AP Poll: Michigan Football moves into the Top-20 following Nebraska win

The fourth week of the college football season was a little different than previous weeks. Six of the top 14 teams in last week’s AP Poll were on bye, and Miami and Illinois were the only Top-10 teams to play Power 4 competition. Nonetheless, all five of the top-ranked matchups this weekend ended up telling the AP voters a lot about where each of those top programs currently sit, and the new poll shows that.

The Michigan Wolverines handled business on Saturday afternoon in a hostile Lincoln, Nebraska environment to move to 3-1 on the year and 1-0 in Big Ten play. While the final score only showed a three-point win, Michigan could have won by more had it not been for dropped passes, a taunting penalty that set up a Nebraska field goal, and a last-second Hail Mary at the end of the first half.

But the win was reflected in the AP Poll nonetheless, as Michigan moved up a couple spots from No. 21 to No. 19 in the latest batch of rankings. Michigan will enjoy a bye this upcoming week to get a bit healthier and work on some things before hosting Wisconsin on Oct. 4.

Around the Big Ten, the most notable win of the week came from Indiana’s blowout 63-10 victory over Illinois. The Hoosiers moved up to No. 11 while Illinois fell all the way down to No. 23 in the updated rankings. In addition, USC won its first matchup as a member of the Top-25 this season, taking down Michigan State at home with relative ease. The Trojans moved up four spots to No. 21 following the win at The Coliseum.

Keeping tabs on the rest of college football, Oklahoma (No. 7) clinched another big win this weekend after holding on through a tough test against the now-unranked Auburn Tigers at home. Meanwhile, Miami moved to 4-0 on the year after a win at home against Florida and moved all the way up to No. 2 in the country, it’s highest ranking in the AP Poll since 2017. Finally, Texas Tech picked up a huge road win against a gritty Utah team — which dropped out of the rankings entirely — to continue its rise in the rankings and now sits at No. 12.

 Here is the entire new AP Poll entering Week 5:

1. Ohio State
2. Miami
3. Penn State
4. LSU
5. Georgia
6. Oregon
7. Oklahoma
8. Florida State
9. Texas A&M
10. Texas
11. Indiana
12. Texas Tech
13. Ole Miss
14. Iowa State
15. Tennessee
16. Georgia Tech
17. Alabama
18. Vanderbilt
19. Michigan
20. Missouri
21. USC
22. Notre Dame
23. Illinois
24. TCU
25. BYU