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Danny Kanell updates top-12 rankings after mammoth Week 7 college football slate
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Danny Kanell said it loud on Sunday morning.
He thought Week 7 of the college football season lived up to the hype, capped off by Oregon outlasting Ohio State, 32-31, at a raucous Autzen Stadium in Eugene. Kanell rewarded the Ducks for that huge win, too, putting them at No. 2 in his weekly top-12 rankings, right behind No. 1 Texas, which destroyed Oklahoma, 34-3, in the 1st ever SEC edition of the Red River Rivalry.
Kanell placed Penn State at No. 3 after the Nittany Lions stayed unbeaten by escaping with a 33-30 overtime victory at USC. Kanell didn’t penalize Penn State for its narrow win, knowing that USC was at home and looking to resurrect its season after a couple road losses to Michigan and Minnesota. So, yes, the Nittany Lions had to go to OT, but, yes, they still won, and so they were right there behind Texas and Oregon.
Oct 12th lived up the hype!!! Awesome day of CFB
Week 7 #DKTop121. Texas
2. Oregon
3. Penn State
4. Miami
5. BYU
6. Iowa State
7. Pitt
8. Indiana
9. Georgia
10. Clemson
11. Ohio State
12. SMU— Danny Kanell (@dannykanell) October 13, 2024
Miami had the week off after a couple crazy victories, and Kanell had the Hurricanes at No. 4. Meanwhile, BYU stayed unbeaten with a thrashing of Arizona, and although the Cougars were at No. 14 in the AP Poll, Kanell placed them at No. 5 in his new rankings. Kanell also is high on Iowa State, which took care of business on the road against West Virginia to stay unbeaten and was at No. 6 in Kanell’s rankings.
Pittsburgh, an early season darling in 2024, survived a scare at home against Cal to stay undefeated, and Kanell had the Panthers at No. 7 despite them being ranked 22nd in the AP Poll.
Indiana, another early season surprise, was off in Week 7, and Kanell had the undefeated Hoosiers at No. 8 despite them being ranked 18th in the AP Poll.
Georgia took care of Mississippi State on Saturday but gave up 31 points, and the Bulldogs (the ones from Athens) were at No. 9 in Kanell’s rankings. Clemson won handily on the road against Wake Forest and was put at No. 10, which ironically is where the Tigers were ranked in the AP Poll coming into Week 7.
Ohio State took some punishment from Kanell despite barely losing in Saturday night’s thriller, as the Buckeyes were put at No. 11 in his new rankings.
SMU, which was idle in Week 7, snuck into Kanell’s rankings at No. 12. The Mustangs have been yet another early season surprise at 5-1.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
