AP top 25 teams moving up, down the Week 13 college football rankings

AP top 25 voters face a dilemma when casting their ballots for the new college football rankings coming out of a consequential Saturday and looking ahead to Week 13.

Six ranked teams lost their games over the weekend, and that includes two previous top-ten hopefuls after a pair of statement matchups in the SEC.

What teams will be on the move in the AP top 25 college football rankings this week? Let’s take a shot at predicting who’s moving up, and who’s going down, in the polls.

Rankings reflect AP top 25 poll

Moving up: Georgia

College football rankings: AP top 25 teams moving up, down in Week 13 — Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Last week’s ranking: No. 5

As they did last regular season, and then again in the SEC Championship Game, the Bulldogs got the better of the Longhorns, and the result will play a direct role in shaping the College Football Playoff in the weeks to come.

For one thing, Texas is out, courtesy of Georgia’s inspired defensive performance and a nearly-perfect night for quarterback Gunner Stockton, responsible for as many touchdowns as incompletions (5).

Georgia jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the second quarter and then ran away on a 21-0 scoring streak in the fourth to pull away in a 35-10 result that left no doubt who was the better team on the field.

A statement win over the Longhorns combined with fourth-ranked Alabama’s surprising loss at home should pave the way for Georgia to be the new No. 4 team in the AP rankings this week.

Moving down: Texas

Last week’s ranking: No. 10

A win in Athens would have not only been a statement for Arch Manning and a Texas team that has been up and down all year, but a definitive proclamation that it belongs in the national championship field. So much for that.

Once again, the run game was nonexistent. In its two losses to Georgia last season, Texas combined for 60 rushing yards on 55 attempts. In this game, it had 19 yards on 16 carries for a 1.2 yard per touch average.

Drastic reform is needed for an offense that has failed to find an identity with Steve Sarkisian calling the plays, and which is largely responsible for this team now likely being outside the College Football Playoff bubble for good.

And out of the top-ten of this week’s rankings. The nature of the loss may even be enough for AP voters to drop the Longhorns below the Vanderbilt team they beat, possibly as low as the No. 19 spot currently occupied by Louisville, which will also drop after a loss.

There is an outside chance Texas hangs around the top-dozen despite having three losses, as some voters could still like wins over OU and Vandy, but they have not been shy about dropping losers like a stone after poor performances this year.

Moving up: Oklahoma

Last week’s ranking: No. 11

Make it two straight wins for the Sooners against the Crimson Tide, reprising last season’s 24-3 stunner in Norman with a 23-21 shocker in Tuscaloosa.

And once again, it was an overpowering defensive performance that pressured, stifled, and rattled the invincible Alabama passing attack.

Brent Venables’ unforgiving unit scored a touchdown off a pick-six, recorded 4 sacks, added 5 negative stops, scored 20 points off defense or special teams, and made the plays it had to when it had to when everything was on the line.

Looking over the back half of OU’s schedule, you could be forgiven for thinking their season was a lost cause with those two losses.

But they’ve taken out Tennessee and Alabama in consecutive games, both on the road, and hanging on by their fingernails on the edges of the College Football Playoff picture.

And moving inside the top-ten of the AP rankings this week, likely into the No. 9 position, which will influence the playoff selectors to include the Sooners inside the field in this week’s bracket.

Moving down: Alabama

Last week’s ranking: No. 4

Coming into this weekend, Alabama was the projected No. 4 seed in the latest College Football Playoff bracket, but after having its 17-game home win streak snapped, it will suffer a drop in both rankings.

Alabama’s defense held the line as long as it could. OU had just 138 passing yards and only 74 on the ground, and finished with 212 total, the fewest by an FBS team in a win against a top-five opponent since 2000.

But apart from Daniel Hill’s 2 rushing scores, once again the Tide got precious little from its backs, averaging 2.4 yards per touch and amassing just 80 yards.

Alabama had won three straight one-score games this season, but couldn’t do enough to overcome what remains some worrying mistakes that you just didn’t see from Nick Saban-coached teams.

Suddenly, the Crimson Tide’s playoff hopes are in some peril. At two losses, they host Eastern Illinois next before closing out at Auburn in an Iron Bowl that could determine whether or not this team is included in the playoff field.

Moving up: Tulane

Last week’s ranking: Unranked

Sitting just outside the top 25 last time out with 83 total votes, a win against FAU, an 8-2 record, and plenty of losers near the bottom of the poll give voters an easy path to put the Green Wave back in the rankings.

Now at 5-1 in the American Conference, the Wave come into next weekend as 1 of 4 teams with one league loss and face winnable games against Temple and Charlotte to inch closer to playoff consideration from the Group of Five.

Moving out: Pittsburgh

Last week’s ranking: No. 23

Coming into the weekend, the Panthers were in a tie for first place in the ACC standings. Now, after an ugly loss to Notre Dame in which they failed to score 20 points for the first time since September, they dip to third in the conference.

AP top 25 voters propelled Pittsburgh into the rankings last week as a reward for their five-game win streak, but they did nothing to show they deserve to stay ranked after putting up just 15 points at home and going 0 for 13 on third down.

Moving in: North Texas

Last week’s ranking: Unranked

Caleb Hawkins established a school record with 5 rushing touchdowns as North Texas smashed up UAB, stacking up 506 total offensive yards and still ranking second in college football with more than 44 points per game on average.

Aside from the outlier 63-36 loss to USF more than a month ago, the Mean Green are a perfect football team, sitting 9-1 overall with a 5-1 mark in an American Conference that is the favorite to put its champion in the playoff.

North Texas received 55 votes in last week’s rankings, placing 28th nationally, but with this win and other losses by lower-ranked teams, should easily move into the top 25.

Moving out: USF

Last week’s ranking: No. 25

This time last week, the Bulls were considered by the College Football Playoff selectors as the class of the Group of Five and the favorite to get that final No. 12 seed.

But after their second loss in three games, against American Conference leader, and still unranked, Navy, they dropped to 4-2 in league competition and their shot at making the playoff has taken a massive hit.

After one week in the AP rankings, the Bulls will fall out once again.