College football AP Top 25 rankings: Some marquee wins have aged well -- others, not so much — SkimNews
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- Alabama beat No. 9 Kentucky 45-17 on Sept. 12 and outscored the Wildcats 32-0 after halftime; Kentucky has not lost since, leaving Alabama with its only win over a currently top-25 team.
- Texas erased a 20-point deficit to beat No. 1 Ohio State 24-23 on Sept. 12; with Ohio State now No. 2 and one of only two unbeaten Big Ten teams, the Longhorns own one of the season's best nonconference victories.
- Texas Tech held off then-No. 22 Houston 28-26 on Sept. 18 after a failed two-point conversion; Houston has since gone 4-1 and sits No. 18, leaving it as Texas Tech's lone ranked win.
- Miami led Wake Forest 31-7 at halftime while Darian Mensah completed an ACC-record 24 straight passes in a 33-20 Sept. 19 win; Wake Forest then won four straight and rose to No. 14, making the road victory more impressive than the final margin.
- Kentucky's Oct. 10 overtime win over then-No. 18 LSU aged well as LSU climbed to No. 15 and won consecutive SEC games by blowout; its Sept. 19 win over then-No. 9 Texas A&M aged poorly once the Aggies fell out of the rankings at 4-4.
- Northwestern rushed for 413 yards in a 34-13 Oct. 2 win over Penn State; the Nittany Lions are winless in Big Ten play after four games, while Northwestern is now ranked and 6-1.
Why it matters: Before the Nov. 3 College Football Playoff poll, Texas, Texas Tech, Miami and Alabama retain ranked-win value because Ohio State, Houston, Wake Forest and Kentucky remain in the AP Top 25. When those opponents fall out, the distinction disappears: Alabama's win over Mississippi State and Michigan's over Oklahoma no longer count as ranked victories.
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