College football rankings: AP top 25 teams moving up, down in Week 6

As we look back on another major week of action across the nation, let’s take a turn predicting what teams will emerge as the biggest movers in the AP top 25 college football rankings in Week 6.

Death, taxes, James Franklin losing big games, and Kirby Smart losing to Alabama.

Statement Saturday saw several highly-ranked SEC and Big Ten contenders facing off on the same field, resulting in some major changes in the rankings entering Week 6.

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: Alabama

College football rankings: AP top 25 teams moving up, down in Week 6 — Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Last week’s ranking: No. 17

Alabama just doesn’t lose to Georgia.

With millions of very critical eyes watching every move Kalen DeBoer was going to make in this game, the second-year Alabama coach passed a major test on the road by edging out Georgia by a 24-21 count to improve to 3-1.

DeBoer’s team jumped out to a dominant 14-0 advantage and then held on by its fingernails through a scoreless second half to upset the Bulldogs. Alabama has now defeated Georgia three straight times and in 10 of the last 11 in this series.

In the process, the Crimson Tide resurrected their season with a signature victory that saw quarterback Ty Simpson pass for 3 touchdowns with no picks.

AP voters are presented with a difficult case for how to place Alabama, coming off a marquee road win against top-five SEC opponent, but they also have to take into consideration that season-opening loss against Florida State, which itself will fall after a loss.

Bama’s floor is likely just outside the top 10 of this week’s rankings, and its ceiling may be as high as 8 or 9.

Moving down: Georgia

Last week’s ranking: No. 5

Georgia just doesn’t beat Alabama.

The reigning SEC champions came into this weekend in the better position between themselves and Alabama, but they are still yet to put together the kind of dominant single-game performance that we expect from a Kirby Smart team.

The offense wasn’t on point in the first two games, and they were lucky to escape Tennessee with a close win. Concerns around their offensive line have curtailed the development of Georgia’s ground game and kept Gunner Stockton from fully realizing his downfield passing potential.

And this defense, for years the unit that set the tone nationally and the engine behind two straight national championships, does not look as domineering as it has, allowing 647 passing yards over the last two games.

A big drop is coming for the Bulldogs out of the top five, potentially out of the top 10 but still ahead of Tennessee owing to their head-to-head victory over the Vols.

Moving up: Oregon

Last week’s ranking: No. 6

Going into a road date in primetime in a White Out game at Penn State, there was plenty of pressure on reigning Big Ten champion Oregon to make a statement.

That it did, dominating the Nittany Lions for most of the night in a 30-24 double overtime victory, propelling itself into the front of the national championship conversation as the first month of the 2025 season comes to an end.

Oregon held the ball for more than half of regulation and outgained the Nittany Lions by more than 150 yards while wideouts Dakorien Moore and Theierre Hill both had more than 80 yards receiving, and veteran Gary Bryant scored the game-winning touchdown.

In doing so, the Ducks have won three straight games against AP top-five teams for the first time, won 17 straight conference games and going 11-0 in league games since joining the Big Ten.

With losses by both No. 3 Penn State and No. 4 LSU, we should see the Ducks move to either 2 in place of idle Miami or as low as 3.

Moving down: Penn State

Last week’s ranking: No. 3

The question for Penn State coming into this season was if quarterback Drew Allar could finally live up to that five-star billing and put this offense on his back, especially after the program secured some notable wide receivers in the transfer portal.

For three quarters on Saturday, the answer to that question was a definitive no. Penn State’s offense had 109 yards through three quarters before mounting a furious comeback, covering 142 yards on 2 late drives to force overtime.

Penn State’s elite ground game was instrumental in that comeback, running the ball on 11 of 15 plays on the final drive of the game. And it was Allar, loudly booed by his own fans several times on the night, who threw the game-losing interception against Oregon.

As a result, James Franklin falls to 4-21 against AP top 10 ranked opponents and a meager 2-21 record against top-six teams, including a 15-game losing streak in such situations going back to the 2016 season.

Despite the loss, the Nittany Lions will still command considerable respect from the AP pollsters, especially given their strong comeback bid, and will likely remain in the top 10 in the Week 6 rankings.

Moving up: Ole Miss

Last week’s ranking: No. 13

Lane Kiffin added another marquee victory to his Ole Miss coaching tenure on Saturday, taking down No. 4 LSU in a 24-19 decision at home, improving to 5-0 overall and becoming the first SEC team to start 3-0 in conference play.

It marked the program’s first win over a top-five ranked LSU team since the 1965 season when Johnny Vaught himself, half-namesake of the Rebels’ stadium, was head coach.

Trinidad Chambliss, the zero-star recruit who had no FBS offers and was thrown into starting duty after Austin Simmons’ injury, led three touchdown drives of 69-plus yards, and an 80-yard charge that resulted in a field goal, as Ole Miss dominated the matchup in almost every way.

Pivotal to the Rebels’ victory was an early fourth quarter drive when, stunted by two potentially-damaging penalties, Chambliss stayed the course with veteran poise, launching a 3rd & 14 strike for Harrison Wallace before tailback Logan Diggs barrelled through for a 6-yard touchdown and a two-possession lead.

Ole Miss is now 5-0 heading into an idle week before hosting Washington State and then a crucial road test against Georgia in mid-October.

Combined with Florida State’s expected fall and Texas being off this week, the Rebels should move upwards into the top 10, and potentially into the top-five of this week’s rankings.

Moving down: LSU

Last week’s ranking: No. 4

Brian Kelly is now 5-9 against ranked opponents as LSU’s head coach after taking a 24-19 loss on the road against No. 13 Ole Miss.

LSU’s offense was supposed to be one of college football’s most potent this season, but Saturday’s result revealed another piece of evidence that Kelly’s teams don’t play their best against quality competition.

LSU has struggled scoring points against FBS competition this year: 17 against Clemson, 23 against Louisiana Tech, and 20 against Florida, and now 19 against Ole Miss.

Key to those struggles is the apparent absence of any credible rushing threat. Coming into this weekend, LSU ranked No. 122 in FBS in ground offense with just 117 yards per game and 3.74 yards per carry, and Caden Durham’s injury-induced absence didn’t help.

LSU ran for just 57 total yards while averaging 2.6 yards per attempt against an Ole Miss rush defense that was 122nd in the country coming into this game.

Losing as the No. 4 team to the No. 13 team usually implies a pretty steep fall, at least as much to allow the winning team to finish ahead of you, so we should easily see LSU dip below the No. 10 position, and likely further given the Clemson win looks less impressive now.

Moving up: Illinois

Last week’s ranking: No. 23

If ever there was a team in need of a pick-me-up, it was Illinois.

After getting blitzkrieged by 53 points at Indiana last weekend, the Illini had to make a statement that they were still relevant, and a dramatic, last-second win over ranked USC did the part, avoiding a second-straight loss and improving to 4-1.

Illinois was the biggest faller in the AP rankings last week, dropping 14 places after the Indiana fiasco, with some critics arguing it should have been dropped.

But a key win over a ranked, undefeated Big Ten opponent makes the decision to keep the Illini in the poll seem a little more rational, and an upwards move of maybe as many as 3 or 4 places could be in order as No. 21 USC falls, No. 20 Missouri beat up on UMass, and No. 19 Michigan being idle.

Who else could move?

— USC might fall out of the rankings this week after the loss on the road against Illinois.

— TCU will also be unranked entering Week 6 after the loss to Arizona State, which in turn could move back into the polls after the upset.

— Memphis, which received 23 votes last week, could nudge into the AP rankings after moving to 5-0 after a win over Florida Atlantic.

— Ohio State stays put at No. 1 in this week’s rankings after an efficient 24-6 victory at Washington in its Big Ten opener, allowing 5.5 points per game and two offensive touchdowns through four games so far.

— Auburn clung to 122 votes in last week’s AP ballot, placing 26th nationally, but after covering just 176 total yards, the lowest in Hugh Freeze’s tenure, in a 16-10 loss at Texas A&M that drops it to 0-2 in SEC play, and rushing for 31 yards

— No. 11 Indiana needed a late touchdown bomb from Fernando Mendoza to Elijah Sarratt to finally break Iowa, but stayed undefeated in the process and should move up 1 or 2 spots after Florida State’s loss and with Texas idle.