College football top 25 rankings: Teams moving up, down in Week 7

Expect some more movement in the AP top 25 college football rankings after No. 1 Alabama came out on the wrong end of a historic upset.

What to expect in the new AP top 25 college football rankings after Alabama was upset by Vanderbilt. Yes, Vanderbilt. / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

As we pick up the pieces from another impactful weekend of college football, let’s take a crack at predicting what teams will be heading up, and down, the AP top 25 rankings this week.

College football’s top 25 voters once again find themselves in a bind, in search of a new No. 1 team just a week after having to locate another new top team, and set to shake up the top-five for a second straight week.

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia singlehandedly played a big role in how AP top 25 voters will cast their ballots, as he scored a pair of consequential touchdowns in an SEC clash that will have major reverberations in the conference and national championship picture.

This week’s results will force voters to make some notable modifications to their ballots and shake things up again just six weeks into the 2024 football season.

What teams will be on the move when college football’s new rankings come out this week?

Moving down: Alabama

This week’s ranking: No. 1

Just seven days ago, the Crimson Tide jumped into the No. 1 position after an emotional victory over Georgia at home, but now find themselves on the downturn in the rankings after coming out the wrong end of one of college football’s most remarkable upsets, arguably ever.

Vanderbilt has been the SEC’s perennial punching bag for generations. It hadn’t defeated Alabama since 1984, a 23-game losing streak, and was 0-60 all-time against AP top-five teams.

Those streaks came to a shocking end, as the Commodores downed the Tide in a 40-35 stunner.

Kane Wommack’s defensive preparation will be called into question as his unit allowed several big gainers, as will head coach Kalen DeBoer’s overall strategy and the team’s in-game execution amid mistakes, penalties, and a lot of slipshod, thoughtless play.

There’ll be a lot to talk about on Finebaum this week.

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Moving up: Texas A&M

This week’s ranking: No. 25 (tie)

Talk about a statement. A&M was already the first team to go 2-0 in SEC play, and after trouncing Missouri at home, it became the conference’s first 3-0 squad.

The return of quarterback Conner Weigman played a role, throwing for 276 yards in his comeback from an injury and leading an offense that eclipsed 500 total yards in a 41-10 rout.

Le’Veon Moss ran for a career-best 138 yards and scored 3 touchdowns as the Aggies built a 24-0 halftime lead, and their strong defense held Mizzou to 2.3 yards per carry, 6 yards per pass, 5 of 15 on third down, and sacked quarterback Brady Cook 6 times.

Texas A&M has won 5 straight games since the loss to Notre Dame in Week 1 and faces a schedule that could potentially put this team in the playoff conversation.

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Moving down: Missouri

This week’s ranking: No. 9

“Exposed” will be the word used around college football to describe what happened to Mizzou, which had already come into this game on Fraud Alert.

There were questions around this team after its last 2 outings, a close, come-from-behind win against Boston College and then needing double overtime (and a missed field goal) to beat Vanderbilt.

Now those questions appeared to be answered in the negative, as Missouri failed to generate any offensive momentum and had no answers for Texas A&M’s inspired rushing attack.

AP top 25 voters put a lot of faith in Missouri, and they’re in a mood to punish this team.

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Moving up: Indiana

This week’s ranking: No. 23

For the second time ever, the Hoosiers are 6-0.

Working behind the nation’s third-ranked scoring offense, Indiana handled Northwestern on the lake, surpassing 40 points for the fifth time this season while racking up over 500 yards and not turning the ball over once.

Curt Cignetti has lit a fire under this offense, which has more than doubled its scoring output from last season, and quarterback Kurtis Rourke has thrown for 300 yards in his last 4 games.

Defensively? That’s another question, as the Hoosier tacklers did let the Wildcats poke through a few notable gainers.

Indiana will likely get jumped by Texas A&M owing to the latter’s big win, but it should move up at least 3 spots after No. 22 Louisville lost its second-straight game.

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Who else could move?

- Nebraska had a solid 30 votes in last week’s poll and should pick up a few after getting past an undefeated Rutgers team behind some strong defense, but offensive protection is a concern.

- SMU received 4 votes in the rankings last week, and should earn some more confidence after a big win over a ranked Louisville that puts the Mustangs at 5-1 overall and 2-0 in ACC play.

- Navy is a perfect 5-0 for the first time since 2017 after amassing 329 yards on the ground in a big win over Air Force, the first leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series. The Midshipmen got 6 votes in last week’s poll.

- Army got 6 votes last week and is 5-0 after pounding Tulsa. This marks the first time since the legendary 1945 season that Army and Navy have both started 5-0.

- Pittsburgh is 5-0 for the first time since 1991 after Eli Holstein threw for a career-high 381 yards and 3 touchdowns while rushing for a 4th in a win over North Carolina. Holstein has 15 TDs and 3 picks, and should help the Panthers get some more votes this week.

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More ... When the new Top 25 rankings come out

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