Ohio State climbed to No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll released Sunday, moving up one spot during its idle week as chaos elsewhere in the top 10 reshuffled the rankings behind No. 1 Miami.
The Buckeyes (6-1) received 10 first-place votes and 1,681 points in the balloting, second only to Miami (7-0), which held the top spot with 59 first-place votes and 1,735 points after a 52-23 rout of Pittsburgh. Ohio State took the place of BYU, which tumbled six spots to No. 8 after losing 39-31 in double overtime at UCF.
Georgia rose two spots to No. 3, Indiana climbed to No. 4 after a 13-6 overtime win at Michigan, and Notre Dame slipped one spot to No. 5. Utah, which collected the remaining first-place vote, jumped to No. 6, followed by UCLA at No. 7, Kentucky at No. 9 and Alabama at No. 10.
The rise caps a strange climb for the Buckeyes, whose resume includes a 19-15 win over Indiana on Oct. 17 and whose only loss came Sept. 12, a 24-23 defeat against Texas. The Longhorns bounced back to No. 11 this week after beating Ole Miss, which fell to No. 12.
Cincinnati was the only other Ohio program to appear in the balloting, receiving 11 points in the others-receiving-votes list after its 37-24 upset of Texas Tech on Saturday. The Bearcats sit just outside the Top 25 heading into the final month of the regular season.
Ohio State’s road ahead is not simple. The Buckeyes are preparing for the possibility of finishing the season without starting quarterback Julian Sayin, and their next opponent, USC, dropped out of the poll entirely after a 24-7 loss at Wisconsin, which entered the rankings at No. 25.
Sunday’s poll was another major reordering in a season that has punished the top of the rankings: three more top-10 teams lost on Saturday, making 10 losses by top-10 teams over the last three weeks, and Miami was the only team in the entire Top 25 to hold its exact spot from the week before.
The Buckeyes return from the bye with their No. 2 ranking intact and a clear path in front of them: win out, and a return trip to the top of the poll — and the postseason picture that comes with it — stays in their own hands.