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Come Fan with UsTuesday, August 4, 2026

College football Coaches Poll Top 25, Week 7: Clemson, Florida State on collision course

The ACC’s two titans remain on the rise, with FSU advancing in the week’s first Top 25 poll after big wins.

Not much movement in the Coaches’ Poll, as just three teams ranked in the Top 25 suffered losses this weekend. Arizona State drops out, while Northwestern and Washington fall despite close losses to two of the top teams in the nation -- Ohio State and Stanford. Virginia Tech is in after their fourth straight win, defeating North Carolina on Saturday.

The story of the poll this week is Clemson moving into a tie for No. 3 with Ohio State after blasting Syracuse 49-14 and [edit: USA Today’s original poll results were incorrect; Ohio State still ranks No. 3] Florida State jumping both Georgia and Louisville after demolishing No. 25 Maryland 63-0. The two play on Oct. 19. [Also, the AP Top 25 is now out.]

Via USA Today [with edits]:

Rank Team Record Points First-place votes Previous rank
1 Alabama 5-0 1544 57 1
2 Oregon 5-0 1486 4 2
3 Ohio State 6-0 ? ? 3
4 Clemson 5-0 ? ? 4
5 Stanford 5-0 1327 0 5
6 Florida St. 5-0 1188 0 8
7 Georgia 4-1 1130 0 6
8 Louisville 5-0 1105 0 7
9 Texas A&M 4-1 1067 0 9
10 Oklahoma 5-0 964 0 10
11 LSU 5-1 953 0 11
12 South Carolina 4-1 833 0 12
13 UCLA 4-0 807 0 13
14 Miami 5-0 747 0 14
15 Baylor 4-0 698 0 16
16 Michigan 5-0 591 0 17
17 Florida 4-1 574 0 19
18 Northwestern 4-1 393 0 15
19 Washington 4-1 366 0 18
20 Oklahoma St. 4-1 350 0 20
21 Texas Tech 5-0 336 0 22
22 Fresno St. 5-0 325 0 21
23 Northern Illinois 5-0 169 0 23
24 Nebraska 4-1 125 0 25
25 Virginia Tech 5-1 97 0 NR
Schools Dropped Out
Others Receiving Votes
Missouri (5-0) 86; Notre Dame (4-2) 58; Wisconsin (3-2) 29; Michigan State (4-1) 16; Auburn (4-1) 11; Central Florida (4-1) 11; Oregon State (4-1) 8; Rutgers (4-1) 8; Arizona (3-1) 4; Arizona State (3-2) 4; Ball State (5-1) 3; Brigham Young (3-2) 2.

The Coaches’ Poll does actually matter, despite the reality of who votes on it. The coaches are supposed to be the ones picking the teams, but they’re mostly busy coaching their teams on Saturdays (and the rest of the week), and are unable to watch any other games. Instead, people in the media relations department usually handle voting, but they too spend every Saturday with their team.

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