College football rankings: AP Top 25 prediction in Week 7

The top four will stay the same. Just about every other spot in the Associated Press Top 25 will have a new team.

Of the ranked teams, 23 played and eight lost. The losses include three in the top 10 – No. 5 LSU, No. 7 Oklahoma and No. 8 Auburn – as well as the bottom two teams, No. 24 Virginia Tech and No. 25 Oklahoma State.

With so much shuffling going on, things are about to get sticky for voters. LSU just lost to No. 22 Florida and both teams are now 5-1. Should the Tigers fall past the Gators? What matters more: head-to-head or the better resume?

The team that beat Florida earlier this season, Kentucky, is also 5-1 now after losing on the road at Texas A&M. Big Blue Nation won’t like seeing Florida move ahead of UK, but considering the Wildcats were at No. 13 and about to move down, it seems likely to happen.

Speaking of Kentucky, will knocking off the previously-undefeated Wildcats be good enough to get Texas A&M back into the poll? The No. 25 spot has opened up, though it could potentially be the landing spot for No. 14 Stanford after the Cardinal’s home loss to unranked BYU 21-40.

The voters have another head-to-head vs. resume debate with Oklahoma and Texas. The No. 7 Sooners suffered their first loss of the season to the No. 19 Longhorns in Dallas. Texas has better wins than OU, but the ‘Horns opening-week loss to Maryland might keep some voters from moving them too high.

1. Alabama (6-0) def. Arkansas 65-31
2. Georgia (6-0) def. Vanderbilt 41-13
3. Ohio State (6-0) def. Indiana 49-26
4. Clemson (6-0) def. Wake Forest 63-3
5. Notre Dame (5-0) def No. 24 Virginia Tech 45-23
6. West Virginia (5-0) def. Kansas 38-22
7. Washington (5-1) def. UCLA 31-24
8. Penn State (4-1) BYE
9. UCF (5-0) def. SMU 48-20
10. Texas (5-1)  def. No. 7 Oklahoma 48-45
11. LSU (5-1) lost to No. 22 Florida 19-27
12. Oklahoma (5-1) lost to No. 19 Texas 45-48
13. Florida (5-1) def. No. 5 LSU 27-19
14. Michigan (5-1) def. Maryland 42-21
15. Wisconsin (4-1) def. Nebraska 41-24
16. Miami (5-1) def. Florida State 28-27
17. Kentucky (5-1) lost to Texas A&M 14-20
18. Auburn (4-2) lost to Mississippi State 9-23
19. Oregon (4-1) BYE
20. Colorado (5-0) def. Arizona State 28-21
21. NC State (5-0) def. Boston College 28-23
22. USF (5-0) def. Massachusetts 58-42
23. Cincinnati (6-0) def. Tulane 37-21
24. Mississippi State (4-2) def. No. 8 Auburn 23-9
25. Texas A&M def. No. 13 Kentucky 20-14

SDS Staff

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