For the third-straight week, Ohio State is the No. 2 team in the nation, trailing only Alabama, the defending national champions.
Behind them, Louisville fell from No. 4 to No. 8 after its close loss to No. 3 Clemson, Stanford fell out of the top-10 after being dismantled by Washington, and Wisconsin fell to No. 13 after a close loss to Michigan.
The upcoming week 6 is relatively tame by this week's standards. The weekend features just two contests between ranked teams – No. 9 Tennessee vs. No. 7 Texas A&M as well as No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 17 Arkansas.
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS | 1st VOTES | PREV | CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ALABAMA | 5-0 | 1544 | 57 | 1 | – |
| 2 | OHIO STATE | 4-0 | 1474 | 3 | 2 | – |
| 3 | CLEMSON | 5-0 | 1437 | 2 | 3 | – |
| 4 | MICHIGAN | 5-0 | 1348 | – | 5 | +1 |
| 5 | HOUSTON | 5-0 | 1256 | – | 7 | +2 |
| 6 | WASHINGTON | 5-0 | 1250 | – | 9 | +3 |
| 7 | TEXAS A&M | 5-0 | 1132 | – | 10 | +3 |
| 8 | LOUISVILLE | 4-1 | 1105 | – | 4 | -4 |
| 9 | TENNESSEE | 5-0 | 1101 | – | 11 | +2 |
| 10 | MIAMI | 4-0 | 902 | – | 14 | +4 |
| 11 | BAYLOR | 5-0 | 876 | – | 13 | +2 |
| 12 | NEBRASKA | 5-0 | 860 | – | 15 | +3 |
| 13 | WISCONSIN | 4-1 | 844 | – | 8 | -5 |
| 14 | MISSISSIPPI | 3-2 | 671 | – | 17 | +3 |
| 15 | STANFORD | 3-1 | 635 | – | 6 | -9 |
| 16 | NORTH CAROLINA | 4-1 | 587 | – | 23 | +7 |
| 17 | ARKANSAS | 4-1 | 525 | – | 22 | +5 |
| 18 | FLORIDA | 4-1 | 490 | – | 21 | +3 |
| 19 | BOISE STATE | 4-0 | 341 | – | 27 | +8 |
| 20 | WEST VIRGINIA | 4-0 | 309 | – | 30 | +10 |
| 21 | FLORIDA STATE | 3-2 | 257 | – | 12 | -9 |
| 22 | OKLAHOMA | 2-2 | 228 | – | 29 | +7 |
| 23 | COLORADO | 4-1 | 144 | – | 37 | +14 |
| 24 | UTAH | 4-1 | 117 | – | 18 | -6 |
| 25 | WESTERN MICHIGAN | 5-0 | 86 | – | 32 | +7 |
