Coaches Poll: Texas slips to No. 6 after Red River loss, Alabama stays at No. 7 as LSU falls out of the top 20

Texas entered Week 7 as the preseason and early-season reference point, then lost its hold on the top spot in the Coaches Poll. In the updated Week 7 ranking, the Longhorns dropped five places to No. 6 after a 27-24 result against Oklahoma in the Red River Showdown, a swing game that carried major reputational weight for voters evaluating conference contenders.

Alabama, despite losing 20-17 at home to Georgia, stayed put at No. 7. The Crimson Tide’s positioning suggested the ranking committee treated the Georgia loss more as a contained setback than a full reset, keeping Alabama near the front of the national conversation entering the most consequential part of the league schedule.

Not all movement followed the same pattern. LSU fell sharply enough to land outside the top 20 in the Week 7 Coaches Poll, according to the CBS Sports update. That kind of drop typically reflects both the outcome of the prior week and how other teams in the mid-to-upper tier performed, as voters look to separate the playoff-shaped contenders from the rest.

UCLA’s rise stood out as the counterweight to the fall of several traditional power programs. CBS Sports reported that UCLA surged in this week’s poll, climbing higher in the national pecking order as the season progresses. For teams in the middle of the rankings, a leap like that can matter because each week’s position influences how voters interpret future losses and wins.

The AFCA Coaches Poll is built on ballots from head coaches, and its weekly reshaping is often a mix of results and perception. A tight loss, a rivalry setting, and the strength of the opponent can influence how much a team is rewarded or punished, even when the win-loss record is close. This week’s Texas slide and Alabama stability highlight that voters do not treat every defeat equally, particularly when the margin and opponent context differ.

For Texas, the immediate task is to translate a ranking drop into momentum during the remainder of the regular season, because being positioned behind multiple contenders can affect how many teams a voter needs to “re-pass” later. For Alabama, holding at No. 7 despite a home loss suggests a narrower path to return to the top tier, but it also means the margin for error remains small as Georgia and other front-of-the-chart teams continue stacking results.

With LSU out of the top 20 in Week 7, the program’s next statement becomes more important than it might be for teams already inside the top 10. When a team falls that far, it often needs multiple convincing performances to regain trust from voters, especially if other contenders are steadily collecting quality wins. Meanwhile, UCLA’s ascent adds another name to track, since teams rising late in the ranking can reshape how the national title picture is viewed week to week.