College football rankings: Top 25 teams moving up, down in Week 12

These college football teams should be on the way up, and down, heading into Week 12 when the AP top 25 voters compile their new rankings.

Predicting what college football teams will move up, and slide down, the AP top 25 rankings entering Week 12. / John David Mercer-Imagn Images

It was a prove-it Saturday across college football this past weekend, especially in a pair of statement matchups in the SEC that will force some big decisions from AP top 25 voters when they cast their ballots for the new rankings heading into Week 12.

Two of the top four teams in this week’s rankings came out on the losing end, results that are sure to shake things up in the new poll and in the selection committee’s assessment of where things stand in the top dozen as we move deeper into November football.

What teams will be on the move in the AP top 25 college football rankings this week? 

Let’s take a shot at predicting who’s moving up, and who’s going down, in the polls heading into Week 12.

Rankings reflect AP top 25 poll

Moving up: Alabama

Last week’s ranking: No. 11

An effective College Football Playoff elimination game, under the lights, in the SEC. The winner? Still in the playoff picture. The loser? Almost certainly out.

Sixty minutes later, Alabama emerged not only victorious over LSU, but in the aftermath of a 42-13 shellacking, the Crimson Tide put college football on notice that it’s still a contender.

Jalen Milroe was the reason why. Alabama’s quarterback has been a weapon of mass destruction against LSU, running for 185 yards and 4 touchdowns, peppering the Tigers defense with touchdown runs of 10, 19, 39, and 72 yards.

Put together over the last two years in this rivalry, Milroe has rushed for 344 yards and 8 touchdowns, and on Saturday he became the second player in Alabama history with multiple four-touchdown games, joining Shaun Alexander.

That should be enough for AP top 25 voters to push the Crimson Tide inside the top 10 of this week’s rankings after losses by top-four teams Georgia (which Alabama beat) and Miami.

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Moving down: LSU

Last week’s ranking: No. 14

Brian Kelly’s performance will be a subject of intense criticism after his team looked uninspired and poorly coordinated on both sides of the ball in what was LSU’s biggest game of the season.

Facing playoff elimination in the face and hosting such a marquee game in college football’s most intense home-field environment under the lights, LSU fell flat.

The decisive moment arguably came in the middle of the game when Alabama held a more manageable 14-6 lead and the Tigers had chances to get back within striking distance.

Instead, the offense had two turnovers, a fumble and a Garrett Nussmeier interception in the end zone, both of which the Crimson Tide turned into 14 points.

Despite some broad defensive improvements on the year, LSU’s secondary is still a cause for real concern as was the team’s physicality on both lines of scrimmage.

Since he left Notre Dame for the SEC, Kelly is 4-8 against ranked opponents. His replacement at ND, Marcus Freeman, is 10-4 against ranked teams in that time.

It’s too much to speculate AP voters will drop LSU from the rankings entirely, but with other losers further down the polls this week, a fall into the bottom fifth isn’t out of the question.

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Moving up: Ole Miss

Last week’s ranking: No. 16

If not now, when? That was the question for Transfer King Lane Kiffin, who finished the night with the signature win of his career, as Ole Miss smacked No. 2 Georgia in a 28-10 decision.

While the Rebels’ high-powered offense gets the attention it deserves, so much of this team’s success has been generated by a dominant defensive front seven alignment.

Kiffin pointed out how it was an ugly loss to Georgia last season that, in part, inspired him to get more aggressive recruiting blue-chip defensive prospects, and it was that cast that came to life in this statement game.

After allowing Georgia to score in the first quarter, the Rebels hunkered down and never looked back, recording 5 sacks and 9 tackles for loss while forcing 4 fumbles, batting down 5 passes, and intercepting Carson Beck once.

Princely Umanmielen and Jared Ivey, two of Kiffin’s transfer gains, had 2 sacks each.

The front recorded 100 negative plays on defense this season coming into Saturday’s game, almost two-dozen more than any other team in the country, according to Tru Media Sports.

Add another 8 stops behind the line against a Georgia front the Rebels completely dominated, and this looks like one of the most productive defensive fronts in the country playing some of its best football at just the right time.

Beating the second-ranked team in the country in convincing fashion, combined with some mid-range teams taking the week off could open some room for the Rebels to move into the top 10 of the new rankings.

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Moving down: Georgia

Last week’s ranking: No. 2

Everyone knew Georgia’s season would be defined in large part by its big three-game road test against some of the SEC’s most formidable competition.

Now, after the loss at Alabama and Saturday’s defeat at Ole Miss, the Bulldogs fell to 1-2 in those games, with a 30-15 win at Texas being the lone highlight.

As a result, Georgia’s playoff hopes took a late-season hit heading into what could be a playoff elimination game at home against Tennessee next weekend.

Georgia took a quick 7-0 lead on Ole Miss when Nate Frazier scored a 2-yard touchdown, but lost control of the game from that point on and would only score 3 more points.

Now, the Bulldogs have lost two regular season games for the first time in a non-Covid year since 2016, which was head coach Kirby Smart’s debut, when he went 8-5.

Part of Georgia’s struggles have arisen as a result of deteriorated quarterback play. 

Beck has 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions this season, a decline from last season, when he had 28 TDs and 6 picks, but the departure of Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey have clearly cut into the offense’s production.

Give some credit to Ole Miss, which applied the most pressure to Beck that he’s seen in his career, bringing the heat on 40 percent of his dropbacks.

The result? Beck went 3 of 8 passing for 41 yards and was sacked 5 times under that pressure.

Georgia has also struggled running the football, amassing just 59 yards and averaging 1.8 yards per carry against the Rebels, and falling to 0-2 this season when running for under 100 yards, compared to a perfect 7-0 mark when eclipsing 100 yards on the ground.

It would take a drastic change of opinion from AP voters, but it’s feasible that we see Georgia fall out of the top 10 in order to put Ole Miss ahead of it, given both teams have the same records.

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Who else could move?

- No. 4 Miami was one of college football’s five remaining undefeated teams, but Cam Ward was unable to lead a fourth second-half comeback in a loss to Georgia Tech.

- Texas, ranked fifth this week, should benefit from two of the top four teams losing with plenty of room to move into one of those spots after demolishing Florida.

- South Carolina earned 58 votes in last week’s ballots, but after its win at Vandy combined with other lower-ranked teams losing, there should be room for this team in the Week 12 rankings.

- With that loss to the Gamecocks, we should see No. 24 Vanderbilt fall out of the rankings this week.

- Tennessee should take advantage of losses by Georgia and Miami in the top four and inch a little more up in the poll after taking out Mississippi State.

- Pittsburgh might fall out of the rankings after a second-straight loss, this one at home against Virginia, and with other teams looking to crack the top 25 this week in its place.

- Colorado should move up from its No. 21 position after taking down Texas Tech on the road in an important showing on the road and puts this team in second place in the Big 12.

- Tulane got 41 votes last week, but should make the new rankings after winning its seventh straight game and moving to 6-0 in AAC play.

- Iowa State could fall out of the rankings after a second-straight loss, but this team is still within striking distance for the Big 12 title, even if it needs a little help.

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More ... When the AP top 25 rankings come out

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