Predicting the AP top 25 college football rankings after Alabama beats Georgia

What to expect in the upcoming AP top 25 college football rankings as we come out of a hugely impactful weekend and looking ahead to the Week 6 games.

On SI makes our prediction for what the AP top 25 college football rankings will look like in Week 6. | USA Today Sports | IMAGN

As we survey the damage from another very active Saturday of games across the country, let's look ahead to the AP top 25 college football rankings for Week 6

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 6

25. Utah. After having fallen out of the rankings last week following the loss to Texas Tech, the Utes bounced back in an impressive 48-14 win at West Virginia, potentially enough to move from the 29th position into the top 25.

24. Arizona State. Coming in 30th place with 30 votes in last week’s AP ballot, the reigning Big 12 champions got back on track with an upset victory over ranked TCU on Friday night, moving to 2-0 in conference play, enough to drop the Frogs out of the rankings and get the Sun Devils back in.

23. BYU. The Cougars surrendered a quick 14-0 lead to Colorado, but went on a 24-7 run the rest of the way to improve to 4-0 overall with a 2-0 mark in Big 12 play.

22. Notre Dame. They may not control their playoff destiny anymore, but the Fighting Irish took a big step in the right direction after pounding Arkansas on the road in a 56-13 result that brings the Golden Domers to 2-2 heading into a date against Boise State up next.

21. Michigan. Idle this past weekend, the Wolverines are coming off a signature Big Ten victory at Nebraska on the back of a strong rushing performance, and now head into another conference test against Wisconsin at the Big House this coming Saturday.

20. Illinois. Coming off that brutal loss at Indiana last week, the Illini responded well, walking off USC on a last-second field goal, enough for a slight positive movement in the rankings.

19. Florida State. One gutsy touchdown throw from Tommy Castellanos to Randy Pittman gave the Seminoles a chance in overtime, but the Seminoles still couldn’t do enough to withstand an inspired Virginia team in a massive upset, a failing grade for what was a top 10 team in its first road test of the year. Now they’ll fall well out of the top 10 of the rankings ahead of a huge game against Miami next weekend.

18. Missouri. Not much of a change for the Tigers, who predictably smashed UMass as Beau Pribula went 26 of 29 with a touchdown and Ahmad Hardy ran for 130 yards and 3 more scores with an off date before hosting Alabama.

17. LSU. AP voters aren’t afraid to punish highly-ranked teams for losses, and they won’t this week after a loss at Ole Miss, not to mention the close win at Clemson doesn’t look quite as impressive anymore.

16. Georgia Tech. Down by a 17-3 count in the first half, the Yellow Jackets stormed back as Haynes King accounted for all three of their touchdowns and their defense intercepted a late 2-point try to hold off Wake by a single point to stay undefeated.

15. Tennessee. Big Orange came level at 1-1 in SEC play, but needed overtime to pull away on the road against Mississippi State. The win should ensure against a drop, but playing a close game combined with other movement likely won’t result in a big rise, if any.

14. Vanderbilt. An expected little bump for the Commodores after pounding Utah State on the back of Diego Pavia’s 6 all-purpose touchdowns, and Vandy is 5-0 for the first time since 2008 heading into a marquee clash at Alabama looking for another upset.

13. Iowa State. The Cyclones opened up a 22-0 lead on Arizona in their return from the off week and stayed ahead to secure a good enough win at home, moving to 5-0 and remaining out among the frontrunners in the early Big 12 title picture.

12. Georgia. A fall is in order for the Bulldogs after taking another loss to Alabama, but they should stay somewhere between 10 and 15 with their win over Tennessee.

11. Alabama. AP voters have an interesting dilemma after the Crimson Tide’s signature win at top-five Georgia. That’s a very impressive win by itself, but they also have to consider the loss to a Florida State team that just lost to an unranked opponent.

10. Texas Tech. Off this past week, the Red Raiders are still riding high off that huge win at Utah the weekend prior, emerging as the early favorite in the Big 12 title picture, and with a date at undefeated Houston coming up this Saturday.

9. Indiana. Fernando Mendoza’s late touchdown bomb to Elijah Sarratt finally broke open a tight game for the Hoosiers at Iowa, escaping with a 20-15 victory to move to 2-0 in Big Ten play and Curt Cignetti’s team is 16-2 since the start of last season.

8. Texas. Idle this past weekend, the Longhorns smashed up Sam Houston by a 55-0 count the week before and now head into their SEC opener on the road against reeling Florida, with Arch Manning Watch resuming after the quarterback played marginally better last time out, but heads into a much-tougher environment.

7. Penn State. Amid criticism around Drew Allar’s management of this offense, a double-overtime loss to an Oregon team that many AP voters regard as the best team in college football shouldn’t result in too dramatic a fall in this week’s rankings given their late comeback bid and caliber of opponent.

6. Texas A&M. For the first time since 2016, the Aggies are 4-0 coming off an important, and gritty, 16-10 win against Auburn in their SEC debut of the season, and should inch further into the top 10 of the new rankings after Florida State’s loss.

5. Oklahoma. A very welcome idle weekend for the Sooners, coming just as star quarterback John Mateer was forced to undergo surgery to fix a sudden hand injury. A tune-up against Kent State is next for OU, but after that it’s the Texas game and then the rest of a brutal SEC schedule right to the end, with 6 of its final 7 opponents currently ranked.

4. Ole Miss. For the first time since 1965, the Rebels knocked off a top-five ranked LSU opponent as Trinidad Chambliss put out another efficient performance. Their reward should be a massive jump in this week’s rankings after taking out the No. 4 team in the country.

3. Miami. The new ACC title favorites catapulted over both Penn State and LSU in last week’s rankings after beating Florida. Off this past Saturday, the Hurricanes return in another marquee test, on the road against Florida State coming off its first loss.

2. Oregon. AP voters proved willing to make big changes in the No. 2 position after putting Miami there last week, and the Ducks’ double-overtime victory at top-five Penn State is more impressive by every metric, good enough to potentially take more than a few No. 1 votes from the Buckeyes.

1. Ohio State. No movement at No. 1 in this week’s rankings as the Buckeyes returned from an idle week to open Big Ten play with a tidy 24-6 win at Washington, holding the Huskies’ superb offense out of the end zone while Julian Sayin hit 79% of his throws with 2 scores and no turnovers.

--