College football updated polls: AP Top 25, Coaches Poll rankings after Week 8

Zac Al-Khateeb

College football updated polls: AP Top 25, Coaches Poll rankings after Week 8 image

The Big Ten couldn't make it a single week of play before experiencing its first massive upset of the season.

That came in the form of No. 8 Penn State's 36-35 overtime loss to Indiana, replete with myriad mistakes by the Nittany Lions. It was the first Penn State loss to Indiana since 2013, and the Hoosiers' first top-10 win since 1987. That very nearly knocks the Nittany Lions out of the College Football Playoff run, but a Week 9 win against No. 5 Ohio State — which dominated Nebraska 52-17 — could go a long way in building back trust in James Franklin's team.

Either way, Penn State doesn't look like the Big Ten's best bet to dethrone the Buckeyes. That moniker now goes to Michigan after the 18th-ranked Wolverines beat No. 21 Minnesota 49-24 in Minneapolis off a strong debut from quarterback Joe Milton.

MORE: Big Ten overreactions from opening weekend

Elsewhere, No. 1 Clemson and No. 2 Alabama continued to dominate in wins over Syracuse and Tennessee, respectively. And No. 9 Cincinnati proved itself the top Group of 5 team by dismantling No. 16 SMU 42-13.

With that, here are the latest AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll rankings after the Week 8 slate of games:

College football polls updated after Week 8

Coaches Poll

RankTeamPoints (No. 1 votes)W-L
1Clemson1,540 (52)6-0
2Alabama1,493 (8)5-0
3Ohio State1,374 (2)1-0
4Notre Dame1,3685-0
5Georgia1,2933-1
6Oklahoma State1,2094-0
7Cincinnati1,0584-0
8Texas A&M1,0553-1
9Florida1,0102-1
10BYU9416-0
11Wisconsin9281-0
12Miami9115-1
13North Carolina7964-1
14Michigan7891-0
15Oregon6740-0
16Kansas State5924-1
17Penn State4130-1
18Marshall3095-0
19Indiana3021-0
20USC2710-0
21Coastal Carolina2685-0
22Iowa State2153-2
23SMU1925-1
24Oklahoma1383-2
25Army1306-1

Moved in: Indiana; Oklahoma; Army.
Others receiving votes: Auburn 118; Liberty 112; Memphis 88; Boise State 79; Minnesota 67; UL Lafayette 62; Utah 45; Louisiana State 37; Boston College 28; Purdue 26; Missouri 25; Northwestern 24; Virginia Tech 22; NC State 20; Tulsa 18; Texas 18; Arkansas 17; Appalachian State 16; Central Florida 13; Arizona State 10; California 8; West Virginia 6; Tennessee 6; Iowa 6; Wake Forest 5; Stanford 3; Houston 2.

AP Top 25

RankTeamPoints (No. 1 votes)W-L
1Clemson1,539 (52)6-0
2Alabama1,494 (10)5-0
3Ohio State1,4021-0
4Notre Dame1,3535-0
5Georgia1,2923-1
6Oklahoma State1,2014-0
7Cincinnati1,1004-0
8Texas A&M1,0943-1
9Wisconsin9501-0
10Florida9332-1
11BYU9066-0
12Miami8885-1
13Michigan8391-0
14Oregon7840-0
15North Carolina7584-1
16Kansas State5624-1
17Indiana4661-0
18Penn State4430-1
19Marshall3795-0
20Coastal Carolina2825-0
21USC2430-0
22SMU2085-1
23Iowa State2053-2
24Oklahoma1553-2
25Boise State1331-0

Moved in: Indiana; Oklahoma; Boise State.
Others receiving votes: Memphis 105; Liberty 85; Tulsa 80; Louisiana-Lafayette 50; Army 44; Auburn 41; Minnesota 40; Utah 36; Northwestern 20; Washington 15; Arkansas 15; Purdue 8; Arizona State 7; Appalachian State 6; California 4; Boston College 2; Texas 2; San Diego State 1.

Zac Al-Khateeb

Zac Al-Khateeb has been part of The Sporting News team since 2015 after earning his Bachelor's (2013) and Master's (2014) degrees in journalism at the University of Alabama. Prior to joining TSN, he covered high school sports and general news in Alabama. A college sports specialist, Zac has been a voter for the Biletnikoff Award and Heisman Trophy since 2020.