College football's most chaotic Saturday ever sees historic wave of upsets shake the AP Top 25
Seven ranked teams fell on the same Saturday, including five of the seven highest-ranked squads in the AP poll — a combination that had never occurred in regular-season play, according to Sportradar. The upheaval was led by the SEC, where No. 1 Georgia lost at home to unranked Auburn on a last-second field goal, and No. 7 Texas dropped a second straight game, this time to Florida, on a late Arch Manning fumble. No. 6 Alabama also fell, losing to No. 14 Tennessee 26-10 in Knoxville. Away from the SEC, No. 2 Notre Dame lost at No. 8 BYU and No. 5 Indiana's 22-game winning streak ended against No. 4 Ohio State, with a would-be tying touchdown catch negated when the receiver stepped out of bounds in the final minute.
Five of the top seven teams in the AP Top 25 lost on the same day in the regular season for the first time in history.
Why it matters
For coaches: Coaches of teams that held serve, like Tennessee's Josh Heupel, may see significant movement in poll standing and playoff seeding.
For media: The historic level of chaos on a single Saturday will reshape College Football Playoff narratives and poll coverage for weeks.
For athletes: Players on previously unbeaten rosters now face a narrower path to the College Football Playoff after their teams absorbed unexpected losses.
Read the full story at Yahoo Sports college football
Sources
- Yahoo Sports college football: Historic day in college football sees 5 of the top 7 teams in the Top 25 losing in the regular season for the first time
- Yahoo Sports college football: Historic day in college football sees 5 of the top 7 teams in the Top 25 losing in the regular season for the first time