AP College Football Poll 2020: Top 25 Rankings for Week 10

The latest Associated Press poll featured more changes after several top teams faced significant adversity over the past week. 

Clemson, Ohio State and Georgia each survived tough matchups Saturday, while Oklahoma State and Michigan suffered their first losses of the 2020 season. Though those teams still have time to make up for the defeats, it helps narrow the focus of the College Football Playoff during the shortened season. 

Here is the latest Top 25 for college football heading into Week 10.

AP Poll

1. Clemson

2. Alabama

3. Ohio State

4. Notre Dame

5. Georgia

6. Cincinnati

7. Texas A&M

8. Florida

9. BYU

10. Wisconsin

11. Miami (FL)

12. Oregon

13. Indiana

14. Oklahoma State

15. Coastal Carolina

16. Marshall

17. Iowa State

18. SMU

19. Oklahoma

20. USC

21. Boise State

22. Texas

23. Michigan

24. Auburn

25. Liberty

The biggest story across college football was Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence testing positive for COVID-19, which caused him to miss Saturday's game against Boston College and will keep him out of next week's game against Notre Dame, per Andrea Adelson of ESPN.

The Tigers struggled without the Heisman Trophy candidate, trailing 28-13 at halftime Saturday.

Backup quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei turned it on in the second half, however, leading the team to a 34-28 come-from-behind win. The defense also didn't allow any points on all five Eagles second-half drives.

Clemson stayed at No. 1 overall, but the challenge will be keeping it up against No. 4 Notre Dame next week.

"The standard doesn't change," Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. "Nobody's going to feel sorry for us. We've all got to be ready. It will be the same situation. Now [Uiagalelei has] got some experience, not going to ask him to go out there and do anything other than just be yourself, manage the plan and make the plays that are there."

Notre Dame breezed through a 31-13 win over Georgia Tech on Saturday, while Alabama easily disposed of Mississippi State in a 41-0 blowout.

Ohio State had a tough matchup against Penn State but wasn't intimidated by the empty Beaver Stadium. Justin Fields totaled 318 passing yards and four touchdowns to help the Buckeyes stay ahead of the Nittany Lions with a 38-25 win.

Oklahoma State wasn't able to survive its difficult challenge against Texas and suffered a 41-34 loss in overtime. Spencer Sanders had 400 passing yards and four touchdowns for the Cowboys and also led a game-tying field-goal drive in the final minute of regulation. However, he couldn't match Texas in overtime:

Though Oklahoma State was the last remaining undefeated team in the Big 12, the loss caused the Cowboys to drop from No. 6 to No. 14.

Michigan was also a big loser on the day while falling from No. 13 to No. 23 in the rankings. The Wolverines appeared to be a legit contender after a blowout win over Minnesota in the first game, but a home loss to rival Michigan State quieted the excitement.

Rocky Lombardi threw three passing touchdowns to lead the Spartans to the upset victory one week after losing to Rutgers.

It was also another strong week for multiple Group of Five teams, including Cincinnati and Coastal Carolina—along with independent BYU—each of which won by more than 30 on Saturday.

No. 9 BYU will face No. 21 Boise State on Friday in what could be one of the bigger games of Week 10 in addition to Clemson-Notre Dame and Florida-Georgia.