College Football Rankings: AP Top 25 Teams Moving Up, Down in Week 7

Don’t look now, but once again there will be a new No. 1 team in the college football rankings.

That change comes courtesy of the right foot of Tate Sandell, the Oklahoma place kicker who doomed No. 1 Texas at the Cotton Bowl with a last second field goal, forcing pollsters into yet more consequential decisions about who belongs where in the rankings.

Who else will be moving up and down the national AP poll this week?

Rankings reflect the AP top 25 poll

Moving down: Texas

College Football Rankings: AP Top 25 Teams Moving Up, Down in Week 7 — IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Last week’s ranking: No. 1

The Longhorns took the No. 1 spot in the rankings, and now they’re giving it away. And in the worst possible way, to their underdog rivals, on the last play of the game, and now AP pollsters are faced with finding the right landing spot for the Longhorns this week.

Arch Manning was solid in the first half, throwing two long TD passes to take a 10-point first half lead, but his output after the break was less inspiring. He threw 2 interceptions, one leading to a pick-six and the other to Oklahoma’s game-winning kick.

All of which still leads back to the original concern. Manning has always been shrouded in supernatural hype, but his inconsistency in big spots finally cost his team in a really bad way.

As the game wore on, this offense progressively struggled – Arch led drives of 24, 8, 9, 2, and -3 yards before a 75-yard TD march – and it simply hasn’t realized the kind of results it expected from him at this point in his career. Growth, yes. Progress? No.

Moving up: Georgia

Last week’s ranking: No. 2

The reigning SEC champions will be the new No. 1 team in college football this week after pulling out a gutsy, physical 20-17 victory at Alabama, finally getting the crimson elephant off Kirby Smart’s back in his first regular season win against the Tide.

Coming back from a 14-10 deficit at halftime, the Bulldogs outphysicaled Kalen DeBoer’s team in what has become the SEC’s most physical football rivalry, and they’re starting to look more like the squads that won those national championships.

Moving down: Alabama

Last week’s ranking: No. 6

While the Crimson Tide easily enough passed their first five tests this season, and established themselves as one of college football’s elite teams, they could not pass the most important test. But they sure came close, apart from some defensive struggles in properly containing either Georgia’s aerial attack or its ground game.

As far as “good losses” go, this is probably the best, leaving AP pollsters unlikely to severely punish Alabama with a major drop in the rankings, likely not outside the top ten, potentially into the No. 10 spot that is about to be vacated by Lane Kiffin’s team.

Moving down: LSU

Last week’s ranking: No. 10

Lane Kiffin is now 13-13 in road games as head coach at Ole Miss and LSU after the Tigers’ one-point loss at Kentucky, and it’s the subpar performance of his team away from home that could end up conspiring against their College Football Playoff hopes.

Granted, Kiffin wasn’t around for most of LSU’s now eight straight road losses against SEC opponents, but his current team looked a little too sloppy at times to properly take command of the game, an issue that may become a problem in tests against Mississippi State, Alabama, Texas, and Tennessee down the stretch.

Moving down: Florida

Last week’s ranking: No. 16

What a difference two weeks has made for the Gators. They were college football’s hottest team and the biggest riser in the AP poll after beating up Ole Miss. Then, the biggest faller after getting clocked by Missouri. Now, they’re being branded as frauds after an ugly loss to South Carolina, which was winless in SEC play until now.

Once talked about as the SEC Coach of the Year, Jon Sumrall is instead going back to the drawing board. Ranked No. 8 in the country just a fortnight ago, back-to-back blowout losses against SEC opponents, allowing 83 combined points in that time, makes all that confidence sound delusional now. Don’t be surprised if the Gators slip out of the poll entirely.

Moving up: UCLA

Last week’s ranking: No. 21

Winning at Oregon is not something a lot of teams do. Starting 5-0 in their first season at UCLA is something no one has done until Bob Chesney, whose Bruins, if anything, could have won even easier if not for the mistakes they made. As it is, we could see this team in the playoff race going forward, as they should be favored in every game left on their schedule the rest of the way.

Moving down: Oregon

Last week’s ranking: No. 13

A second loss on the season throws a giant monkey wrench into the Ducks’ ambitions in the Big Ten title race and the College Football Playoff picture, as pollsters will be eager to punish a home favorite who loses to a lower-ranked opponent, especially in a game where Oregon handed the ball over 7 times, exposing once again serious issues with ball security and consistency, and are chipping away at their postseason hopes.

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