Fans were expecting some sort of shakeup in the AP Top 25 college football rankings in Week 7 just based on the schedule. No one could've predicted the entire buffet of chaos that was delivered throughout Saturday, however.
The biggest results of the day were undoubtedly Notre Dame beating USC into oblivion in South Bend, ending the Trojans' perfect season, and Washington winning an absolute thriller in Seattle over Oregon. Beyond that, though, we also got Louisville getting clipped and taking its first loss of the 2023 season to Pitt -- one week after climbing into the Top 15 of the college football rankings -- UNC making a statement against Miami, Arizona blasting Washington State, and much more.
Once again, the AP Top 25 will be shaken up and we have the projections for the Week 8 college football rankings after a wild Saturday throughout the country.
Dropped out of Top 25 rankings: Washington State (19), Kansas (23), Kentucky (24), Miami (25)
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 7: No. 25-21
25. UCLA Bruins
Yes, the Bruins are now a two-loss team. But ask yourself this: Would you take a UCLA team with arguably the best defense in the Pac-12 and an inexperienced young quarterback over whatever you want to call Iowa at the No. 25 spot? I suspect AP Top 25 voters will feel the same, so Chip Kelly's team barely hangs onto a spot in the rankings.
24. James Madison Dukes
It's almost blasphemous that James Madison won't be able to play in a bowl game this year due to archaic NCAA rules about a waiting period after making a leap from FCS to FBS. The Dukes blasted a good Georgia Southern team in Week 7 to move to 6-0 on the year as Jordan McCloud might be the best QB you don't know about. They could be the best team in the Sun Belt and one of the best at the G5 level, and it's a shame they won't reap rewards from that.
23. Tulane Green Wave
Tulane had to go on the road to Memphis on Friday night in a game that could go a long way in deciding the champion in the American, or at least a championship game representative. Michael Pratt's return has been massively important for the Green Wave and that proved true in the big-time 31-21 win. Tulane still has just one loss on the year, which came against Ole Miss, proving they're among the Group of 5's best yet again.
22. Missouri Tigers
I argued that Missouri deserved to be ranked over Kentucky last week. Now, I don't have to make that argument as the Tigers went on the road to Lexington and made a statement against the Wildcats. It was a complete team effort as the defense forced multiple turnovers, Brady Cook scored twice, Cody Schrader had a nice day, and Mizzou just dominated the action. They might actually be the biggest SEC East threat to Georgia.
21. Air Force Falcons
Air Force moved to 6-0 on the season with a gritty win over a really good Wyoming team in Colorado Springs on Saturday night. This was basically a battle for which Mountain West contender would end up ranked after Week 7 and it was the Falcons thanks to an electric game-winning TD from John Lee Eldridge III that got the job done. Don't look now, but Air Force is trending toward a New Year's Six game.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 7: No. 20-16
20. USC Trojans
If you called USC fraudulent based on some stumbles against lower-tier competition on the schedule, congratulations: You were right. Caleb Williams played the worst game of his college career as he was under duress throughout the night. The defense also showed its usual warts too, which led to a Notre Dame rout by a score of 48-20. Even if you thought the Trojans would lose, I'm not sure anyone saw that result coming.
19. LSU Tigers
The one thing that won't be called into question with LSU is the Tigers' ability to put points on the scoreboard. However, some had wondered just how bad the defense actually was and the hapless Auburn offense was a great litmus test. Brian Kelly's defense held the fellow Tigers to just 18 points in the 48-18 win, proving that LSU still has the potential to cause some real chaos in the SEC West down the stretch.
18. Louisville Cardinals
What in the world, Louisville? Jeff Brohm's team appeared to solidify their legitimacy last week when they handled Notre Dame at home to remain undefeated. Then they went on the road to play a seemingly lifeless Pitt team and got worked in their own right. It's disheartening from the Cardinals, but this was a clear letdown spot. Still a one-loss team, I don't see the drop in the rankings being too dramatic.
17. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Few teams have a more confusing resumé than Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish completely throttled USC on Saturday night in South Bend one week after they got the brakes beat off of them by Louisville, a team that lost to Pitt this week. It's baffling, but it was a big win for Marcus Freeman's team and a statement that they could finish strong as they head into a merciful bye week after a gauntlet of games.
16. Duke Blue Devils
It was reasonable to wonder if Duke would potentially fall way off with star quarterback Riley Leonard out of action due to injury. At home against NC State on Saturday, the offense indeed looked limited with Henry Belin IV filling in, but he did throw two touchdowns out of his four total completions on the day to push the Blue Devils to 5-1 with a 24-3 win. Duke's defense under Mike Elko can keep them competitive, but playing Florida State and Louisville in the next two weeks might be tough to stomach.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 7: No. 15-11
15. Tennessee Volunteers
Tennessee might be the most difficult to read team in the country for me right now. That's probably because the Vols are substantially different than what we saw from them a year ago. Joe Milton at quarterback lowers the ceiling of the offense dramatically, but the defense appears to be quite improved as well. They used the latter to squeak by Texas A&M in Neyland on Saturday, staying a one-loss team with Alabama on deck.
14. Utah Utes
Another week, another Utah game in which they still don't have starting quarterback Cam Rising on the field – and where it also didn't totally matter. Cal jumped out to an early 7-0 lead over the Utes on Saturday only for Kyle Whittingham's team to answer with 24 straight points of their own. The end result was a 34-14 victory but you have to wonder what the ceiling for Utah is as long as Rising is out… and when the QB might actually return this year, if he does.
13. Ole Miss Rebels
Ole Miss knocked off LSU in Oxford only to get a scare from Arkansas last week. Lane Kiffin was probably feeling some mercy from the college football gods that his Rebels got the week off on Saturday. Ole Miss still looks at times like it could be a Top 15 team in the country as it's ranked, but looks overrated at other points. The truth is probably somewhere in between, but we may not see that outside of a Nov. 11 trip to Athens to face Georgia.
12. Oregon State Beavers
With the way that we'd seen the UCLA defense perform of late, there was a belief that Jonathan Smith's Beavers might be in trouble. Instead, it was the Oregon State defense (and offense at times) that shined through. The Beavs picked off Dante Moore three times on the night and pulled ahead far enough to pick up a relatively comfortable win, more so than the final score might show. The point being, don't sleep on this Oregon State team; they're still legit.
11. Alabama Crimson Tide
There was quite a bit of conversation throughout the week that Alabama still had a dark-horse opportunity at the College Football Playoff. If they play like they did in Week 7 against Arkansas, Crimson Tide fans can kiss those chances goodbye. It was an ugly second half from Jalen Milroe and, shockingly, the Bama defense. With Tennessee and LSU looming in the next two games (with a bye sandwiched between), Nick Saban still has kinks to iron out.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 7: No. 10-9
10. Oregon Ducks
Oregon is going to drop in the AP Top 25, but none of the great fans in Eugene should feel substantially worse about their team after they got clipped in Seattle by a truly great Washington team.
The Ducks more than held their own in this high-profile matchup on Saturday, trading blows with Washington basically from the opening kickoff. You could question some of the late-game decisions – namely going for it late on fourth down (and not converting) – from Dan Lanning, but the team played well enough to win overall.
You should expect Oregon to still be inside the Top 10 of the rankings and, just as importantly, expect the Ducks to remain a contender to potentially get into the Playoff and/or win the Pac-12 this season.
9. North Carolina Tar Heels
How good is North Carolina? It still remains to be seen if they are a legitimate College Football Playoff contender, but there is no denying that the Tar Heels are one of the best teams in the country as they moved to 6-0 on the season with a thorough handling of Miami in Chapel Hill on Saturday night.
Drake Maye was imperfect in the first half, which helped the Canes get out to a 17-14 lead going into the locker room. UNC showed their superiority after the break, however. The Heels scored immediately after halftime, forced turnovers on the next two Miami possessions, and built up a three-possession lead that essentially allowed them to salt the game away.
The big change for UNC is clearly a much-improved defense from last year while the offense, especially with Tez Walker back, is still cooking. They could legitimately challenge for the ACC title and, perhaps, a CFP spot.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 7: No. 8-7
8. Texas Longhorns
After the Longhorns got their hearts broken in Dallas with a Red River loss to Oklahoma last week, Texas had the week off. They dropped to No. 9 in the AP Top 25 after that loss, but move up a spot thanks to the Oregon loss docking the Ducks a bit in the projected rankings.
The belief should still be that Texas is one of the best teams in college football this season. They were toe-to-toe with the rival Sooners in a wild game in spite of trying to shoot themselves in the foot on a number of different occasions.
Steve Sarkisian's team will still have a chance to make the College Football Playoff. There isn't a ranked team left on the Longhorns' schedule, which should set up a rematch with OU in the Big 12 Championship Game. Win that and get some help, Texas can still be in the Top 4 when it's all said and done.
7. Penn State Nittany Lions
Whenever a Top 10 team schedules a tune-up game the week before a massively important matchup, one of two things is going to happen. The first is never fun, when the ranked team is clearly just walking through the motions and makes things a bit more hairy than they have any business being. The other, however, is that they absolutely dismantle the inferior competition placed before them. Penn State did the latter on Saturday in Happy Valley against UMass.
Drew Allar threw for three touchdowns and rushed for one more in the contest while Daequan Hardy scored on a pair of punt returns. With the defense holding the Minutemen to an appalling 109 yards of total offense on the day, it was a complete rout with the Nittany Lions moving to 6-0 with the 63-0 victory.
They get leapfrogged in the rankings, but will have the chance to return the favor next week as they go on the road for a titanic showdown with Ohio State.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 7: No. 6-5
6. Washington Huskies
Throughout the week and in spite of Washington being favored at home against rival Oregon, we heard about the Ducks just being the better team, particularly on defense. After 60 minutes, though, it was Michael Penix Jr. and the Huskies celebrating the win, still looking at a zero in the loss column, and still looking like the team to beat in the Pac-12 – perhaps even more so on that last part than before.
Penix, Rome Odunze and the offense gutted through some injuries and miscues for a big game in the 36-33 win, but equally as important was the performance from Braelon Trice in the defense. Against one of the best O-lines in college football, they created pressure and, most importantly, made plays in the clutch.
The schedule remains tough in the deep Pac-12 for the Huskies, but they proved they are, in fact, the cream of the crop in this league.
5. Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma had the week off after Red River, but it was a bit surprising to see the Sooners pick up the thrilling win over then No. 3-ranked Texas and only climb to No. 5 in the AP Top 25. In our projections after last Saturday, we had them climbing to No. 3 and, frankly, I still stand by that. Yes, the win over the Longhorns is about the only thing building up their resumé… but it's a damn good win, one of the best that we've seen this season.
Unfortunately for Brent Venables' team, the level of competition the rest of the way in the Big 12 isn't much to write home about. Sure, that probably means the Sooners have a clear path to make it to the conference championship – a potential rematch with Texas – as an undefeated team, but it also means they'll need help to jump into the Top 4 if the Selection Committee sees the rankings the same way as AP voters.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 7: No. 4-3
4. Florida State Seminoles
Since the season-opening win, you could've made the argument that Florida State was lucky to remain among the unbeatens in college football. They nearly let Boston College shock the world, possibly should've lost to Clemson, and simply hadn't been the dominant team that they looked capable of right out of the gate this season.
On Saturday, they looked like that team again.
Yes, the Seminoles were facing a downtrodden Syracuse team, but they'd been letting that type of group hang around far too much. Mike Norvell's group didn't let that be the case in Tallahassee in Week 7, however, as the defense held the Orange to just 261 total yards and three points while Jordan Travis and Keon Coleman went off for monster days at the office. The ACC may come down to North Carolina and FSU, which could be an unbelievable showdown for the conference title.
3. Ohio State Buckeyes
Perhaps it was tongue-in-cheek, but you couldn't look at any preview for the Ohio State Buckeyes this week without seeing a mention of the Spoilermakers as Ryan Day's team went on the road to West Lafayette to face Purdue. That was only in conjecture, though. Because in practice, OSU put a hurting on the Boilermakers in Week 7.
Even with their top three running backs out of action by the game's end, Dallas Hayden stepped up and Kyle McCord, once again, made the wise choice to pepper Marvin Harrison Jr. Coupled with yet another elite defensive effort, the Buckeyes throttled Purdue to the tune of 41-7.
This was a letdown spot with Penn State coming to Columbus last week, but it turns out that Ohio State might simply be just hitting its stride midway through the 2023 season.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 7: No. 2-1
2. Michigan Wolverines
With so many huge point spreads on the board for Week 7, one had to wonder if there was an upset alert brewing in the Top 5. And immediately, it looked as if Indiana might shockingly put the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines on the ropes. The Hoosiers stopped J.J. McCarthy and Co. on their first two drives and, even after throwing a bad pick after a long drive, they still responded to take a 7-0 lead. Unfortunately for them, that might've been a wake-up call for the Wolverines.
After falling behind 7-0, Michigan scored 52 unanswered points and didn't allow the Hoosiers to hit the scoreboard again. In fact, Indiana had 136 yards on three first-quarter drives. They didn't eclipse the 100-yard mark for the remaining three quarters.
Michigan continues to look like a buzzsaw against subpar competition. They'll go on the road to East Lansing for a rivalry contest against Sparty next week, but even that doesn't look like much concern with the way Jim Harbaugh has this thing humming.
1. Georgia Bulldogs
It was certainly not a banner day for the Georgia Bulldogs in Nashville. Vanderbilt shockingly delivered a punch to the mouth early with a 49-yard touchdown pass on the first drive of the game. Kirby Smart's team eventually answered and ultimately found its stride, but there were plenty of stumbles to that point, including a pair of turnovers from Carson Beck. However, the biggest question moving forward might be regarding stud tight end Brock Bowers.
The potential Heisman candidate left this game with a lower-leg injury. Smart said after the fact that X-rays were negative but he will undergo an MRI early in the next week to see where things stand. That would be a huge loss for the Dawgs right when they don't need it. It was a middling performance after the first truly dominant showing of the season, which was the last thing the red-and-black-clad fans in Athens wanted to see from their team on the road.
