Voters in the Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today Coaches poll will have to weigh the 38-7 Miami win at Pittsburgh with uninspiring victories by Alabama and Oklahoma in front of them on Saturday. Miami was 12th in the College Football Rankings and 13th in the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches polls last week.
Vanderbilt was 12th, one spot ahead of Miami in the AP Top 25 and USA Today week 14 polls. Vanderbilt made their own statement with a 45-24 win at Tennessee on Saturday. Ninth-ranked Notre Dame finished the regular season with a 45-20 win at Stanford late on Saturday night into Sunday morning Eastern Time.
Oklahoma received 1,169 points in the week 14 AP Top 25. Oklahoma beat 7-5 LSU, 17-13 on Saturday at home. The Sooners needed to stop the Tigers on fourth down from their own 29-yard line to barely beat a mediocre team with an interim coach.
Oklahoma had 1,169 in the AP Top 25 and 1,108 points in the USA Today Coaches poll. Notre Dame could potentially pass Oklahoma in both polls. The Fighting Irish had 1,117 points in the AP Top 25 and 1,073 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
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— Miami Hurricanes Football (@CanesFootball) November 29, 2025
How national polls could affect College Football Playoff rankings
Notre Dame passing Miami in the national polls could potentially foreshadow what the College Football Playoff committee does on Tuesday. The closer Miami is to Notre Dame in the CFP rankings, the more relevant the Hurricanes' win over the Fighting Irish likely becomes.
Alabama was 10th with 1,073 points in the AP Top 25 and with 1,002 in the USA Today coaches poll for week 14. Alabama needed a touchdown on fourth down with 2:50 left in the game to defeat 5-7 Auburn 20-13. Auburn was also led by an interim head coach.
BYU, 11th in the CFP rankings and both national polls, beat Central Florida 41-21 after trailing 14-0 in the first quarter. Most of the pollsters are likely to only look at the outcome and not that BYU trailed a 5-7 team early in the game.
How the pollsters treat close wins for Alabama and Oklahoma is the big question. The likelihood is that Miami stays 13th in both national polls. The release of the final regular-season CFP rankings is what really matters. Miami likely needs blowout losses by Alabama and BYU in their conference championship games to have a chance at a CFP berth.