At the top of the poll, No. 1 Southern California recouped some of the first-place votes it lost to No. 2 LSU in the previous 2 weeks.
USC received 46 first-place votes, up six from last week, and 1,605 points after a 49-31 victory at Nebraska that was not as close as the final score.
LSU continued to impress with a 44-0 victory over Middle Tennessee, its second shutout of the season. The Tigers received 19 first-place votes and 1,577 points in the latest Top 25.
Florida slipped past Oklahoma into the third spot behind USC and LSU, but the Gators and Sooners are just three points apart (1,437-1,434).
Florida is coming off a 59-20 victory over Tennessee. Oklahoma has outscored its opponents by 158 points during a 3-0 start.
No. 5 West Virginia slipped a spot, California rose two places to No. 6 and Texas dropped a place to No. 7. No. 8 Ohio State moved up two spots and fellow Big Ten teams Wisconsin and Penn State rounded out the first 10.
There were three other new teams in the Top 25 this week along with Alabama. No. 21 Kentucky, No. 23 South Florida and No. 25 Missouri entered the poll for the first time this season.
Dropping out of the Top 25 were Georgia Tech, which lost 24-10 at home to Boston College, and UCLA, which was stunned 44-6 by a Utah team that had been 0-2. Tennessee and Arkansas also fell out of the rankings.
In Tuscaloosa on Saturday night, the Razorbacks wiped out an early, 21-point deficit but couldn't close out the victory. John Parker Wilson hit Matt Caddell with a 4-yard touchdown pass with 8 seconds left to give the Tide the win.
Alabama didn't manage a come-from-behind victory in the fourth quarter during previous coach Mike Shula's 4-year stay.
"We always talk about playing 60 minutes," Saban said. "And to score with 8 seconds left, it's an easy way to reinforce a point."
No. 11 Rutgers starts the second 10, followed by South Carolina, Oregon, Boston College and Clemson.
