Predicting the AP top 25 college football rankings for Week 7 after big upsets

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 7

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 7

25. Florida State. Something of a dilemma for AP voters here. Memphis became the first 6-0 team in college football this year after getting 38 votes last week. USF had 53 votes and routed Charlotte. Or could they keep the Seminoles, whose loss to Miami is their second in as many weeks, in the rankings given the quality of their win over Alabama?

24. Texas. Arch Manning will get a lot of the negative headlines after another perplexing effort in a loss at unranked Florida in the SEC opener, but give some blame to his offensive line for letting him get sacked six times and being unable to open any rushing lanes, as Manning led the side with 37 ground yards. The preseason SEC title fave is arguably college football’s most disappointing team.

23. Penn State. Expect a big drop for the Nittany Lions, as AP voters will feel deceived for putting so much confidence in this preseason No. 2 team following consecutive losses to Oregon (forgivable) and then this weekend at winless UCLA (unforgivable). The offense nearly made a comeback late, but Jim Knowles’ defense had few answers for what was one of college football’s worst-performing offenses until this game.

22. Arizona State. Idle this past weekend, the reigning Big 12 champions are coming off an important win against TCU to get back into the national rankings, but the road gets harder with three of their next four opponents currently ranked and two of those games are on the road.

21. Virginia. College football’s fifth-best offense was reduced to around half its normal capacity, but did enough to get out of Louisville with an overtime victory, improving to 3-0 in ACC play to keep its place in the rankings and facing a winnable schedule.

20. Vanderbilt. Diego Pavia had two costly red zone turnovers that went a long way in depriving the Commodores of that second-straight upset against Alabama, but the loss isn’t too damaging for the Dores’ poll placement given how good the Crimson Tide look.

19. Iowa State. Coming into this weekend at 14, the Cyclones lost at Cincinnati in a game they trailed 31-7 in the first half before making a near-comeback. That could be enough to cling to a place in the top 25, or reason for pollsters to bounce them and make room for either USF or Memphis.

18. BYU. A modest rise in the rankings is in order for the Cougars after Bear Bachmeier went over 300 yards passing for the first time this season and this ground game added 4 touchdowns to put away West Virginia and improve to 2-0 in Big 12 play, but five tough games lie ahead with three of them on the road.

17. Illinois. Kaden Feagin ran for 2 touchdowns and the Illini used a 27-point second quarter to get past Purdue and improve to 5-1 with a home date against No. 1 Ohio State up next in the biggest challenge of their season.

16. Notre Dame. This defense, a weakness for the team most of the season, intercepted four passes in a game for the first time since 2023 in an important victory over a Boise State team that was in the playoff a year ago.

15. Michigan. Justice Haynes ran for over 100 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Wolverines put away Wisconsin by two scores to improve to 2-0 in Big Ten play with a big date at USC up next.

14. Missouri. College football’s 9th ranked scoring offense took this past weekend off after a big win over UMass and now 1-0 in SEC play and second in the conference standings, welcomes Alabama next Saturday in a vital early test.

13. Georgia Tech. Escaping against Wake by 1 point before taking this past Saturday off, the Yellow Jackets are still undefeated and don’t play a ranked team until the season finale against Georgia, leaving plenty of opportunity to make waves in the ACC title chase.

12. Tennessee. Big Orange took this weekend off coming out of a close, overtime win at Mississippi State last time out and heading into a home date against Arkansas with Alabama and Oklahoma part of a crucial three-game stretch after that.

11. LSU. There’s plenty of room for improvement for this rushing attack, one of the worst in college football, coming back from the off week in a battle against South Carolina with three ranked opponents after that, two of them on the road against Vandy and Alabama.

10. Georgia. Gunner Stockton and Dillon Bell both ran for 2 touchdowns and Cash Jones caught a fifth as the Bulldogs moved past Kentucky with little issue, and should move back inside the top 10 of the rankings after those losses by Texas and Penn State.

9. Texas Tech. Once again, the Red Raiders’ new-look defense looked the part, allowing just 1 touchdown in a double-digit win on the road against undefeated Houston, further entrenching their place atop the Big 12 pecking order.

8. Alabama. Coming out of one pressure-packed situation, the Crimson Tide went into another and came out the other end 2-0 in that stretch, getting past upset-minded Vanderbilt a week after taking out Georgia on the road, now undefeated in SEC play and giving Kalen DeBoer a firmer foundation to stand on moving further inside the top 10.

7. Indiana. One of several teams that were off this weekend, the Hoosiers are still undefeated and atop the Big Ten standings, top 10 nationally in scoring offense and defense, but facing a massive road test against Oregon next Saturday. A similar game at Ohio State last season took some of the shine off this team, and Indiana has to be on guard against it happening again.

6. Texas A&M. This defense has carried the way over the last two games for the Aggies in beating Auburn and most recently Mississippi State, improving to 2-0 in SEC play with a home date against Florida next weekend.

5. Oklahoma. Even without John Mateer under center, the Sooners predictably had no issue putting away lowly Kent State at home to stay firmly tucked into the top five of the rankings, but the belief is that OU’s starting quarterback won’t be available for the Texas game, either.

4. Ole Miss. Coming off that huge win over LSU last weekend, the Rebels were off this week to get some rest before hosting Washington State next Saturday ahead of a challenging two-week road trip against Georgia and Oklahoma that will test this squad.

3. Oregon. That massive win at Penn State a week ago resulted in the Ducks receiving 16 first-place votes in last week’s rankings heading into a home engagement against the Hoosiers, but none of their other remaining opponents are currently ranked.

2. Miami. Coming off a big win at ranked Florida State, the Hurricanes should get some of Oregon’s first-place votes this week, and might jump the Ducks given that win over Penn State doesn’t look so great anymore, but likely not enough to supplant the Buckeyes at the top of the poll given AP voters’ reticence to displace top-ranked teams unless they really do something to warrant it.

1. Ohio State. This looks like college football’s best defense, allowing under 10 points in every game this season after a 42-3 thrashing of Minnesota at home, enough to stay at No. 1 in the rankings heading into a big road test against Illinois up next.

More: AP top 25 college football teams moving up, down in the Week 7 rankings