The new AP Top 25 poll will have yet another debate for who is No. 1 as voters turn in their ballots after a thunderous Week 5 slate.. And while we are projecting multiple -- three or more -- teams to receive first-place votes, Saturday night's statement win in Tuscaloosa has Alabama poised to be the third No. 1 team in the country of the 2024 season.
If you consider that Georgia's 13 first-place votes from last week's balloting are likely gone, those voters who viewed the Bulldogs as the best team in the country -- ahead of Texas and Ohio State -- are going to think highly of how Alabama went wire-to-wire against the Bulldogs in one of the biggest games of the year so far. From there, all it would take is about a dozen of the 44 voters who had Texas at No. 1 last week to swap that out for Alabama given the strength of the win compared to the Longhorns' best win -- earlier this year on the road over Michigan.
The debate for No. 1 would be more unique if it hadn't already become one of the primary storylines in the AP top 25 poll this season. When Texas first jumped Georgia for No. 1 in the wake of its win in Ann Arbor, the Longhorns did so by carrying just about a dozen more first-place votes (35-to-23). Alabama's climb to No. 1, as we're projecting, would carry perhaps an even tighter vote split. Unfortunately for Texas, sometimes you don't drop in the rankings as much as you get jumped, and it's hard to imagine a rankings booster more powerful than what the Crimson Tide did to Georgia on Saturday night.
Elsewhere in the rankings, we will see fallout from the multiple ranked-on-ranked games on the Week 5 schedule as well as a major shakeup in the wake of Ole Miss' stunning upset loss to Kentucky and much, much more.
Here's how we project the new AP Top 25 to look after Week 5:
1. Alabama (Last week — 4): It was never destined to be as easy as it looked in the first half, but the Crimson Tide finished the job in thrilling fashion. The dramatics of the moment only help power a move to No. 1.
2. Texas (1): Arch Manning totaled three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) and the Longhorns poured it on late after a sloppy start to record their first-ever SEC win against Mississippi State. It's not that Texas will be punished for its 35-13 win -- though it was closer than the oddsmakers expected -- as much as it lacked the punch of Alabama's win in the debate for No. 1.
3. Ohio State (3): Will the Buckeyes have more than five first-place votes after beating Michigan State by 31 points? Ohio State has had exactly five first-place votes in each of the last four weeks, and while there is a credit to those voters' resiliency, it is curious why the Buckeyes have not attracted more first-place attention while handling their business during the first month of the season.
4. Tennessee (5): The Volunteers were off in Week 5 and will be back in action next week at Arkansas.
5. Oregon (8): The Ducks got tested on the road against UCLA and responded well, jumping out to an early lead and defending it the rest of the way to improve to 4-0 overall on the year.
6. Penn State (9): There are many things that Penn State gets to work on moving forward, but the Nittany Lions passed their first Big Ten conference test with a 21-7 win against Illinois.
7. Miami (7): Controversy surrounds the ending of the Hurricanes' 38-34 win against Virginia Tech, but how much will that show up in the ballots? Miami seemingly should lose some voter support for a game that was much closer than expected, but it's unlikely to be enough for any kind of major shakeup among those undefeated teams in the back half of the top 10.
8. Georgia (2): It's going to be really tough to drop Georgia out of the top 10 after the Bulldogs' epic, second-half comeback effort that led to even holding a late lead in the final minutes of a close loss in Tuscaloosa.
9. Missouri (11): The Tigers were off in Week 5 and will be back in action next week at Texas A&M.
10. Michigan (12): The top one-loss team in the country one week ago won't move too much after a 27-24 win against Minnesota. The Wolverines won't be the top one-loss team in the country anymore but shouldn't see too much adjustment in the reshuffling.
11. USC (13): The Trojans were in trouble early against Wisconsin but showed tremendous resilience in outscoring the Badgers 28-0 after halftime in a 17-point win.
12. LSU (14): No major changes for LSU after taking care of business against South Alabama.
13. Ole Miss (6): When a team is undefeated, it gets judged by how it looks in the wins. But once voters have to start stacking one-loss teams against each other, they must show a certain quality of win to capture tiebreakers for top spots on the ballot. Now at 4-1 after a home loss to Kentucky, the Rebels' best win is at Wake Forest, which lost at home to Louisiana on Saturday. There will be opportunities to climb back into the top 10 and showcase a form closer to those early season blowout wins, but this is not a top-10 profile at the moment.
14. Notre Dame (16): The Fighting Irish took advantage of early Louisville turnovers and rode their defense to yet another home win against an ACC opponent, holding off a late Cardinals charge in a 31-24 win.
15. Clemson (17): Cade Klubnik continues to shine against every opponent since the season-opening loss to Georgia. This time it was five total touchdowns (four passing, one rushing) in a 40-14 win against Stanford.
16. Iowa State (18): It took a while for the Cyclones to find the end zone against Houston, but the defense never allowed the result to be in doubt in what was eventually a 20-0 win for Iowa State to improve to 4-0.
17. Oklahoma (21): The Sooners' first-ever SEC win came in dramatic fashion, rallying late from a double-digit, fourth-quarter deficit to stun Auburn 27-21 in Jordan-Hare Stadium. It won't produce a huge jump in the rankings, but the win could go a long way in helping Oklahoma's season-long outlook after making a quarterback change this week.
18. Illinois (19): It's possible Illinois gets jumped by BYU given the Cougars are undefeated, but it's hard to penalize the Fighting Illini too much given their 4-1 start and how competitive the team was in a tough road environment at Penn State.
19. BYU (22): Kilani Sitake now has BYU at 5-0 for the third time in five seasons after a 34-28 road win at Baylor to improve to 2-0 in Big 12 play. The Cougars needed a late defensive stand to hold on after nearly blowing a 31-14 halftime lead, but an interception from safety Crew Wakley with 59 seconds left sealed the victory.
20. Kansas State (23): A strong bounce back for Kansas State after last week's road loss to BYU brings some optimism for the team moving forward. Quarterback Avery Johnson totaled five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing) in the 42-20 win against Oklahoma State, which gets the Wildcats back on track and sends the Cowboys reeling in the rankings.
21. Utah (10): The Utes fell to Arizona late Saturday night and are guaranteed to take a tumble now sitting at 4-1. The continued absence of Cam Rising and unknown of his status makes ranking Utah impossible. For one half against Baylor they looked like one of the best teams in the country but since have been limited offensively. Some voters may drop Utah off the ballot entirely, but not enough to see a drop from top-10 all the way to unranked.
22. Texas A&M (24): It seems like every Texas A&M-Arkansas game is going to bring dramatics these days, and Saturday's 21-17 win for the Aggies was no different. The win doesn't do enough to lead to a big jump, but it adds value to a profile that was previously anchored only by a win at Florida.
23. Boise State (25): The Broncos beat Washington State 45-24. The Cougars were No. 26 last week and just two points shy of Boise State.
24. Indiana (NR): The Hoosiers are 5-0 for the first time since 1967 and now have a pair of conference wins after pulling away late against Maryland. There are difficult games deeper on the schedule, but if Indiana continues to operate at its current level, we could be looking at a team that continues to rise in the rankings over the next couple of weeks.
25. UNLV (NR): After a week of storylines that suggested drama behind the scenes, the Rebels absolutely smashed Fresno State in their Mountain West opener. The 59-14 final highlights a team that's just fine after moving Hajj-Malik Williams in as the new quarterback. After being one of the top teams just outside the top 25, the extra attention should power a bump into the rankings.
Projected to drop out: No. 15 Louisville, No. 20 Oklahoma State
