College football rankings: Predicting the AP top 25 poll for Week 9

After an active weekend on the gridiron, let's take a crack at predicting the AP top 25 college football rankings entering Week 9 action.

Predicting the AP top 25 college football rankings for Week 9 / USA Today Sports | Imagn

As we survey the damage from the latest games on Saturday, let's look ahead to the AP top 25 college football rankings heading into Week 9

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

Predicting the AP top 25 college football rankings for Week 9

Dropping out: Michigan

25. Washington State. This could be the week we see the now bowl eligible Cougars crack the top 25 rankings after moving to a solid 6-1 record after demolishing Hawaii as quarterback John Mateer was responsible for 5 all-purpose touchdowns.

24. Navy. Not the customary domination on the ground for the Midshipmen, but they forced 5 turnovers, including Dashaun Peele's 2 pick-sixes, to pound Charlotte and move to 6-0, emerging as a playoff sleeper out of the AAC and looking ahead to a major clash against Notre Dame next weekend.

23. Army. The Black Knights predictably rolled up nearly 300 yards rushing and quarterback Bryson Daily accounted for 6 total touchdowns, including all 5 on the ground, to put away East Carolina and stay undefeated with date against Air Force at home in two weeks.

22. SMU. Kevin Jennings passed for over 300 yards and the Mustangs held Stanford to 23 yards rushing to improve to 3-0 in ACC play and with a road game against Duke up next.

21. Pittsburgh. Idle this week, the undefeated and ACC hopeful Panthers return against Syracuse at home this coming Thursday night as Eli Holstein commands an offense that averages over 305 yards per game and is scoring more than 40 points on average.

20. Illinois. Luke Altmyer only had 80 yards passing, but he ran for a score and threw another touchdown and the Illini defense forced Michigan into 3 turnovers to improve to 3-1 in Big Ten play, but with a huge trip to undefeated Oregon coming up next weekend.

19. Ole Miss. Off this weekend, the reeling Rebels are 1-2 in SEC play, but just 6 combined points from being undefeated and their 3rd ranked aerial attack will go against Oklahoma's defense next Saturday.

18. Missouri. A gutsy return performance from quarterback Brady Cook after having originally being injured helped the Tigers come from behind and secure a win against Auburn, avoiding what would have been a damning second SEC loss, with a date at Alabama up next weekend.

17. Kansas State. Avery Johnson threw for 3 touchdowns in a 412-yard effort to dominate West Virginia on the road, moving to 3-1 in Big 12 games looking ahead to a date against Kansas next weekend.

16. Alabama. Crisis Time for Kalen DeBoer and Alabama after a second loss, this time on the road against Tennessee, and basically one more loss away from playoff elimination. What a turn of events after Bama knocked off Georgia and was the No. 1 team in the nation. Since then, it's lost to Vanderbilt and the Vols and nearly got upset by South Carolina at home.

15. Boise State. Atop the Mountain West and at 5-1 overall, the Broncos were off this weekend to rest up before a trip to UNLV this coming Friday with college football's No. 3 ranked rushing offense led by Ashton Jeanty, who has 1,248 yards and 17 touchdowns this season.

14. Texas A&M. The Aggies weathered 2 turnovers and played a back-and-forth game against Mississippi State as Conner Weigman had 2 picks, pulling out a close 10-point victory and becoming the first SEC team with a 4-0 conference record this season, with a date against LSU next weekend.

13. Indiana. We were waiting to see how the Hoosiers offense would fare against a real defense, and it passed that test and more after dismantling Nebraska by a 56-7 count, piling up 8 touchdowns and suddenly Indiana looks more like a realistic at-large playoff team.

12. BYU. Officially the top team in the Big 12, the Cougars moved to 7-0 after Jake Retzlaff threw a game-winning touchdown with 10 seconds left to down Oklahoma State, and go to UCF next weekend.

11. Notre Dame. Riley Leonard threw for 203 yards and ran for 2 touchdowns as the Irish scored 31 unanswered points in a takedown of Georgia Tech, and now a huge matchup against undefeated Navy awaits, looking to avoid a second loss on the year.

10. Clemson. Cade Klubnik posted over 300 yards passing and Phil Mafah ran for 2 scores to pull away midway through against Virginia, but the defense allowed 21 fourth quarter points, which some AP voters may bristle at, but the Tigers are 5-0 in ACC play.

9. Iowa State. Down by 5 late, Rocco Becht led an 80 yard drive in 2 minutes with no timeouts to take and hold a 3-point lead over UCF to keep the Cyclones undefeated in a frantic comeback bid.

8. Tennessee. Despite some major offensive struggles once again early in the game, the Vols came alive in the second half, as Dylan Sampson ran for 2 touchdowns and Nico Iamaleava tacked on another score late, surviving 3 turnovers to take down Alabama in a signature win.

7. LSU. Make it 6 straight wins for the Tigers after Caden Durham ran for 101 yards and 3 touchdowns while the defense forced 3 takeaways in a key win at Arkansas with a road game against a ranked Texas A&M coming up next Saturday.

6. Miami. Louisville brought its A-game in a back and forth battle, but Cam Ward went off for 319 yards and 4 touchdowns with no picks and the Canes ran for 222 yards as part of a 541-yard performance to stay undefeated at 7-0 and looking ahead to a very winnable schedule to close out.

5. Texas. Held scoreless in the first half by Georgia's resurgent defense, the Longhorns stormed back after the half, scoring 15 third-quarter points, but it wasn't enough as the No. 1 team goes down.

4. Ohio State. Off this week, the Buckeyes look to regroup from that 1-point loss at Oregon the weekend prior sitting at 2-1 in Big Ten play with a date against Nebraska at home coming up before a landmark clash at Penn State the week after that with conference title hopes potentially on the line.

3. Penn State. Idle this weekend, the Nittany Lions are still undefeated and playing the 9th ranked scoring defense in the country with a date at Wisconsin up next before hosting one-loss Ohio State in a marquee Big Ten battle.

2. Georgia. Desperately needing to avoid a costly second loss, the Bulldogs made a statement against Texas, and with those first-place votes up for grabs, combined with a win over the No. 1 team, AP voters could move Georgia to the top of the polls this week, but having one loss might be the deciding factor against it on most ballots.

1. Oregon. The loss by the Longhorns should propel the undefeated Ducks into the No. 1 position this week as voters may prefer the perfect record even more so than Georgia's win, but they'll share some of those first-place votes with the Bulldogs.

More ... When the Top 25 rankings come out

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