Reported Analysis · AP Football · Week 10
Ohio State Fell Behind Both Oregon and USC After Its Second Straight Loss
A week after most voters kept the Buckeyes above USC, the new ballots put both recent opponents ahead on a large majority of shared lists.
Ohio State lost to USC and remained above the Trojans on 60 of 70 AP ballots. After a second straight defeat, that order changed sharply.
The Buckeyes fell from 11th to 21st in the November 8 poll following their 41–28 home loss to Oregon. They now trail both recent opponents in the AP standings and on most ballots containing the teams being compared. USC is 15th and Oregon is 18th.
Of the 67 ballots that include Ohio State and Oregon, 64 place the Ducks higher. Of the 67 containing Ohio State and USC, 65 favor the Trojans. Three additional ballots include USC without Ohio State.
The USC Comparison Changed a Week Later
USC beat Ohio State 30–18 on October 31. The following poll moved the Buckeyes from second to 11th and put the Trojans 18th. All 70 voters ranked both, with 60 still placing Ohio State higher and ten favoring USC.
A week later, USC moved up three places while idle between the Ohio State game and its November 14 visit to Indiana. The comparison on individual ballots swung strongly toward the Trojans.
| USC–Ohio State Ballot Order | November 1 | November 8 |
|---|---|---|
| USC Higher, Both Ranked | 10 | 65 |
| Ohio State Higher, Both Ranked | 60 | 2 |
| USC Ranked, Ohio State Omitted | 0 | 3 |
The earlier result was unchanged. Since that poll, Ohio State had lost again, this time to a team that had been outside the AP Top 25. Sunday’s ordering moved the Buckeyes beneath both opponents while giving USC a larger advantage than it had immediately after winning their game.
Oregon Added Support Across the Panel
Oregon’s return to the rankings went well beyond a few higher placements. Its inclusion grew from 22 ballots to 69. All 22 previous supporters moved the Ducks up, and 47 other voters added them.
Those additions supplied 321 of Oregon’s 462 new points. Better placement among the returning supporters supplied the other 141, bringing the Ducks from 55 points to 517. Their numbered votes range from 13th to 25th.
The 64–3 comparison with Ohio State covers only ballots containing both teams. Two other voters included Oregon without Ohio State, while one omitted both. That distinction matters at this end of the poll, where a team’s support can change through inclusion as well as placement.
Every Voter Lowered or Omitted Ohio State
Ohio State lost 700 points, dropping from 1,049 to 349. Sixty-seven voters retained the Buckeyes and lowered them; three removed them from their Top 25. The lower numbered placements accounted for 661 lost points and the omissions for 39.
None kept Ohio State in the top ten, compared with 26 a week earlier. Its current ranked votes run from 12th to 25th.
The defeats came with freshman Luke Fahey making his first two starts. Ohio State’s USC recap identifies the first, and AP’s Oregon report describes the second following Julian Sayin’s earlier arm injury. That personnel change is part of the season’s evaluation, alongside two losses that left the Buckeyes 6–3.
For USC, the larger ballot advantage arrived during a week off. For Ohio State, the second defeat changed more than its numbered position: most voters now placed it below both teams that had just beaten it. The poll had absorbed the USC loss without producing that order a week earlier. Oregon’s win brought a much broader reordering of the Buckeyes’ place in the field.
Sources & Methodology
The October 25, November 1 and November 8 AP editions establish the ranking sequence. Paired comparisons and point changes use the same 70 voters in the November 1 and November 8 polls. NR is categorical and receives no invented numerical rank.
An included team earns 26 minus its numbered rank in AP points. The decomposition separates points from newly including voters, changes among continuing supporters and points lost through omissions. Game accounts come from Ohio State Athletics, USC’s schedule and AP. Ohio State’s official recap and box score establish the USC score as 30–18; a conflicting broad weekend summary was excluded.
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Ohio State Fell Behind Both Oregon and USC After Its Second Straight Loss
Graphic: Poll Behavior; photograph by John Hughel / Oregon National Guard. Source. Photograph: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Original school marks remain the property of their owners.. “Oregon National Guard salutes service at University of Oregon Spring football game,” April 25, 2026. Photograph by John Hughel / Oregon National Guard. Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/32031029@N03/55232175621/ License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Changes: proportional scaling, top-aligned rectangular crops, feathered alpha edges and compositing within a torn-paper Poll Behavior layout, with an explicit spring-game archive label. No athlete, uniform, ball or equipment was reconstructed. Original people, clothing, equipment and sporting context preserved. The photograph does not depict the November 7 Ohio State game. No endorsement implied.
Archive photo (April 25, 2026): John Hughel / Oregon National Guard, April 25, 2026 spring football game at Autzen Stadium.. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. Proportional scaling, top-aligned rectangular crop, feathered alpha edges and compositing in the Poll Behavior layout. No athlete, face, uniform, ball or equipment reconstructed.