Will Ohio State or Texas move up to No. 1 after Alabama's loss? (Video)

A team ranked in the top two of the AP Top 25 lost for the second straight Saturday.

A week ago, No. 4 Alabama beat No. 2 Georgia 41-34 in a loss that turned into a thriller. On Saturday, Alabama was the team that pulled off the upset as the No. 1 Crimson Tide lost 40-35 at Vanderbilt. It was the Commodores' first win over Alabama in 40 years and the school's first win ever over a team ranked in the top five, let alone a team ranked No. 1.

We don't have to tell you there will be a new No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 on Sunday. That's obvious. The two candidates are also obvious. It will be a surprise if Texas or Ohio State aren't ranked No. 1 on Sunday.

And guess what? There's a good chance one of these two teams loses in Week 7.

Texas is currently the No. 2 team and did not play Saturday as it prepares for its Red River Rivalry showdown with No. 19 Oklahoma. Texas will be the favorite in this game, but rivalry games on neutral sites can be strange. Just ask the Longhorns. No. 12 Oklahoma beat No. 3 Texas by a late touchdown a season ago. In 2022, Texas defeated Oklahoma 49-0 in a matchup of unranked teams. Four of the last five games in the Cotton Bowl Series were won by one possession.

Texas could easily improve a place without playing. But Ohio State was able to get past the Longhorns thanks to an easy 35-7 win over Iowa. The Hawkeyes were Ohio State's biggest test yet. And well, they were an easy test. Iowa didn't score until the fourth quarter as Ohio State's defense dominated and the offense got going in the third quarter. OSU QB Will Howard threw four touchdowns. Three of them went to Emeka Egbuka and the other was a one-handed catch by freshman Jeremiah Smith.

Ohio State has been very good so far this season, even if fans have been left wanting more. The Buckeyes' 28-point victory margin on Saturday was their smallest of the season. Admittedly, in addition to Iowa, Akron, Western Michigan, Marshall and Michigan State were also on the schedule. But that's still pretty impressive.

It's hard to imagine Ohio State winning its next game by four points. The Buckeyes travel to Eugene in Week 7 to play No. 6 Oregon in the biggest game of the weekend. The Ducks made it 5-0 against Michigan State on Friday and could even be favorites by the time the game kicks off.

It's a game that could be a preview of the Big Ten title game – and will have a big impact on who's in that game. Ohio State still has both Penn State and Michigan on its schedule, and the Ducks also face the Wolverines in November.

No matter who ends up in first place on Sunday, their stay at the top may not last long. Texas has Georgia in Week 8 and the Buckeyes play at Penn State on November 2nd. Given how the 2024 season has gone so far, the top five will change quite frequently going forward.

Here are the rest of this week's winners and losers:

winner

Army and Navy: The service academies are in full swing. Both the Army and Navy are 5-0 for the first time since 1945. Navy defeated Air Force 34-7 on Saturday, while Army defeated Tulsa 42-49 and 7. It's not out of the question that both Navy and Army will qualify for the AAC title game, meeting for the conference title a week before their traditional rivalry game. That would be awkward. But also pretty funny.

Pitt: The Panthers are 5-0 for the first time since 1991 after a 34-24 win at North Carolina. Alabama transfer Eli Holstein was 25 of 42 for 381 yards and three touchdowns and also led the Panthers with 10 carries for 76 yards and a score. Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi has always been a run-first guy, but his offense was at its best when Holstein took over. Pitt hosts Cal in Week 7 before playing Syracuse in Week 9. Bowl eligibility isn't far away.

Syracuse: Speaking of the Orange, they got a TD pass from Kyle McCord to Jackson Meeks with 23 seconds left to force overtime against No. 25 UNLV with a 44-41 win on Friday night. After the Rebels kicked a field goal to open overtime, LeQuint Allen won the game with a 1-yard TD run. McCord threw the ball 63 times and completed 40 of those passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns. The Orange are now 4-1 and UNLV's time in the top 25 will be very short. Currently.

Sam Houston: The Bearkats are rolling. Sam Houston moved to 5-1 with a 41-21 win at UTEP on Thursday night. The former FCS powerhouse is close to making its first FBS bowl game appearance with another win. DJ McKinney rushed 14 times for 138 yards and two scores, helping the Bearkats earn all-state victories against Rice, Texas State and the Miners. Sam Houston is a contender for the Conference USA title game.

Virginia: After a 24-14 home win over Boston College, the Cavaliers are now 4-1 and 2-0 in the ACC. Virginia scored 18 straight points in the fourth quarter and turned a 14-6 Boston College lead into a 10-point win in eight minutes. Virginia turned a three-point lead into a two-possession game with a 40-yard fumble return by Jonas Sanker.

SMU: The Mustangs are doing well in the ACC. Thanks to a controversial replay call, SMU moved to 5-1 with a 34-27 victory over No. 22 Louisville. The QB switch to Kevin Jennings paid off as Jennings was 21 of 27 for 281 yards and also ran 10 times for 113 yards and a score in the win. SMU no longer has a ranked team on the schedule and is more than just a weak candidate to reach the ACC title game.

Louisiana Monroe: The Warhawks ended James Madison's undefeated season with a 21-19 victory over the Dukes. ULM overcame a 10-0 first-half deficit before halftime and scored the game-winning score in the fourth quarter when Aidan Armenta hit Jake Godfrey for a 12-yard touchdown. ULM is now 4-1 and two wins away from a bowl game. There has been a huge turnaround under former UAB interim coach Bryant Vincent.

loser

Oklahoma State: What the hell is going on in Stillwater? The Cowboys were defeated 38-14 by a West Virginia team that started the game 2-2. The Mountaineers had a clear game plan on Saturday: Run the damn ball. And it worked. WVU ran 65 times for 389 yards and four scores. Oklahoma State had 21 carries for 36 yards, while last year's All-American Ollie Gordon had 13 carries for 50 yards. After reaching the Big 12 title game in 2023, OSU is now 0-3 in the conference and has little hope of returning to the title game.

Auburn coach Hugh Freeze: The Tigers lost to No. 5 Georgia on Saturday. That wasn't a surprise. It was also no surprise that Freeze once again blamed his quarterback for a key mistake.

Freeze can be blunt, but he also places a lot of blame on his players over the course of Auburn's 2-4 start. Are Auburn players failing to reach their full potential? It's very possible. But it also seems unlikely that it's just about the players and has a little to do with coaching.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks had a chance to take on a reeling Ole Miss on Saturday and laid an egg. The No. 12 Rebels had no problems at all in a 27-3 win over the Gamecocks. JJ Pegues had two rushing scores for the Rebels as South Carolina averaged less than five yards per pass and turned it over twice. USC travels to Alabama in Week 7 and then visits Oklahoma in Week 8 before a home game against Texas A&M in early November. Can the Gamecocks steal a game to avoid a 1-5 start in SEC play?

UAB: The Blazers make it into the losers column for the second year in a row. We usually avoid weakening teams in consecutive weeks, but a 71-20 home loss is hard to ignore. Yes, Tulane is a very good football team, but UAB was once a very good football team. The Blazers are now doing anything but well under Trent Dilfer, and it remains difficult to imagine that his hiring was anything but a failure.