Texas is No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll for the first time in 16 years, replacing Georgia on Sunday after the Bulldogs struggled to remain unbeaten.

The Longhorns moved up a spot from No. 2 and received 35 first-place votes and 1,540 points. The Bulldogs, who have been No. 1 since the preseason poll, received 23 first-place votes and 1,518 points.

Ohio State received five first-place votes and stayed at No. 3 during an off week. No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Ole Miss held their places, and Tennessee moved up a spot to No. 6, flip-flopping with SEC rival Missouri.

The last time the Longhorns were No. 1 was the middle of the 2008 season, when they spent three weeks at the top of the polls before losing a memorable game at Texas Tech in early November. The Longhorns are likely to settle into the top spot for at least another week with a home game against UL Monroe up next, possibly with Arch Manning as the starting quarterback.

Manning, the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, stepped in Saturday night against UTSA when Quinn Ewers went out with an abdomen injury that coach Steve Sarkisian said was not serious.

“There’s nothing like being in the game. Playing in front of 105,000 people is not the easiest thing to do. I’m really proud of Arch,” Sarkisian said.

A week after the SEC became the first conference to hold six of the first seven spots, the league repeated the feat.

There was some shuffling at the back of the top 10, with No. 8 Oregon and No. 9 Miami each moving up a spot and Penn State slipping back to No. 10.

POLL POINTS

Winning and dropping from No. 1 is not unusual. This is the 94th time it has happened since the poll started in 1936 and first time since Georgia and Alabama swapped No. 1 back and forth for a few weeks in 2022.

The Bulldogs, who remained No. 1 in the coaches poll this week, needed a second-half rally to squeak by 13-12 at Kentucky — the same Kentucky team that was buried at home a week earlier by South Carolina. That was the fewest points scored by a No. 1 team in a victory since Alabama beat LSU 10-0 in 2016.

“I don’t know much about this team, but I found out more tonight than I’ve known to this point,” coach Kirby Smart told reporters after the game.

Georgia has dominated the top spot in the AP poll since 2021, with 39 appearances.

In its first season as a member of the SEC, Texas keeps No. 1 in the conference where it has resided for 50 of the past 52 polls, dating back to the start of the 2021 season. Only Michigan of the Big Ten in the final two polls of last season has interrupted the streak of No. 1 rankings by the SEC, which includes 10 appearances by Alabama.

Looking ahead, both the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs are off next week to prepare for a likely top-five matchup in Tuscaloosa on Sept. 28 that should have voters thinking about who’s No. 1 again.

IN AND OUT

Boston College joined fellow ACC member Georgia Tech in the brief-stay-after-a-long-drought club. The Eagles lost at Missouri and fell out of the rankings after moving in last week for the first time since 2018.

Arizona is also out for the first time this season after getting thumped by Kansas State.

Moving in for the first time this season was Illinois at No. 24. Texas A&M jumped back into the rankings at No. 25.

CONFERENCE CALL

The 18-team Big Ten matched a conference record (reached 11 times previously) with seven ranked teams.

SEC: 9 (Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 15, 16, 25)
Big Ten: 7 (Nos. 3, 9, 10, 11, 18, 22, 24)
Big 12: 4 (Nos. 12, 13, 14, 20)
ACC: 3 (Nos. 8, 19, 21)
MAC: 1 (No. 23)
Independent: 1 (No. 17)

RANKED VS. RANKED

No. 24 Illinois at No. 22 Nebraska (Friday): The last time the Cornhuskers hosted a game with both teams ranked was 2013, when No. 16 UCLA beat No. 23 Nebraska 41-21.

No. 6 Tennessee at No. 15 Oklahoma (Saturday): The Volunteers welcome the Sooners to the SEC, with ESPN’s “College GameDay” rolling out the welcome mat in Norman.

No. 11 USC at No. 18 Michigan (Saturday): The Wolverines welcome the Trojans to the Big Ten.

No. 12 Utah at No. 14 Oklahoma State (Saturday): The first big game between Big 12 teams that actually counts in the conference standings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers‘ oblique strain is not as serious as initially feared and his status for returning to play is considered week-to-week, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Sunday.

Ewers is likely to miss No. 1 Texas’ game against UL Monroe on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN+), which would pave the way for redshirt freshman Arch Manning to make his first career start for the Longhorns.

There’s no set timetable for his return from his abdominal injury, but sources said there’s optimism after consulting with doctors. Orangebloods first reported that Ewers’ status is week-to-week.

Ewers suffered the noncontact injury in the second quarter of Texas’ 56-7 win over UTSA on Saturday night and did not return to the game. Manning replaced him and produced 223 passing yards, 53 rushing yards and five total touchdowns over nine drives.

Texas opens SEC play at home against Mississippi State on Sept. 28 and then has an idle week before meeting No. 15 Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry in Dallas on Oct. 12 and No. 2 Georgia on Oct. 19.

The Longhorns moved ahead of Georgia to No. 1 in the AP poll on Sunday following the Bulldogs’ close 13-12 win at Kentucky. This is the first time Texas has been ranked No. 1 in the poll since 2008.

The ACC publicly reprimanded Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi and fined the school $5,000 on Sunday after he criticized the officiating following a 38-34 win over West Virginia.

Pitt completed a fourth-quarter comeback over its rivals Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh. In his postgame comments on ESPN, Narduzzi said, “Some of the calls we got — late hit out of bounds, they catch a ball with a hands in the face and I’ve never seen anything like it, you know? Wow. We beat West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl, and we beat the officials, too, in one game.”

Pitt was penalized 12 times for 112 yards, while West Virginia had seven penalties for 67 yards.

In its statement Sunday night, the ACC said Narduzzi violated the ACC sportsmanship policy, which states, in part: “Public criticism of officials or public comments evaluating the officiating of particular contests is not in the best interest of intercollegiate athletics.”