Miami slid seven spots to No. 9 in Sunday's AP Top 25 after its 24–21 loss to previously unranked Louisville, part of a chaotic weekend that saw nine ranked teams fall and forced a near-total reshuffle behind No. 1 Ohio State. Indiana rose to No. 2, Texas A&M to No. 3, with Alabama and Georgia rounding out the top five; Oregon, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Miami and Vanderbilt complete the top 10.
BREAKING: College Football AP Poll🚨https://t.co/0uhQNsSFok pic.twitter.com/CJRIr5XADX
— On3 (@On3sports) October 19, 2025
For Miami, the price to pay wasn't cheap; they drop from No. 2 to No. 9 — still top-10, but no longer with any margin for error. They don't even control their own destiny in the ACC.
ACC and the Week 9 AP Poll
Inside the ACC, four teams are ranked this week. Georgia Tech jumped into the top 10 at No. 7, its best position since 2009 and up five from No. 12 a week ago. Miami is No. 9 after the seven-spot slide. Virginia nudged up two to No. 16 — its highest since 2007. And Louisville debuted at No. 19 on the strength of Friday's upset in Coral Gables. It was the Cardinals' first true-road win over a top-10 team in program history.
Miami's Strength of Schedule
What this means relative to Miami's schedule: the Cardinals, an ACC title-race contender, now sit at No. 19 after beating UM. If they keep winning, the loss will look a lot better later on in the year. Florida State, which Miami already beat, remains unranked following a 20–13 loss at Stanford. Florida, another early Canes win, is also unranked and fired head coach Billy Napier on Sunday. Neither the Florida nor Florida State wins have aged well.
USF and Notre Dame are doing their part to help Miami — and that is more important now than ever before. Notre Dame secured a 34-24 win over USC and if they win out, that should only be good for Miami. If we live in a fair college football world, ND shouldn't jump Miami if they have the same record. The Irish now sit at No. 12 in the nation. USF got a 48-13 win over FAU and moved to No. 18 in the AP Poll. As of right now, the Bulls are the highest ranked Group of Six team in the country and would be in the CFP if the season ended today. Both of those wins could come in clutch later in the season for the Hurricanes.
The remaining slate — Stanford, at SMU, Syracuse, NC State, at Virginia Tech, at Pitt — currently features no ranked opponents. SMU, Syracuse, NC State, VT and Pitt are all outside the Top 25 and none received votes.