The Week 5 USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll update came out during the first half of Florida’s game against Eastern Washington. Hurricane Ian forced UF to move the game back a day, and that the voters don’t wait for Sunday games to be completed to submit votes.
As one might expect, the Gators remained unranked with no new tape on deck, but their play in the first half against Eastern Washington may warrant an extra look. If Florida can hold on to the win and handle a Missouri team that challenged Georgia next week, it might be able to jump back into the top 25 before hosting LSU.
Speaking of Georgia, the Bulldogs fell back to No. 2 on the list behind Alabama after a narrow win over the Tigers. As far as the rest of the SEC, Tennessee moved up a spot to No. 8 on a bye week after Kentucky fell to Ole Miss; the Wildcats fell to No. 13 and the Rebels climbed into the top 10.
Mississippi State moved into the top 25 at No. 20 after beating Texas A&M, and Arkansas rounds out the group at No. 25 despite losing to the Aggies a week ago. Go figure.
Five teams jumped 10 spots or more this week to move into the top 25, so there’s still hope for Florida to return to relevance. Baylor is 3-2 and ranked No. 22 this week. The Bears have lost to No. 9 Oklahoma State by 11 and No. 19 BYU by six points. Florida’s losses are to No. 7 Kentucky by 10 and No. 8 Tennessee by five points, but the Gators also have a win over No. 12 Utah.
The numbers say that Florida should be ranked, but it’ll take two-straight wins to convince the coaches with a vote.
A look at the full USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports:
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Change |
| 1 | Alabama | 5-0 | 1,568 (34) | +1 |
| 2 | Georgia | 5-0 | 1,545 (23) | -1 |
| 3 | Ohio State | 5-0 | 1,492 (4) | – |
| 4 | Michigan | 5-0 | 1,374 | – |
| 5 | Clemson | 5-0 | 1,352 | – |
| 6 | Southern California | 5-0 | 1,247 | – |
| 7 | Oklahoma State | 4-0 | 1,225 | – |
| 8 | Tennessee | 4-0 | 1,142 | +1 |
| 9 | Ole Miss | 5-0 | 1,082 | +2 |
| 10 | Penn State | 5-0 | 990 | +2 |
| 11 | Utah | 4-1 | 919 | +2 |
| 12 | Oregon | 4-1 | 823 | +3 |
| 13 | Kentucky | 4-1 | 811 | -5 |
| 14 | North Carolina State | 4-1 | 732 | -4 |
| 15 | Wake Forest | 4-1 | 668 | +6 |
| 16 | Brigham Young | 4-1 | 594 | +4 |
| 17 | Kansas | 5-0 | 433 | +10 |
| 18 | Texas Christian | 4-0 | 425 | +14 |
| 19 | UCLA | 5-0 | 421 | +19 |
| 20 | Kansas State | 4-1 | 324 | +10 |
| 21 | Syracuse | 5-0 | 306 | +4 |
| 22 | Baylor | 3-2 | 230 | -8 |
| 23 | Mississippi State | 4-1 | 194 | +12 |
| 24 | Washington | 4-1 | 161 | -6 |
| 25 | Arkansas | 3-2 | 141 | -6 |
Schools Dropped Out
Others Receiving Votes
Cincinnati 140; Louisiana State 89; Florida State 74; Florida 41; Washington State 38; Maryland 37; James Madison 30; Minnesota 23; Texas 22; Texas A&M 20; Air Force 20; Oklahoma 19; Coastal Carolina 11; Purdue 10; North Carolina 9; Tulane 6; Notre Dame 5; Illinois 3; Central Florida 2; Pittsburgh 1; Duke 1.
Here’s a look at how each Power Five conference fared in this week’s update.
