Some notable history was made across the country this past weekend. Not only did No. 1 teams in the college football rankings lose their games to unranked opponents for two straight weeks. They also lost for the first time in the AP poll era on the last play of each of those games.
And for the first time ever, five of the top ten ranked teams in the AP poll lost their games.
Once again, the AP top 25 pollsters are forced to pour over the ballots late into the night, charged with not only finding a new No. 1 team, but re-sorting a pile of formerly highly ranked contenders who took some surprising losses over the weekend.
What will that ballot look like? Honestly, who knows. Here’s what we think will happen.
Projecting the New AP Top 25 College Football Rankings for Week 8
Dropping out: No. 16 Mississippi State
25. Oregon. (Last week: NR). Dylan Raiola returned to the field against his old team in Nebraska with a late touchdown drive to improve the Ducks to 4-2.
24. Oklahoma State (18). A loss to Houston was very costly, but scoring 29 second half points and a lack of obvious contenders who received fewer votes a week ago could keep the Cowboys on the right side of the rankings.
23. Northwestern (25). The win against Penn State doesn’t look great now, but again a lack of teams to pull into the top 25 should preserve the Wildcats’ position this week.
22. SMU (24). A close win over Virginia won’t inspire AP pollsters to raise the Mustangs, but they shouldn’t drop them, either.
21. Boise State (23). Still the favorites in the Pac-12, the Broncos were off this weekend, going to Washington State next.
On the outside looking in
20. Texas (7). The biggest drop of the week should belong to the Longhorns after falling at home to unranked Florida, a week after falling to unranked Oklahoma.
19. LSU (22). Winning a decisive 31-0 decision against Mississippi State looks good for this defense and critically brings them to .500 in SEC play.
18. Florida (NR). AP voters have reacted violently to everything the Gators have done, and upsetting Texas after losing two straight could put them back in the polls again. They have two edges over LSU: one more SEC win and beating Ole Miss, who beat LSU.
17. Wake Forest (21). A dominant performance cleaned out the Cal stadium as the Demon Deacons improved to 6-1 and inch closer to the top of the ACC standings.
16. USC (19). The Trojans didn’t play this Saturday, but return at Wisconsin next week and then are home to Ohio State after that.
The middle of the pack
15. Iowa (17). Idle this weekend, the Hawkeyes go to Minnesota next.
14. Houston (20). Beating ranked Oklahoma State combined with Iowa and USC being off will propel the Cougars up several positions.
13. Kentucky (15). Now 6-1 after a solid win at Oklahoma, the Wildcats are a serious College Football Playoff contender.
12. Alabama (6). A second straight loss hurts the Tide, but a dominant head-to-head win at Kentucky should keep it ahead in this week’s ballot.
11. UCLA (12). Yes, the Bruins are the last undefeated team in the Big Ten.
Rounding out the top ten
10. Utah (11). For the first time since 2015, the Utes are undefeated through six games and tied for first place in the Big 12 heading into a serious clash with Houston next.
9. Tennessee (14). This looks like one of the SEC’s best defenses after holding Alabama to 10 points in a win. That will impress AP voters more than wins by Utah or UCLA enough to jump them both.
8. Texas Tech (10). Hanging 53 points on Arizona State to stay undefeated is a good look for the reigning Big 12 champions.
7. Ole Miss (9). A dominant 31-3 win over ranked Missouri keeps the Rebels in the mix near the top of the SEC, a note of consistency in a weekend full of elite losses.
6. Indiana (5). Losing by four at home to Ohio State, and only doing so by literal inches, will not cost the reigning champs too dearly on this ballot.
The best of the best
5. Notre Dame (2). Clearly the Irish had the pollsters’ confidence and a hard-fought four-point loss at BYU shouldn’t take away too much of it.
4. Georgia (1). A loss at home to unranked Auburn definitely hurts, but the win at Alabama should cushion the Bulldogs’ drop.
3. Ohio State (4). A narrow win at Indiana prevents the Buckeyes from a costly second loss, but at a huge cost as quarterback Julian Sayin is poised to miss several weeks with a shoulder injury. Not ideal looking ahead to games against USC and Oregon.
2. Miami (3). Logic would suggest that the Hurricanes get the nod at No. 1, but a narrow double-overtime win over Florida State could convince enough voters to keep them out of the top position in favor of a surprise contender.
1. BYU (8). If the games produce chaos, then so should the rankings. Pollsters could take advantage of all the change at the top by giving most of their votes onto a new team at No. 1, and the Cougars could fit the bill, coming off a signature win over No. 2 Notre Dame.
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