Rankings · by Who's Starting Staff · Nov 2, 2026
Why WS has Miami Hurricanes at No. 1: Week 9 power rankings, the movers, and the why
WS's Week 9 power rankings: the top 10, who moved and why, and the game behind every jump.
As of 2026-11-02T18:31:35.660Z, built from 2841 completed games this season. Full 138-team list and methodology: How it's calculated.
Who moved up
No. 18 USC Trojans rose from No. 32 last week, after it beat Ohio State 30-18. Lost to Oregon Ducks (then #11) in week 4. No. 19 Iowa Hawkeyes rose from No. 29 last week, after it beat Wisconsin 30-0. Lost to Minnesota Golden Gophers in week 8. No. 4 Utah Utes rose from No. 7 last week, after it beat Cincinnati 49-25 on the road. Beat Houston Cougars (then #23) in week 8.
Who moved down
No. 12 Ohio State Buckeyes fell from No. 2 last week, after it lost to USC 18-30 on the road. Lost to USC Trojans (then #32) in week 9. No. 25 Northwestern Wildcats fell from No. 16 last week, after it lost to Oregon 26-34 on the road. Lost to Oregon Ducks in week 9. No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers fell from No. 9 last week, after it lost to South Carolina 24-27 on the road. Lost to Texas Longhorns (then #1) in week 4.
Why the top is where it is
WS's model has Miami Hurricanes (OVR 98) at No. 1 this week. No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs sits 1 OVR points back.
About the order
Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Utah Utes all rate the same OVR this week; WS rank breaks a tie like this using each team's season résumé and a head-to-head pass, not alphabetical order. See the methodology for how it's calculated.
Where this comes from
The full 25 and the 138-team table live on WS Power Rankings. Every team's own rating breakdown is one tap from its page: see why Miami Hurricanes rates where it does.
Newsletter
Get our articles by email
One email a week, with whatever we published. No scores, no spam, nothing else.