What Changed in ESPN's Week 5 College Football Power Rankings?

Missouri and Pittsburgh became the newest members of the Week 5 college football Power Rankings, part of a broader reshuffle that also moved Miami higher after a weekend of ranked-team upsets, according to the rankings package published Oct. 5, 2026.

The list is assembled by college football staff writers rather than a statistical formula or a selection committee, and it ranks all 25 teams based on results through games played during the first weekend of October.

What happened between Missouri and Florida?

Missouri beat then-No. 8 Florida 45-17 on Saturday, a result that opened a path into the top 25 for the Tigers while dropping Florida's standing, per the rankings writeup. The same source page also flagged a separate headline — "Mizzou rises, Florida falls after showdown; AP top 5 stand pat" — noting that the Associated Press poll's top five held steady even as the two teams swapped positions elsewhere in that ranking.

"It's a good win against a really good team today. That's all it was." — Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, quoted after the 45-17 victory.

Drinkwitz's comment downplayed the lopsided margin rather than treating it as a statement win, the source material shows.

Which other teams joined the top 25?

Pittsburgh also entered the rankings this week, joining Missouri as the two new additions to the 25-team list. The available excerpt does not detail Pittsburgh's specific opponent or score, and no further breakdown of that result was provided in the source material.

How are these rankings different from the AP poll?

The Power Rankings are a staff-compiled list, distinct from the AP's voter poll and the College Football Playoff committee's rankings. All three can move teams differently in the same week; the source material shows that dynamic directly, since Missouri and Florida shifted in the Power Rankings while the AP's top five did not change.

Data box

• Final score: Missouri 45, Florida 17
• Florida's ranking entering Saturday's game: No. 8 nationally

What's next in the rankings schedule?

• Oct. 3–4, 2026: Week 5 games played, including Missouri's win over Florida.
• Oct. 5, 2026: Week 5 Power Rankings published.
• Following Saturday: Week 6 results will drive the next scheduled update, based on the same weekly cadence described in the rankings package.

Where can fans track their own weekly picks?

Readers who want to test predictions against each week's results can do so through the Smorgi Challenge pick'em game, a separate product from the rankings covered here.

For full team-by-team notes and the complete top 25, see the Week 5 Power Rankings.