AP College Football Poll 2023: Week 5 Top 25 Rankings Announced

In a week devoid of major upsets across the college football landscape, the focus instead shifted to major matchups between Top 25 opponents.

Ohio State escaped Notre Dame with a last-second victory, Penn State throttled Iowa, Oregon pummeled Colorado, Alabama dominated Ole Miss in the second half, Washington State pulled off a narrow win over Oregon State, and Utah held tight against UCLA to set the stage for changes in the Associated Press Top 25.

The top of the poll remains largely unchanged, with Georgia maintaining its spot atop the rankings and being followed by Michigan, Texas, Ohio State and Florida State to round out the Top Five.

Here is a look at how the entire Top 25 played out.

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Texas
4. Ohio State
5. Florida State
6. Penn State
7. Washington
8. USC
9. Oregon
10. Utah
11. Notre Dame
12. Alabama
13. LSU
14. Oklahoma
15. North Carolina
16. Washington State
17. Duke
18. Miami
19. Oregon State
20. Ole Miss
21. Tennessee
22. Florida
23. Missouri
24. Kansas
25. Fresno State

In what will surely be the most-watched game of the week, Ohio State pulled off a 17-14 win over Notre Dame when Chip Trayanum barely edged the ball past the goal line on a 1-yard carry with one second remaining. Notre Dame had just 10 players on defense during its final defensive play, a costly gaffe coach Marcus Freeman took responsibility for after the game.

"We were trying to get a fourth D-line man on the field, and I told him just stay off because we can't afford a penalty," Freeman told reporters. "I didn't have any timeouts, right? So we couldn't afford a penalty there.

"Yeah, it's on us. We got to be better."

That mistake may cost Notre Dame any chance of making the College Football Playoff. The Irish have just two games remaining this season against ranked opponents, one of which is Duke—not exactly the type of opponent that can push a team without a conference into the title conversation. Notre Dame will need a ton of help and an impressive win over USC on Oct. 14 if it hopes to have any chance of sneaking in.

Ohio State will have a week off to fix its ailing offense and will be a heavy favorite over Purdue and Maryland in its next two games. However, Ryan Day has less than a month to get the ball rolling before a Penn State team seemingly primed for a playoff push comes to Columbus.

The Nittany Lions overwhelmed Iowa in Happy Valley on Saturday, holding the Hawkeyes to a paltry 76 yards of total offense while compiling 397 of their own. Penn State has won nine straight games by 14 or more points dating back to last season, and sophomore quarterback Drew Allar has thrown 185 passes without an interception in his college career.

The Lions have never made the CFP but have their best all-around roster since 2016—the last time Penn State defeated its most heated rival.

That said, no team looked more dominant in a statement win this weekend than Oregon. The Ducks wiped their feet with the Coach Prime hype and ripped Colorado to shreds in a 42-6 beatdown. Oregon held a 35-0 at halftime and slammed the door shut on Shadeur Sanders' Heisman hopes, holding the Buffaloes quarterback to just 159 passing yards.

Ducks coach Dan Lanning took a brash stance both inside his locker room, with one particular pregame quote generating a ton of attention.

"The Cinderella story's over, men. They're fighting for clicks, we're fighting for wins. There's a difference," Lanning said to his team before the game.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders called the loss a "good old-fashioned butt-kicking" but sent a warning that teams better beat his team now because the program is only going to get better.

The Buffaloes dropped out of the Top 25 after the loss.