Predicting the AP top 25 college football rankings for Week 11

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 11

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 11

Dropping out: No. 17 Cincinnati, No. 22 Houston

25. Tennessee. Three costly losses have the Volunteers almost certainly out of the College Football Playoff picture, but the lack of other clear candidates to break out of the receiving votes category could salvage UT’s position in the rankings for now.

24. Washington. Yet to crack the AP top 25 this year, the Huskies were off this week as the 28th team in the poll, and with losses by three lower-placed teams, there should be room to make it entering November.

23. James Madison. A contender from the Group of Five, the Dukes could finally slip into the AP poll given they have just one loss to still-ranked Louisville. Voters gave this team just 9 votes last week, but major shifts near the bottom of the rankings open a road into the top 25.

22. Memphis. A little more confusion in the competitive American Conference and its designs on the Group of Five bid in the College Football Playoff, as Memphis beat Rice while first-place Navy lost to third-place North Texas, with UM right in the middle.

21. Michigan. Bryce Underwood didn’t do much of anything, but Jordan Marshall carried the day on the ground, powering for 185 yards and 3 touchdowns to take down the Boilermakers.

20. USC. AP voters had the Trojans behind the Michigan team they beat, but should correct that error given the former’s big win at Nebraska and the latter’s close win over a crummy Purdue team. Southern Cal is still lingering in the playoff picture.

19. Utah. Not only did the Big 12 hopefuls rout a ranked, one-loss Cincinnati at home, but even their losses, to Texas Tech and BYU, look really good, given those are the two highest-placed teams in the conference standings now.

18. Missouri. Losses to Alabama and Vanderbilt have Mizzou at 2-2 in SEC play and on the outside looking in at any meaningful football, but can change the narrative as they return from this week’s bye in a home date against perfect Texas A&M in Week 11.

17. Georgia Tech. The Wreck got into the poll thanks to a win against Clemson, but that looks less impressive by the day. Now comes a loss at unranked NC State amid a schedule that doesn’t scream quality wins.

16. Vanderbilt. No threat to fall out of the rankings following a loss at Texas, the Commodores nonetheless lost at a bad time as the playoff selectors are set to meet for the first time, although their furious 21-point comeback bid should impress them.

15. Miami. A drop is coming for the preseason ACC title favorites after a loss to unranked SMU on the road, the Hurricanes’ second loss in three games, and in the last 20 seasons the program is 18-13 against Power opponents when they’re ranked in the top-ten. This loss was their sixth as a program against an unranked opponent.

14. Louisville. Not a great start for the Cardinals’ offense, but they came back to handle Virginia Tech to stay at one loss in ACC play going into November.

13. Virginia. Despite playing a too-close game against lowly Cal, the Cavaliers got a pick-six late to pull away and secure its first 8-1 record since 1990. Still, the reason for their being ranked in the first place, a win over Florida State, doesn’t look quite as impressive these days.

12. Oklahoma. A statement win at Tennessee to move to 7-2 in a crucial moment playing arguably college football’s toughest remaining schedule and clinging to the outside of the playoff conversation, but no room for mistakes going forward.

11. Texas. An impressive win over a top-ten ranked Vanderbilt, highly-respected by the pollsters this year, should give the Longhorns a nice boost in the new rankings, combined with other losses by teams in this area of the poll.

10. Texas Tech. A sluggish start, but the Red Raiders came back and pulled away in a 23-point win at Kansas State and improved to 8-1 heading into a massive test against BYU that will help shape the congested Big 12 title picture.

9. Notre Dame. That 0-2 start seems like a distant memory after winning 6 straight games, and all by double digits, even if things were a little close against one-win Boston College this weekend.

8. BYU. Off on Saturday, the Cougars still sit atop the Big 12 standings with that undefeated record, but they’ll be tested in a road game at Texas Tech next weekend.

7. Ole Miss. A ferocious defensive effort that included 6 sacks and 2 interceptions and the Rebels ran for 258 yards to take down South Carolina and move to 8-1, and an easy path to 11 regular season wins. It would seemingly take sheer disaster to get this team out of the playoff at this point.

6. Oregon. Sitting firmly in that third-place spot in the Big Ten, the Ducks were off in Week 10 to prepare for an interesting road date against a strong-looking Iowa squad that sits right behind them in the conference standings.

5. Georgia. Another slow start and a deficit for the Bulldogs to have to play their way out of, but play out of if they did in a close win over rival Florida to move to 7-1 and should stay put in the top-five in this week’s rankings.

4. Alabama. Winners of seven-straight games, the Crimson Tide are in position to make a run at the SEC championship heading into a home date against an LSU team undergoing major transition coming out of the Brian Kelly disaster.

3. Texas A&M. Idle this past weekend, the Aggies remain the SEC’s last undefeated team coming off that signature win at LSU that helped get Brian Kelly fired, and now head into another road test against a ranked Missouri.

2. Indiana. College football’s third-ranked scoring offense put up over 50 points for the second-straight week, overcoming a slow start to smack Maryland and stay perfect, one step closer towards setting up a likely Ohio State-Indiana matchup for the Big Ten title, and maybe peeling off some first-place votes this week, too.

1. Ohio State. Julian Sayin put on another near-perfect passing clinic, completing 87 percent of his throws with more touchdowns (4) than incompletions (3), leading the Buckeyes to a 38-14 win over hapless Penn State to stay undefeated.

More: AP top 25 college football teams moving up, down in Week 11