College football rankings: Predicting the AP top 25 poll for Week 7

Predicting the AP top 25 college football rankings for the Week 7 games
College football rankings: Predicting the AP top 25 poll for Week 7
College football rankings: Predicting the AP top 25 poll for Week 7 /

As the dust settles around the latest slate of games on Saturday, let's look ahead to the next AP top 25 college football rankings

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 on Sunday

Related: How the AP top 25 is made | CFP rankings schedule

College football rankings: Predicting the AP top 25 poll for Week 7

25. Missouri. AP voters could keep the Tigers in the rankings this week after a close loss to LSU.

24. Kansas. The Jayhawks ran for 400 yards in a statement win over UCF and moved to 5-1 on the season.

23. UCLA. Vegas knew something about the Bruins, who were 3.5 favorites over Washington State, whose potent air attack they grounded and avoided what would have been an 0-2 start in Pac-12 play.

22. Tennessee. Idle

21. LSU. Some late heroics from Jayden Daniels on a long touchdown run and a pick-six helped the Tigers stay one step ahead of Missouri on the road, but their defense kept it close yet again.

20. Notre Dame. The vaunted Irish offense ran into a wall at Louisville, held to 1.6 yards rushing while Sam Hartman was picked 3 times. Now at 2 losses, the Golden Domers appear to be out of the College Football Playoff race for good.

19. Miami. All the Canes had to do was take the knee. But they ran the ball, fumbled it, and then let Georgia Tech win the game on a long touchdown pass with 2 seconds left, a loss that will keep Mario Cristobal up at night.

18. Duke. Idle

17. Washington State. The Cougars should be ranked behind UCLA, but voters won't drop them that far after their first loss as Cameron Ward was held to under 200 yards and just 5.1 yards per pass.

16. Utah. Idle

15. Louisville. The Cardinals' skill players are as good as advertised after helping take down Notre Dame, moving to 6-0 in Jeff Brohm's first season as head coach.

14. Ole Miss. The Rebels forced 2 takeaways from Arkansas and led a pair of fourth quarter scoring drives to pull away and move to 5-1 on the year.

13. Oregon State. DJ Uiagalelei accounted for 5 total touchdowns as the Beavers took care of business at Cal and improved to 5-1.

12. North Carolina. Drake Maye hit over 400 yards passing with three touchdowns as the Tar Heels smacked Syracuse at home, building a 27-0 lead in the first half. 

11. Alabama. A 300-yard day from Jalen Milroe, and nearly 200 from receiver Jermaine Burton propelled Bama to a win at Texas A&M and back in the driver's seat in the SEC West title race.

10. Texas. Quinn Ewers' three turnovers didn't help against OU, but he also had 346 passing yards and helped give the Longhorns a lead with just 1:17 left, but the defense surrendered a 75-yard drive late. This loss will shake up the rankings.

9. USC. In truth, the Trojans arguably shouldn't be in the top 15 because of this awful defense, which got them behind at home against Arizona, and even the nation's No. 1 scoring offense had an awful start and Caleb Williams hit just over 50% of his throws. But USC is technically still undefeated heading to Notre Dame next weekend.

8. Oregon. Idle

7. Washington. Idle

6. Oklahoma. OU rode a statement goal line stand and a late scoring drive by Dillon Gabriel to hold off the Longhorns in the Red River Shootout and keep its playoff hopes alive. That should be enough for a big jump.

5. Penn State. Idle

4. Florida State. Trey Benson ran for 200 yards and two touchdowns as the Seminoles took down Virginia Tech, but there's some concern about wideout Jimmy Wilson after an injury scare in that game.

3. Ohio State. A slow start notwithstanding against Maryland, Marvin Harrison, Jr. went off for 163 yards receiving and a touchdown to keep the Buckeyes undefeated.

2. Michigan. J.J. McCarthy led 6 touchdown drives in a rout over Minnesota with three easy games coming up on the schedule.

1. Georgia. Brock Bowers went over 100 yards receiving again as the champs avoided a slow start and did a number on undefeated and ranked Kentucky to stay in pole position in the SEC East.


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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.