The Associated Press Top 25 poll saw a major reshuffle following an eventful Week 4 around the country.

The top half of the rankings are largely unchanged thanks to the absence of any big upsets. Texas retained the top spot after beating Louisiana-Monroe 51-3 and with No. 2 Georgia on a bye. Ohio State and Ole Miss, who were third and fifth respectively, had straightforward victories as well, though that wasn’t enough in the case of the latter to maintain a Top Five position.

No. 11 USC was the highest-ranked team to go down. The Trojans’ overcame a sloppy start to take the lead on Michigan in the fourth quarter before the Wolverines embarked on a 10-play, 89-yard drive that culminated in Kalel Mullings’s touchdown run with 37 seconds on the clock.

Only time will tell how much the result reflects on both teams.

Michigan quarterback Alex Orji attempted 12 passes and gained 32 yards through the air. The Wolverines may not find as much success on the ground — they ran for 291 yards as a team — if opponents increasingly don’t have to respect Orji as a thrower.

For USC, the enthusiasm about the improvement on defense lessened slightly as the Trojans couldn’t stop Michigan on the most pivotal drive of the game. In general, they still don’t look like serious title contenders into Lincoln Riley’s third season as head coach.

The same can be said of Oklahoma with Brent Venables at the helm. Venables might be a brilliant defensive coach, but the benching of quarterback Jackson Arnold midway through against Tennessee potentially points to some bigger problems.

It won’t reflect well on the coach if he’s unable to develop Arnold, a 5-star recruit coming out of high school, and also whiffed on the hiring of Seth Littrell as offensive coordinator.

For Sooners fans, it didn’t help that Venables got out-coached by Josh Heupel in the OU legend’s homecoming.

The victory represented a strong statement from the Vols, who lit up the scoreboard in their three previous games but weren’t seriously challenged in those contests. Saturday showed they can turn up the defense when needed and win ugly.

Tennessee took a step backward in 2023, notching two fewer wins from the year before. Now, Heupel has the program back among the best in the FBS.

Michigan and Tennessee’s wins were the headliners from Week 4 but not the only consequential contests.

Illinois outlasted Nebraska in overtime on the road on Friday night to bolster its Top 25 position and send the Cornhuskers packing from the AP poll. Utah held off Oklahoma State’s late comeback bid to get an important road victory without starting quarterback Cam Rising. Kansas State (No. 13) and Northern Illinois (No. 23) were each upset by unranked teams.

The AP voters were left to sift through all of the fallout. Their jobs won’t get any easier in Week 5.

Alabama faces the first test of the Kalen DeBoer era when it hosts Georgia in Tuscaloosa. Penn State welcomes the Fighting Illini to Happy Valley. Louisville gets Notre Dame on the road with the Fighting Irish’s offense still not firing with Riley Leonard at quarterback. Oklahoma State and Kansas State clash in a battle between Big 12 teams in need of a win.

No matter how things shake out, the AP poll is bound to see a lot of movement next week.