Predicting the AP top 25 college football rankings for Week 9 after Chaos Saturday

As we survey the damage from another active Chaos Saturday of games across the country, let's look ahead to the AP top 25 college football rankings for Week 9

Who's moving up? Who's moving down?

Note: this isn't our ranking of the best teams, but our prediction for how top 25 voters will slot them in the official poll

Predicting the AP top 25 college football rankings for Week 9

Dropping out: No. 20 USC, No. 22 Memphis, No. 23 Utah, No. 25 Nebraska

25. Michigan. An important rebound after the loss at USC, as the Wolverines knocked off Washington, a team that earned votes in last week’s poll.

24. Illinois. Idle this past weekend, the two-loss Illini could benefit from so much movement near the bottom of the rankings after placing 26th in last week’s ballots.

23. LSU. That vaunted defense that was the strength of this team seemed to be its weakness in a loss at Vanderbilt that will drop this team well out of the top 10 at the worst time, heading into a back-to-back against Texas A&M and then Alabama that could possibly ruin their season, and put Brian Kelly in some hot water.

22. Arizona State. The reigning Big 12 champs got back in the win column with a last-second victory over current league favorite Texas Tech, moving to 5-2 and possibly taking advantage of a ton of movement at the bottom of the rankings to get back in.

21. Louisville. Knocking off No. 2 Miami on the road and with just one loss against ranked Virginia, the Cardinals have a very good argument to be ranked this week.

20. Texas. Another impotent offensive showing for the Longhorns and quarterback Arch Manning, who needed overtime to get past Kentucky on the road, but they should cling to a place near the bottom of the rankings with other teams losing their games.

19. Cincinnati. Brendan Sorsby had 3 touchdowns in a 32-point win against hapless Oklahoma State on the road to move to 6-1.

18. Tennessee. College football’s best scoring offense could only muster 20 points on the road against Alabama in their second loss of the season, but AP top 25 voters don’t tend to punish SEC teams that lose on the road in conference games unless they have a very good reason.

17. USF. A contender for the Group of Five’s playoff spot, the Bulls looked on point in a dominant 48-13 win against FAU to improve to 6-1 on the year and still perfect against conference competition.

16. Virginia. A very close win at home against unranked Washington State could spook the pollsters, combined with a win against Florida State that got the Cavs in the rankings that doesn’t look so great anymore, but they’re still 6-1 and in the ACC title picture.

15. Texas Tech. Starting quarterback Behren Morton was sidelined with a knee injury, and his absence resulted in the Big 12 favorite Red Raiders turning out roughly half its usual offensive output, while this star-studded defense couldn’t hold the last yard in the waning seconds in their first loss of the year at reigning Big 12 champ Arizona State.

14. Missouri. Their first road test of the season resulted in a double-overtime win against Auburn to rebound from the Alabama loss.

13. BYU. Bear Bachmeier ran for a touchdown in a late rally, and the Cougars tallied over 200 rushing yards to upset arch-rival Utah in the Holy War to stay undefeated and stop the Big 12 standings.

12. Oklahoma. Another strong defensive performance for the Sooners in an important double-digit win at South Carolina to take a step forward in SEC play heading into a brutal five-game stretch to end the season, all against currently-ranked opponents that will truly show us what they’re made of.

11. Notre Dame. A powerful rushing attack led by Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price were enough to get past rival USC in some lousy weather as the Irish win their fifth-straight game since that 0-2 start and have elbowed their way back into the College Football Playoff conversation.

10. Miami. Carson Beck throwing 4 interceptions in a loss to unranked Louisville throws a monkey wrench into the Hurricanes’ perfect season, but AP voters may not judge them too harshly given the Notre Dame and USF wins look better every week as the Irish and Bulls continue to win.

9. Georgia Tech. For the first time since 1966, the Yellow Jackets are 7-0 as Haynes King was responsible for 325 all-purpose yards, but the offense didn’t have a touchdown until the fourth quarter on the road against Duke to become 1 of 3 ACC teams without a conference loss, Virginia and SMU being the others. Tech could be 11-0 heading into the Georgia game.

8. Ole Miss. For a time, it looked like Lane Kiffin had Georgia’s number for a second-straight year, as the Rebels scored touchdowns on their first five possessions, but the attack stalled late in the game, and their shot at making the SEC title game just got a little bit harder after their first loss.

7. Vanderbilt. This should be the week we see the Commodores return to the top 10 for the first time since 1941, and likely the highest-ever ranking for this program, coming off a signature win over LSU in which Diego Pavia accounted for 3 total touchdowns, but no higher than the Alabama team they lost to.

6. Georgia. The reigning SEC champions will move deeper into the top 10 of this week’s rankings after a win at home against the undefeated Rebels, taking a firmer grasp of their postseason destiny in the process, but questions linger about the staying power of a defensive front that struggled to consistently apply pressure much of the game.

5. Oregon. No problem for the Ducks, who built up a 42-3 first half lead on the road against Rutgers en route to an easy victory to move to 3-1 in Big Ten play with a winnable schedule and a path to the playoff still well within reach.

4. Alabama. Movement near the top of the rankings combined with a big win over Tennessee, the Tide’s fourth-straight victory over an AP ranked opponent, should enable voters to slot Bama back into the top-five with an easy path to the playoff.

3. Texas A&M. Another beneficiary of Miami’s loss will be the Aggies, who improved to 7-0 for the first time since 1994 following a hectic win at Arkansas to stand alone as the SEC’s last undefeated team, but this usually-stalwart defense allowed 42 points in the process.

2. Indiana. Fernando Mendoza had 4 touchdown passes and the Hoosiers cruised in a big win at Michigan State to stay undefeated on the back of an offense good for just under 45 points per game, and will move into the No. 2 position in this week’s rankings following Miami’s loss.

1. Ohio State. Julian Sayin quietly put together another 80-plus percent completion effort as the Buckeyes trashed Wisconsin on the road to stay undefeated, and college football’s reigning champions should regain most of Miami’s 13 first-place votes, with some likely going to the undefeated Hoosiers.

College football rankings: AP top 25 teams moving up, down in Week 9