College Football Rankings: Projecting the new AP Top 25

We should see a new AP Top 25 on Sunday thanks to the Rivalry Week action and adjustment/correction with the College Football Playoff selection committee.

The most notable losses of the week were No. 9 Oregon falling to unranked Oregon State on Friday night and No. 11 Northwestern falling to unranked Michigan State on Saturday. Those losses should be good news for Miami and Indiana.

Georgia improved to 6-2 with a strong win over South Carolina. AP Top 25 voters are put in a curious situation with the Bulldogs. Many media members did not agree with the CFP selection committee ranking UGA No. 9 on Tuesday. The Dawgs are sure to move up, but the AP voters may push back on having Kirby Smart’s squad in the top 10 with 2-losses. No. 11 seems like a fitting landing spot.

There will be some shakeups at the bottom of the poll, too. We don’t expect to see 3-loss teams in Sunday’s new Top 25. North Carolina, Texas and Auburn all failed to cover the Vegas spreads in their games and just don’t look like Top 25 teams. We’re dropping them out and replacing them with Iowa (CFP selection committee’s No. 24), Liberty (now 9-1) and Washington (top of last week’s “other’s receiving votes” category).

Here’s how we project the new poll:

1. Alabama (8-0) def. No. 22 Auburn, 42-13
2. Notre Dame (9-0) def. No. North Carolina
3. Ohio State (4-0), did not play
4. Clemson (8-1) def. Pittsburgh, 52-17
5. Texas A&M (6-1) def. LSU, 20-7
6. Florida (7-1) def. Kentucky, 34-10
7. Cincinnati (8-0), did not play
8. BYU (9-0), did not play
9. Miami (7-1), did not play
10. Indiana (5-1) def. Maryland, 27-11
11. Georgia (6-2) def. South Carolina 45-16
12. Iowa State (7-2) def. No. 20 Texas, 23-20
13. Oklahoma (6-2), did not play
14. Coastal Carolina (9-0) def. Texas State, 49-14
15. Marshall (7-0), did not play
16. Oregon (3-1) lost to Oregon State, 41-38
17. Northwestern (5-1) lost to Michigan State, 29-20
18. Wisconsin (2-1), did not play
19. USC (3-0), did not play
20. Oklahoma State (6-2) def. Texas Tech, 50-44
21. Louisiana (8-1) def. UL-Monroe, 70-20
22. Tulsa (5-1), did not play
23. Iowa (4-2) def. Nebraska, 26-20
24. Washington (3-0) def. Utah, 24-21
25. Liberty (9-1) def. UMass, 45-0

Projected to drop out of the AP Top 25: No. 20 Texas (5-3) lost to No. 14 Iowa State, 23-20; No. 22 Auburn (5-3) lost to No. 1 Alabama, 42-13; No. 25 North Carolina lost to No. 2 Notre Dame, 31-17

SDS Staff

Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.