Arch Manning, Texas Back in Top 25 AP Poll as Bryce Underwood, Michigan Fall Out
One high-profile quarterback returned to the Associated Press Top 25, while another has dropped out.
Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns are back in the latest AP Poll, which was released Sunday, at No. 21 following Saturday's rivalry win over Oklahoma. At the same time, Bryce Underwood and the Michigan Wolverines fell out of the rankings entirely with Saturday's road loss to USC.
Here is a look at the full rankings:
Week 8 AP Top 25
1. Ohio State
2. Miami
3. Indiana
4. Texas A&M
5. Ole Miss
6. Alabama
7. Texas Tech
8. Oregon
9. Georgia
10. LSU
11. Tennessee
12. Georgia Tech
13. Notre Dame
14. Oklahoma
15. BYU
16. Missouri
17. Vanderbilt
18. Virginia
19. South Florida
20. USC
21. Texas
22. Memphis
23. Utah
24. Cincinnati
25. Nebraska
On the one hand, Texas surely wouldn't have been happy to be told it would be No. 21 in the rankings after six games. After all, it was No. 1 in the preseason rankings to start the season with national championship expectations.
However, it is surely feeling better about its outlook Sunday than it was at the start of play Saturday.
A 23-6 victory over the archrival Sooners was the team's most complete performance of the season, and the schedule now gives Manning and Co. an opportunity to build some momentum with the next two games against unranked Kentucky and Mississippi State.
While Manning has struggled to live up to sky-high expectations on an individual level, the Longhorns probably still control their own destiny in the College Football Playoff race. If they could add wins over Georgia and Texas A&M to Saturday's victory over Oklahoma, the losses to Ohio State and Florida probably wouldn't be enough to keep them out of the 12-team field.
Michigan also has two losses with the opportunity to bolster its resume with the annual rivalry clash with No. 1 Ohio State looming, but it surely doesn't feel the same level of optimism moving forward as Texas.
It lost to the same Sooners team earlier in the season the Longhorns defeated and was completely outplayed in Saturday's 31-13 defeat to USC.
Underwood was solid at 15-of-24 for 207 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, but the Wolverines averaged just 3.5 yards per rush and struggled to contain the Trojans offense.
The win over 5-1 Nebraska has aged well, but nothing else on Michigan's resume stands out at this point as it attempts to bounce back from five losses last year.
It will have to win out to be in the CFP, which is easier said than done with remaining contests against 5-1 Washington and the undefeated and reigning-champion Buckeyes.
