Kalen DeBoer, has posted back-to-back impressive wins with Heisman Trophy front-runner Jalen Milroe and freshman phenom receiver Ryan Williams leading the way.
The Tide won 42-10 on the road against Wisconsin two weeks ago and prevailed 41-34 against Georgia on Saturday night after squandering a 28-point first-half lead.
The Tide hadn't been No. 1 since Oct. 2, 2022. They memorably held the spot for just one week after needing a late goal-line stand to beat an unranked Texas A&M at home, with Milroe subbing for injured 2021 Heisman winner Bryce Young that night.
The Tide are No. 1 for the 141st time, most of any team since the AP rankings began in 1936, and for the 105th time since 2009, when Nick Saban won the first of his six national championships at Alabama.
Poll points
The SEC holds four of the top five spots for the fourth straight week, an ongoing first in the AP poll. The only other time in the 88-year history of the poll that a conference had four of the top five teams was the SEC on Oct. 19, 2014 (No. 1 Mississippi State, No. 3 Mississippi, No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Auburn). That lasted a week.
The SEC holds nine spots in the Top 25, one off its own record for number of ranked teams from one conference.
The Big Ten has four teams in the top 10 for the first time since October 2021 and seven in the Top 25.
In and out
UNLV was one of the feel-good stories of the season even before Matthew Sluka announced he would sit out the rest of the season, contending he was cheated out of a $100,000 name, image and likeness payment.
The Rebels, with Hajj-Malik Williams starring as the new quarterback, beat Fresno State 59-14 on Saturday. Now the Rebels sit 4-0 for the first time since 1976, when they were Division II, and they will look to knock off a third power-conference opponent when they host Syracuse this week.
Also entering the rankings is Indiana at No. 23. The Hoosiers, who are 5-0 for the first time since 1967, hadn't been ranked since they were No. 17 in the 2021 preseason poll.
Oklahoma State dropped out. The Cowboys, who were No. 20, have lost two straight against ranked opponents, most recently getting blown out at Kansas State.
Playoff primer
A reminder about the playoffs format: The top four seeds are assigned to the highest-ranked conference champions, regardless of their overall ranking. The five highest-ranked conference champions, regardless of league, are guaranteed spots in the field.
There is no cap on the number of teams that can come from one conference. Â
Ranked vs. ranked
No. 9 Missouri at No. 25 Texas A&M, 11 a.m Saturday:Â The Tigers got a week off to recover from their double-overtime scare against Vanderbilt and will make their first visit to College Station since 2014. The teams have split four meetings since they joined the SEC in 2012.