College football rankings: Projecting the AP Top 25 after Week 11
For what seems like the first time in forever, the surprises were kept to a minimum when it came to the Associated Press Top 25.
The top 10 should stay the same based on the finished and ongoing games. The biggest surprise of the day was No. 12 Kentucky falling to unranked Tennessee 24-7. It’s almost certainly just a post-Georgia hangover, but the voters will drop the Wildcats for losing a third time.
Dropping Kentucky to about No. 21 would allow the winning teams to move up before looking to the “others receiving votes” categories to fill newly created spots at the bottom of the poll.
This tells you a lot about the lack of excitement surrounding Sunday’s poll: one of the more interesting things to watch will be whether Kentucky or current No. 17 Boston College (losing to No. 2 Clemson) will be ranked lower. Boise State, a familiar G5 team, will also have something to say about that after knocking off No. 16 Fresno State.
With all things considered, here’s how we project the next AP Top 25:
Records reflect completed games.
- Alabama (10-0) def. No. 18 Mississippi State
- Clemson (9-0) leading No. 17 Boston College in fourth quarter
- Notre Dame (9-0) leading FSU in fourth quarter
- Michigan (9-1) def. Rutgers
- Georgia (9-1) def. Auburn
- Oklahoma (9-1) def. Oklahoma State
- West Virginia (8-1) def. TCU
- Ohio State (9-1) def. Michigan State
- LSU (7-2) leading Arkansas in fourth quarter
- Washington State (9-1) def. Colorado
- UCF (9-0) def. Navy
- Syracuse (8-2) def. Louisville
- Utah State (9-1) def. San Jose State
- Texas (6-3) leading Texas Tech
- Florida (7-3) def. South Carolina
- Washington (7-3) OFF
- Penn State (7-3) def. Wisconsin
- Iowa State (6-3) def. Baylor
- Cincinnati (9-1) def. USF
- Utah (7-3) def. Oregon
- Kentucky (7-3) lost to Tennessee
- Boise State (8-2) def. No. 16 Fresno State
- Boston College (7-2) losing to No. 2 Clemson in fourth quarter
- Army (8-2) def. Lafayette
- Northwestern (6-4) def. Iowa
Projected to fall out of AP Top 25: No. 16 Fresno State (8-2) lost to Boise State; No. 18 Mississippi State (6-4) lost to No. 1 Alabama; No. 22 NC State (6-3) lost to Wake Forest; No. 24 Michigan State (6-4) lost to Ohio State