Week 7 College Football Top 25

Posted on by thefloorslap

Honestly, the AP poll isn’t that deplorable this week. It was nice to see they kept Kansas ranked, while the inclusion of James Madison and Illinois were pleasant surprises.

Utah and Kentucky sticking around after putting up a couple of stinkers this past weekend was disappointing. I feel the top 25 should be a reflection of the 25 best teams at this point in time. Right now. Not the 25 best teams in some fantasy land where every team is playing their best football possible.

  1. Ohio State (6-0); AP rank: 2
  2. Georgia (6-0); AP rank: 1
    • OSU finally overtakes Georgia for the #1 spot in my rankings. The Buckeyes have done nothing but dominated their competition in all facets, week in and week out. Georgia, on the other hand, is seemingly still figuring out their offensive identity. They also are getting in a nasty habit of playing with their food, looking far from perfect at time against Missouri, Missouri, and Auburn in the past three weeks.
  3. Alabama (6-0); AP rank: 3
    • First big “drop-off” comes after Alabama. Yes, they struggled to put away an A&M team which might be better off with Jimbo playing QB over Haynes King. But that just speaks to the importance of Bryce Young – who should be healthy when it matters most.
  4. Clemson (6-0); AP rank: 4
  5. Michigan (6-0); AP rank: 5
  6. USC (6-0); AP rank: 7
    • Second tier ends after USC. With Clemson finally in a groove offensively and USC consistently overcoming “trap teams” , there’s a good chance the playoff is made up of some combination of these 6 teams.
  7. Tennessee (5-0); AP rank: 6
  8. Penn State (5-0); AP rank: 10
  9. Oklahoma State (5-0); AP rank: 8
  10. UCLA (6-0); AP rank: 11
  11. TCU (5-0); AP rank: 13
  12. Ole Miss (6-0); AP rank: 9
    • There’s a clear-cut top 12 in my eyes. You can get away with arranging these 6 teams however you’d like. Ole Miss is at the bottom here because their only key win was a controversial one over a Kentucky team that just hot handled by South Carolina at home.
  13. Wake Forest (5-1); AP rank: 14
    • The Deacons are definitively the top 1-loss team right now. They haven’t let their 2OT loss to Clemson trip them up, and Sam Hartman is best QB the media doesn’t talk about anymore.
  14. Oregon (5-1); AP rank: 12
  15. Syracuse (5-0); AP rank: 18
    • They’re the lone undefeated power-5 team to be ranked behind a one-loss team, but that’s because I just haven’t been genuinely impressed with a game of theirs yet this season. Their tight win over Purdue looks better by the week, but the way they struggled with a bad Virginia team the following week is concerning.
  16. NC State (5-1); AP rank: 15
  17. Kansas State (5-1); AP rank: 17
  18. Mississippi State (5-1); AP rank: 16
  19. Kansas (5-1); AP rank: 19
    • Just like spots 7-12, you can rank spots 14-19 just about however you’d like.
  20. Cincinnati (5-1); AP rank: 21
  21. Texas (4-2); AP rank: 23
    • Our first 2-loss team! Listen, Oklahoma is a bad team. But at the same time, the Red River Rivalry has evened the playing field over the years. We also have to consider what this team is with a healthy Quinn Ewers – an undefeated team that held a lead against Alabama.
  22. Notre Dame (3-2); AP rank: unranked
    • It’s ugly seeing a 3-2 record in the top 25, but this is more of “what have you done for me lately?”. Decisive wins against UNC and BYU with their new QB have the Irish trending in the positive direction. And what their defense did to Ohio State looks more impressive by the week.
  23. North Carolina (5-1); AP rank: unranked
    • Their win over Miami might not have been pretty, but 5-1 speaks louder.
  24. Illinois (5-1); AP rank: 24
    • This seems temporary.
  25. James Madison (5-0); AP rank: 25
    • JMU playoff bound??

Number of Ranked Teams by Conference:

ACC: 5, Big 12: 5, Big Ten: 4, Pac-12: 3, SEC: 5, other: 3

Notable Unranked Teams

  1. Utah (4-2); AP rank: 20
    • Their loss to Florida – however close it was – just isn’t holding up. And their loss against UCLA wasn’t close. This is another one of those teams that look good “on paper” that AP voters refuse to let go of.
  2. Kentucky (4-2); AP rank: 22
    • I get having to play without Will Levis. He is the heart beat of the team and one of the top 3 QBs in the next draft. But at the same time, they were playing a South Carolina team that got thrashed in their only previous competition in Arkansas and Georgia. And Kentucky got man-handled in all facets. At home.
  3. Coastal Carolina (6-0); AP rank: unranked
    • JMU clobbered MTSU (who beat Miami), topped App State (everyone’s favorite cinderella), and beat Arkansas State by just 11-fewer points than Ohio State did. Coastal, on the other hand, has beaten Army, Gardner-Webb, Buffalo, Georgia State, and ULM.
  4. Florida (4-2); AP rank: unranked
    • If they handle LSU like Tennessee did, they’d be considered for the top-25. After all, they gave Tennessee all they could handle on the road. But the Utah win doesn’t look as great anymore, nor does the loss to Kentucky.
  5. Baylor (3-2); AP rank: unranked
    • I mean, their best win is in OT over BYU?