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Oregon moved up to No. 2 in the Associated Press college football poll Sunday, while Ole Miss jumped nine rungs to No. 4 for its highest ranking since 2015 in the wake of a volatile weekend in which four top-10 teams lost.

Alabama also jumped back into the top 10, and Virginia entered the Top 25 for the first time in six years.

Ohio State, which won at Washington, remains No. 1 for the fifth straight week. The Buckeyes received 46 first-place votes, six fewer than a week ago, and their 30-point lead over Oregon is the closest margin between the top two teams since the preseason poll in mid-August.

Oregon’s two-overtime win at Penn State earned 16 first-place votes — 15 more than last week — and gave the Ducks their highest ranking since they were No. 1 for two months last year.

Miami, which had an open date, slipped one spot to No. 3 and was followed by Ole Miss and idle Oklahoma. The No. 4 Rebels were rewarded by voters for beating LSU and have their highest ranking since they were No. 3 in late September 2015.

Ole Miss’ nine-spot rise into the top five was the biggest by any team since the Rebels jumped 12 spots to No. 3 for beating Alabama in 2015.

LSU fell to No. 13, swapping places with Ole Miss.

Texas A&M, Penn State, Indiana, Texas and Alabama round out the top 10.

Indiana has been the fastest riser over the past month, moving up 15 rungs since Week 1. Over that span, Oklahoma and Texas A&M have each risen 13 spots.

Alabama, which had been out of the top 10 since losing its opener against Florida State by two touchdowns, has won three straight after beating Georgia for the 10th time in 11 meetings and ending the Bulldogs’ 33-game home win streak. No. 12 Georgia has its lowest ranking since it was No. 12 on Dec. 6, 2020. It’s just the second poll the Bulldogs have been out of the top 10 since 2021.

The losses by Penn State, LSU and Georgia marked the first time since 2016 that three top-five teams lost the same week in the regular season.

Week 5 marked the second time this season that four top-10 teams lost. It also happened in Week 1, but three of the four top-10 teams had to lose that week because there were three top-10 matchups.

Florida State’s loss at Virginia was the latest development in an up-and-down season for the Seminoles. The Seminoles went from unranked to No. 14 for beating Alabama, were in the top 10 for three weeks and plunged 10 spots to No. 18 this week.

No. 24 Virginia, not listed on any ballots in the previous poll, was rewarded for beating its highest-ranked opponent since then-No. 4 Florida State in 2005. The Cavaliers are 4-1 for a second straight season for the first time since 2003-04.

No. 25 Arizona State‘s come-from-behind victory over then-No. 24 TCU returned the Sun Devils to the Top 25 after a three-week absence. The Horned Frogs, meanwhile, dropped out, as did USC (21st).

CONFERENCE CALL

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

RANKED VS. RANKED

Miami at Florida State: It will be the 27th time the Hurricanes and Seminoles face off as ranked teams. Miami is 15-11 in those games, but Florida State has won the past five such contests, the last of which came in 2016.

Vanderbilt at Alabama: The Crimson Tide will be looking for payback. Vanderbilt’s 40-35 win as a 23-point underdog last season marked the Commodores’ first over a No. 1 team and was widely regarded as the 2024 upset of the year.

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Florida freshman WR Wilson to debut vs. Texas

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Florida freshman WR Wilson to debut vs. Texas

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida has offensive help on the way with a freshman receiver who just might make a difference against No. 9 Texas on Saturday.

Dallas Wilson is practicing for the first time since injuring his left foot in training camp and is scheduled to make his collegiate debut against the Longhorns, coach Billy Napier said Monday.

Napier called Wilson’s availability “a big deal.”

“Three good days of work last week, and I thought he handled the load well,” Napier said. “He feels really good. So far, so good.”

Wilson, a 6-foot-3, 213-pound newcomer from Tampa, was the star of Florida’s spring game in April. He caught 10 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns, and all indications in fall practice pointed to it not being a fluke.

But Wilson injured his foot late in camp, spent weeks in a protective boot and watched from afar as the Gators (1-3, 0-1 SEC) struggled to move the ball and find the end zone. Florida scored 16, 10 and 7 points, respectively, in consecutive losses to South Florida, LSU and Miami, raising speculation about Napier’s future in Gainesville.

Quarterback DJ Lagway has been the focus of the team’s offensive woes. The sophomore who went 6-1 as a starter last season missed most of the year dealing with injuries and looked rusty when the season began.

Although Lagway’s mechanics seemed improved in the team’s 26-7 setback at Miami on Sept. 20, his offensive line got manhandled and allowed way too much pressure for anyone to notice. Lagway completed 12 of 23 passes for 61 yards against the Hurricanes.

Napier used the off week to get Lagway more live-action reps in hopes of getting him “caught up.” But he also reiterated the need to “play better around him.”

“Each position group needs to step up,” Napier said. “More detail, eliminate errors, eliminate penalties, whatever the case may be. I just think more detail and better overall play around him. And, obviously, he needs to continue to get back closer to being himself.”

Adding Wilson to the mix should help.

The Gators haven’t shown much depth at receiver. Freshman Vernell Brown III has been Lagway’s go-to guy, catching 18 passes for 219 yards. But Eugene Wilson III, J. Michael Sturdivant and Aidan Mizell have been mostly underwhelming.

Dallas Wilson has been unable to help — until now. The Gators are confident he will change the narrative against the No. 1 scoring defense in the SEC.

“Just having him out is going to be amazing for us,” Lagway said. “His ability to go deep, his ability to make plays underneath and be able to make miraculous plays with the ball in his hands, it’s going to be great to have him back.”

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Finebaum mulls leaving ESPN for U.S. Senate run

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Finebaum mulls leaving ESPN for U.S. Senate run

SEC Network host Paul Finebaum said Monday that he would consider leaving ESPN to run for the U.S. Senate, representing Alabama.

The 70-year-old Finebaum said during a recent interview with Outkick that he’d run as a Republican to fill the seat vacated by former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville, who has said he’ll run for Alabama governor in the 2026 elections. Tuberville’s current Senate term ends in 2027.

The qualifying deadline to run for Senate is Jan. 26, 2026. Finebaum said he would likely have to leave his hosting and analyst duties if he decided to run. He told Outkick he’d make a decision within the next 30-45 days.

Finebaum said he hadn’t seriously considered politics, but the assassination of Charlie Kirk was the impetus to give a run at politics further thought. He noted that he had received a “text” from “one or two people in Washington” gauging his interest in politics.

“[It was] something I never thought about before,” Finebaum told Outkick.

Finebaum is currently registered as a Republican in North Carolina, where he works for the SEC Network. He told Outkick he recently moved to Alabama, where he hosted a radio show for years, and would re-register there.

Finebaum hosted radio shows in Alabama for almost 30 years before joining ESPN and the SEC Network. He started his media career as a newspaper writer and columnist.

“Alabama has always been the place I’ve felt the most welcome, that I’ve cared the most about the people,” he said. “I’ve spoken to people from Alabama for 35 years, and I feel there is a connection that is hard to explain.”

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Petrino overhauls staff, fires defensive assistants

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Petrino overhauls staff, fires defensive assistants

Bobby Petrino has fired three defensive assistants just one day after being named interim head coach at Arkansas as part of an overhaul of the Razorbacks’ coaching staff.

Petrino dismissed defensive coordinator Travis Williams, defensive line coach Deke Adams and defensive assistant Marcus Woodson in the latest moves after being appointed interim coach for the rest of the season to replace Sam Pittman, who was fired Sunday following five-plus seasons as Arkansas’ head coach.

“I just felt like how we performed on Saturday gave me an indication that maybe Sam had lost the team a little bit because they generally had played really hard for him throughout his tenure,” Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek said of the move, which came on the heels of a 56-13 home loss to Notre Dame.

Petrino, 64, returned to Arkansas in 2023 as offensive coordinator after serving in a number of jobs. In four years as the Razorbacks’ head coach, he went 34-17, including consecutive seasons with double-digit victories in 2010 and 2011.

“Coach Petrino, as we met yesterday, he accepted this opportunity with the understanding that he also wanted an opportunity to formally be a candidate for our head coaching position, and he will have that opportunity, but we’ll also subsequently run a search for our next head coach at the same time,” Yurachek said.

Pittman’s dismissal, Petrino’s temporary promotion and the defensive assistant dismissals weren’t the only changes. Chris Wilson was named the team’s interim defensive coordinator.

Petrino had high praise for Wilson, who was in his first year with the Razorbacks as an assistant defensive line coach.

“My experience [with Wilson] goes way back to having to battle against him when he had all the great defensive linemen at Mississippi State,” Petrino said. “Very, very impressed with what he’s done throughout his career. Guy’s got a Super Bowl ring. He brings a lot of credibility into the room.”

Several defensive players posted cryptic messages on social media following the firing of Williams, who had served as the team’s defensive coordinator since 2023. Yurachek and Petrino encouraged players to welcome change amid a 2-3 start to the season.

“The No. 1 thing is, you have to get used to change. You know, your whole life there’s going to be change. So how we handle that, our attitude on how we handle that, will determine how quickly we improve,” Petrino said.

Petrino was involved in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash in April 2012 that left him with four broken ribs. At first, he said he was riding alone, but a police report revealed a woman was riding with him. The woman turned out to be a former Arkansas athlete who was in a romantic relationship with the married Petrino. The coach had given her a job in the football program and a $20,000 gift.

Petrino was fired by then-athletic director Jeff Long for misleading his bosses about what happened with the accident and his relationship with the football staffer.

Pittman, 63, went 32-34 with the Razorbacks.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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