Oregon’s dominance in its first year in the Big Ten and Indiana’s monumental turnaround have helped the conference stack four of its teams in the top five of The Associated Press college football poll for the first time.
The Big Ten had three teams among the top five on 16 occasions in the 88-year history of the poll, including four times this season.
Oregon and Ohio State are Nos. 1 and 2 this week and Penn State and Indiana are Nos. 4 and 5. Texas of the Southeastern Conference sits in the middle at No. 3.
The Big Ten has no other ranked teams outside the top five.
Indiana is 10-0 for the first time in program history after its 20-15 win over Michigan, its first single-digit victory this season.
“Not many style points there. Not going to be many people banging the drum saying Indiana ought to be rated higher in the BCS and all that good stuff,” first-year coach Curt Cignetti said, actually referring to the College Football Playoff rankings.
The second CFP rankings will be released Tuesday night, and it will be worth watching whether the selection committee is as favorable to the Big Ten as the AP poll voters. Oregon and Ohio State were first and second in the first CFP rankings, with Penn State No. 6 and Indiana No. 8.
The Hoosiers have their highest AP ranking since they finished the 1967 season No. 4 and have an open date before playing their biggest game, so far, at Ohio State on Nov. 23. Their final regular-season game is at home against Purdue.
Oregon also is 10-0 following a 39-18 win over Maryland. Ohio State shut out Purdue 45-0 and is 8-1, its only loss by one point at Oregon. Penn State also is 8-1 after beating Washington 35-6.
The SEC is the only other conference that has had four teams in the top five. The first time that happened was in 2014. The SEC also has had four teams in the top five in four polls this season.
Checking in on five of the Top 25:
No. 1 Oregon
Coach Dan Lanning said the Ducks gave an uninspired performance against Maryland. His team’s 12 penalties for 95 yards back up that assessment. They’ll need to be sharper this week when they play at Wisconsin. The Oregon highlight of the week was Dillon Gabriel’s three touchdown passes against the Terrapins. Those gave him an FBS-record 180 touchdowns responsible for in his career.
No. 6 Tennessee
Volunteers fans got a scare when quarterback Nico Iamaleava took a hard hit late in the first half against Mississippi State and didn’t play the second half. Coach Josh Heupel said after the game that Iamaleava is expected back for this week’s game at Georgia. Dylan Sampson ran for a career-high 149 yards and went over 1,000 for the season in the 33-14 win.
No. 7 BYU
The unbeaten Cougars have their highest ranking since 2009 after they beat rival Utah in Salt Lake City for the first time since 2006. The 22-21 win in the “Holy War” on Saturday marked the third time BYU has scored its winning points on its final possession. Of those three wins, this was the most improbable. The Cougars started their last series at their 9, had it kept alive by a defensive holding penalty when Jake Retzlaff was sacked on fourth-and-10 before Will Ferrin kicked the 44-yard go-ahead field goal with three seconds left.
No. 16 Army
The Black Knights relied on their defense to get out of North Texas with a 14-3 win and get a week off before they play No. 8 Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium. Army is among four unbeaten teams in the FBS, and its 13-game win streak is the longest in the nation and the program’s longest since the 1949-50 seasons. QB Bryson Daily returned and ran for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Army hasn’t allowed a TD in two games.
No. 25 Tulane
The Green Wave are ranked for the first time this season. They’ve appeared in the poll at least once each of the last three seasons. Their 52-6 victory over Temple extended their regular-season win streak in American Athletic Conference games to 16. They finish the regular season at Navy and at home against Memphis.
Extra points
Miami’s 28-23 loss at Georgia Tech marked the fourth time a top-five team has lost to an unranked opponent this season, the most since 2021. … No. 23 South Carolina is in the rankings for the first time this season after knocking off consecutive Top 25 opponents. It’s the Gamecocks’ first appearance since they were 23rd in the final 2022 poll. … Iowa State was No. 9 as recently as Oct. 13 but has lost two straight following a 7-0 start. The Cyclones have dropped four straight weeks — to No. 10, No. 11, No. 17 and out of the rankings this week after losing to Kansas.
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