AP voters got their last light Saturday of the college football season. Between conferences that have not started, COVID postponements and scheduled off-dates, nearly half of this week’s Associated Press Top 25 teams were not in action.

Of the teams that were in the action, the top of the poll led the storylines. Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers took blowout to a new level with a 73-7 win over Georgia Tech, trying to make a case to stay at No. 1 despite the result in Tuscaloosa.

Two ranked SEC teams lost to unranked opponents. No. 15 Auburn lost 30-22 at South Carolina. No. 18 Tennessee got blown out 34-7 by unranked Kentucky. For both teams, it’s loss No. 2 in only four games. At this point, a 2-2 record gets you bounced from the rankings with so many 0-0 placeholders from the Big Ten and Pac-12.

Here’s how we project Sunday’s new AP Top 25

  1. Alabama (4-0) def. No. 3 Georgia, 41-24
  2. Clemson (5-0) def. Georgia Tech, 73-7
  3. Ohio State (0-0), did not play
  4. Notre Dame (4-0) def. Louisville, 12-7
  5. Oklahoma State (3-0), did not play
  6. Georgia (3-1) lost to No. 2 Alabama, 41-24
  7. Cincinnati (3-0), did not play
  8. Penn State (0-0), did not play
  9. Texas A&M (3-1) def. Mississippi State, 28-14
  10. Florida (2-1), did not play
  11. Oregon (0-0), did not play
  12. Miami (4-1) def. Pittsburgh, 31-19
  13. BYU (5-0) def. Houston, 43-26
  14. Wisconsin (0-0), did not play
  15. SMU (5-0) def. Tulane, 37-34
  16. North Carolina (3-0) lost to Florida State, 31-28
  17. Michigan (0-0), did not play
  18. Iowa State (3-1), did not play
  19. Kansas State (3-1), did not play
  20. Virginia Tech (3-1) def. Boston College, 40-14
  21. Minnesota (0-0), did not play
  22. USC (0-0), did not play
  23. Coastal Carolina (4-0) def. No. 21 Louisiana, 30-27
  24. Marshall (4-0) def. Louisiana Tech, 35-17
  25. NC State (4-1) def. Duke, 31-20

Projected to drop out of the AP Top 25: No. 15 Auburn (2-2) lost to South Carolina, 30-22; No. 18 Tennessee (2-2) lost to Kentucky, 34-7; No. 21 Louisiana (3-1) lost to Coastal Carolina, 30-27