College Football Rankings: ESPN Reveals New No. 1 Team in Top 25 Poll for Week 7

Expect another shakeup in the college football rankings this week after three of the top ten teams in the country and six ranked teams altogether lost their games on Saturday.

Where does that leave things in the updated ESPN top 25 rankings coming out of this weekend and looking ahead to the Week 7 action?

College Football Rankings: ESPN Reshuffles the New Top 25 Poll for Week 7

25. Florida

Rankings change: Down 10

Fraud alert? College football’s hottest team two weeks ago now looks like its biggest dud after dropping two ugly losses, 45-17 at Missouri and 38-19 to South Carolina, and suddenly all that talk of the Gators being College Football Playoff hopefuls has basically gone up in smoke.

24. Louisville

Rankings change: Up 12

Coming off that nasty two-game losing skid, the Cardinals used Florida State as a punching bag on Friday night, stacking up almost 400 rushing yards and holding the Seminoles to 6 second half points. Now 2-2 in ACC play, they go to Syracuse next and host Stanford after that in two winnable games.

23. Iowa

Rankings change: Up 3

Going across the country and two time zones on Friday, the Hawkeyes made the most of the trip, smacking around Washington in a 41-24 decision, situating themselves for a potential College Football Playoff run going forward, with no more ranked teams on their schedule this season.

22. Wake Forest

Rankings change: Up 9

The one-loss Demon Deacons are getting more attention now after improving to 5-1 and sitting in second place in the ACC after clobbering NC State on the road, ranking among the 25 best scoring offenses in the country and facing a very winnable schedule going forward, with just one ranked team remaining on their schedule (SMU a month).

21. Texas A&M

Rankings change: Down 7

The collective efficiency metrics the ESPN algorithm uses to rank teams still likes what the Aggies are putting out there, even after falling to 1-3 in SEC play after a 27-6 loss at Missouri, who sliced up this front for 222 rushing yards. A&M’s offense looks hopeless, as do their chances to even get to a bowl game after making the playoff a year ago.

20. Northwestern

Rankings change: Down 3

Aidan Chiles had 3 touchdown passes and a fourth score on the ground to put away Ball State in a 45-14 rout and now the 4-1 Wildcats look ahead to a home date against Rutgers before reality could set in: Oregon, Iowa, and Ohio State come up after that.

19. USC

Rankings change: None

Jayden Maiava covered over 300 yards passing and scored three times to take down Penn State on the road in a 31-23 decision. The Trojans’ offense led the way early on before the defense settled in after that, easing some of the consistent tension that Lincoln Riley’s team can’t hang in the Big Ten.

18. Houston

Rankings change: Up 7

Conner Weigman threw 4 touchdown passes to help the Cougars pull away from Kansas State on the road in a 35-16 romp, improving to 2-1 in Big 12 competition, but facing a tough two-week stint against Oklahoma State and at Utah, two of the best teams in the conference and each nationally ranked.

17. Missouri

Rankings change: Up 1

This offense has scored 96 combined points in SEC competition so far, coming off a statement 27-6 victory over Texas A&M. That puts Mizzou at 2-1 in conference play and on the right half of the ledger midway through October. A tough stretch is ahead going to Ole Miss next and games against Texas and Georgia await in the future.

16. Oklahoma

Rankings change: Up 5

Defense wins championships, and while the Sooners aren’t winning one this year, they had the firepower to ultimately come out victorious against No. 1 ranked rival Texas, intercepting Arch Manning twice, turning one into a pick-six and the other into a game-winning field goal.

15. Ole Miss

Rankings change: Up 7

Trinidad Chambliss had 213 yards passing and 4 all purpose touchdowns to help the Rebels completely rout Vanderbilt on the road by a 52-17 count, scoring 24 points off turnovers. Now the Rebels (4-1, 2-1 SEC) head into consecutive tests against Missouri and then Texas.

14. BYU

Rankings change: Up 2

Bear Bachmeier led the Cougars with 109 yards rushing in LJ Martin’s absence while throwing 2 TDs and covering 329 yards to help put away Iowa State in a 24-10 result at home to improve to 5-0 heading into the biggest test of their season with Notre Dame coming in next weekend.

13. Tennessee

Rankings change: Down 3

Arkansas gave the Volunteers all the trouble they wanted and more, scoring two touchdowns in the third quarter and taking a four-point lead late, but Big Orange punched it into the end zone twice in the final frame on 74- and 94-yard drives. UT, now 5-1, heads to Alabama next week.

12. Nebraska

Rankings change: Up 1

They gave the champs a hard time most of the day, but in the end the Cornhuskers couldn’t do enough in a loss to Indiana, extending its 10 year long, 30 game stretch against ranked teams, and head coach Matt Rhule falls to 2-26 against AP teams in his career. He’s yet to beat one at Nebraska.

11. Texas Tech

Rankings change: None

Off this past weekend after beating Colorado the week before, the Red Raiders return this coming Saturday at home against Arizona State, but now sitting one game behind BYU in the Big 12 standings and needing to revive this offense quickly.

10. Utah

Rankings change: Up 2

Wayshawn Parker ran for 171 yards and scored twice to help the Utes eventually put away Kansas at home, propelling an offense that ranks 6th in the country at almost 43 points per game and is just 7th in scoring defense heading to Colorado next time out.

9. Oregon

Rankings change: None

Count ‘em up: seven turnovers. Playing offense out of a nightmare that eventually got quarterback Dylan Raiola pulled from the game, the Ducks squandered a ton of their College Football Playoff ambitions with a sluggish 17-15 loss to UCLA at home, their second L of the season. Remarkably, the power index still not only has the Ducks ranked, but inside the top ten.

8. LSU

Rankings change: None

A very costly second loss in Lane Kiffin’s first season after a one-point loss in overtime at Kentucky, once again illustrating the Tiger coach’s struggles in road games, and throwing their College Football Playoff hopes into a blender midway through the year. Still, the ESPN algo likes LSU’s overall efficiency despite sitting at 4-2.

7. Indiana

Rankings change: None

Stuck for most of the day in a defensive slugfest, one in which they were losing most of the time, the Hoosiers finally struck back at Nebraska, courtesy of two fourth quarter TD drives, including a 41-yard scoring play to Nick Marsh on fourth down to stay undefeated. Ohio State comes to Bloomington next weekend.

6. Texas

Rankings change: Down 2

Some big questions still remain around Arch Manning, who should look better at this point than he does. In the first half, he did, leading the Longhorns to a 10-point first half lead over Oklahoma, but his two second half turnovers, part of a general stall on offense after the break, directly implicated this team in their first loss of the season.

5. Alabama

Rankings change: Up 1

It was a close 20-17 result at home, but one that went the wrong way for the Crimson Tide against SEC champion Georgia, and Bama fans have some legitimate criticism of the officiating in the game, but the offense led by Keelon Russell still put up some decent plays against an elite defense.

4. Miami

Rankings change: Up 1

Kirk Herbstreit calls this the best team in the country, sitting firmly atop the ACC, averaging second in scoring offense and first in scoring defense. Idle on Saturday, they return at home against reeling Florida State next weekend.

3. Ohio State

Rankings change: Down 2

Jeremiah Smith scored touchdowns on his first two catches as the Buckeyes put away Maryland at home, but this offense is still a little sloppy at times, with issues they’ll have to fix going into a brutal stretch — at Indiana, at USC, vs. Oregon — that will tell us if this is really a playoff-caliber team.

2. Georgia

Rankings change: None

Gunner Stockton had 249 yards passing and the Bulldogs ran for over 200 yards to hand Kirby Smart his first regular season victory against Alabama, and the team’s first road win in Tuscaloosa since 2007. The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry is next against Auburn.

1. Notre Dame

Rankings change: Up 2

The new No. 1 team in the ESPN power index rankings. Jonaz Walton had the best performance by an Irish back this season, totaling 181 yards, including a 97-yard run, in a 58-7 rout against Stanford. Five of ND’s TDs were of 30 or more yards. Top ranked in defense and 6-0, the Domers go to BYU next in a huge test.

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

Add us as a preferred source on Google