College football rankings: AP top 25 teams moving up, down in Week 7

As we look back on another consequential week of action across the country, let’s take a turn predicting what teams will emerge as the biggest movers in the AP top 25 college football rankings in Week 7.

It was an Upset Saturday to forget for some highly-ranked teams, and will result in another shakeup in the top 10 after Texas and Penn State both lost on the road as big favorites to unranked foes.

Those games saw the preseason No. 1 and No. 2 teams lose to a 1-3 and an 0-4 opponent, respectively, results that will not only monkey with the new poll, but can only add fuel to the belief that preseason rankings are not the best idea in the world.

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 7 — Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Last week’s ranking: No. 10

Coming out of one massive pressure-packed situation, Kalen DeBoer and Alabama went right into another, and passed a second-straight test with a 30-14 win over Vanderbilt.

No upsets this time, as Ty Simpson threw for 340 yards and 2 touchdowns and Jam Miller resurrected this dormant rushing attack with 136 yards and a touchdown, moving the Tide to a 2-0 mark in SEC play after last week’s big win at Georgia.

Alabama won on third down situations, in the time of possession battle, converted all 4 of its red zone trips into points, and finished on the plus-side in turnover margin, all major categories in which Vanderbilt edged out the Tide in last year’s upset.

Alabama’s big win comes on the same day two other top 10 ranked teams, Penn State and Texas, both lost on the road to unranked foes, allowing plenty of room for AP voters to easily propel the Crimson Tide up in the poll, perhaps as high as to No. 7.

Moving down: Texas

Last week’s ranking: No. 9

Arch Manning is simply not a good quarterback right now, and Texas is on a very short list as one of the two or three most disappointing teams in college football this year.

The preseason No. 1 team in the country lost at Ohio State to open the season, and even in the cupcake games that followed, this offense often looked listless and inconsistent under Manning’s direction.

As it did in the face of Florida’s front seven alignment, which harassed the Texas offensive line with regularity, and without really trying, forcing the quarterback into several hurried throws and bringing him down six times.

Now 3-2, the Longhorns join Notre Dame and Florida State as the other two-loss team in the rankings, and will suffer a precipitous drop from inside the top 10 to outside the top 15.

Moving up: Miami

Last week’s ranking: No. 3

For the first time in 21 years, Miami has defeated three AP top 25 ranked opponents in a season, coming off Saturday’s 28-22 victory at Florida State.

Carson Beck put on a passing clinic, completing 20 of 27 passes for 241 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions, as Miami’s receivers got open with ease early on and were able to rattle off serious yards after the catch to build an initial 28-3 lead.

Beck will skyrocket in the early Heisman odds table, finishing with more touchdown passes than incompletions, adding four 40-yard downfield plays in the game.

Where does that leave the Hurricanes in the new rankings? They received four first-place votes last week in the No. 3 overall position, but could get enough to jump Oregon and move back into the No. 2 spot it vacated to the Ducks last time out.

Oregon’s win against Penn State from last week suddenly doesn’t look as impressive after the Nittany Lions’ surprise loss on Saturday, allowing Miami to take some of those first-place votes away from the Ducks.

And despite plenty of talk from commentators that Miami could, or should, move into the No. 1 position, AP voters have not proven eager enough to dislodge top teams unless they have shown they don’t deserve the honor, something Ohio State hasn’t done.

Moving down: Florida State

Last week’s ranking: No. 18

Riding astronomically high after beating Alabama in the season opener, things appear to be coming back down to earth for the Seminoles, coming off that surprise loss at unranked Virginia and now Saturday’s result at home against rival Miami.

Florida State had few answers for Miami’s explosive playmakers and couldn’t hold off the Hurricanes’ physical defensive front, although it did score two late touchdowns to make the score look more respectable than most of the game was.

Last week’s biggest dropper after the Virginia loss, AP voters will further punish Florida State by dropping it down definitively into the bottom fifth of the poll, but potentially still inside the top 25 given their win against Alabama still looks better every week.

The threat to Florida State staying in the rankings this week comes from USF, which placed just outside the poll last week and pounded Charlotte, and Memphis, which is the first 6-0 team this season.

Moving down: Penn State

Last week’s ranking: No. 7

The rap on James Franklin was that he couldn’t win the big game, but could always win the other littler games that he was expected to.

But after Saturday’s surprise loss at unranked and winless UCLA, one of the worst overall performing teams in college football, much less in the Big Ten, there’s a new locus of criticism around Penn State’s head coach.

Now including around the defense, considered the strength of the program under Jim Knowles’ leadership as coordinator after coming over from Ohio State, but whose tacklers seemed ill-equipped with any credible plan to effectively stop Nico Iamaleava.

UCLA’s transfer quarterback threw 2 touchdown passes and ran for another 3 scores while covering 128 yards on the ground and averaging 8 yards per carry, shredding a defense that has now surrendered 72 points over the last two games.

Combined with last week’s double overtime loss to then-No. 6 Oregon, Penn State’s playoff credentials are in tatters, and they’re primed for a serious fall in the rankings.

AP voters will feel deceived on the quality of a team they called the second-best in the country back in the preseason, but which should drop outside the top 15 in the poll heading into next weekend.

Moving down: Vanderbilt

Last week’s ranking: No. 16

Last season, Diego Pavia was the reason why Vanderbilt was able to upset Alabama. This season, he was a big reason why it ultimately couldn’t.

Vandy’s star quarterback was responsible for two costly turnovers when the offense was in scoring position, throwing an interception and losing a fumble.

Otherwise, the Commodores were unable to remain consistent running the ball to complement Pavia’s throwing effort, totaling 126 yards in the first half, but was reduced to 9 total rushing yards after the intermission.

The result is a 1-1 mark in SEC play looking ahead to a brutal couple of weeks against three-straight currently-ranked opponents, hosting LSU and Missouri and going to Texas, a stretch that could derail Vanderbilt’s positive early season momentum.

For now, it’s enough for a likely fall into the bottom fifth of the Week 7 rankings as other lower-ranked teams either won their games or were idle.

Who else could move?

— As mentioned, Memphis could finally break into the rankings this week after improving to 6-0. It earned 38 votes last week, good for 29th nationally.

— Iowa State is heading down from 14 after its first loss, on the road against Cincinnati, falling behind 31-7 in the first half before making a comeback to make interesting late, but still allowing 260 rushing yards in the process.

— Conversely, we could see Cincinnati get some positive attention from AP pollsters with the win, moving to 4-1 overall with just a field goal loss to Nebraska this season.

— Something to watch at the bottom of the rankings, as No. 25 Arizona State was idle, but USF, which was 26th coming into this week, clobbered Charlotte. It might not be enough for the Bulls to jump the Sun Devils, given the latter’s last win was against ranked TCU.

— Notre Dame should move up from No. 21 after a 28-7 win over Boise State in which its struggling defense intercepted four passes in a game for the first time in 2 years. Now 3-2, with those losses coming by 4 combined points, the Irish play a very winnable schedule going forward.

— Navy could get votes this week after a thrilling win over Air Force in the first leg of the Commander in Chief Trophy, as quarterback Blake Horvath set a school record for total offense in a game and became the first Midshipmen signal caller to throw for 300 yards and run for another 100 in a game this century.

— Michigan will inch forward from its No. 20 position after a win over Wisconsin that saw Justice Haynes run for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns in a two-score win to improve to 2-0 in Big Ten play. UM’s only loss is against undefeated, top-five Oklahoma.