Nothing shakes up the college football rankings like the No. 1 team in the country losing. And when the top-ranked team falls to another team high up in the rankings — such as Texas falling to Georgia on Saturday night — it’s going to lead to all kinds of changes to the new AP Top 25 poll.
Among them will be a new No. 1, and while Georgia will feel good about its standing as one of the best teams in the country after winning on the road, the AP voters are not going to rocket the Bulldogs all the way up to the top spot. That’s because there’s a very good candidate ready to move up: Oregon.
In moving to No. 1, the Ducks would be reaching some historical bench marks that haven’t been hit all that often even given the program’s success in the 21st century. Oregon has only been ranked No. 1 for eight weeks total in AP poll history, and seven of those weeks were in the 2010 season where the Ducks finished as the national runner-up to Auburn. The last time Oregon got to No. 1 was in the 2012 season, but that ranking only held for one week.
Now, Dan Lanning and Oregon take over the top spot from Texas, but do so having already proven themselves against another top-five team. The Ducks will hope to hold it longer than they did in 2012 as they move on to play an Illinois team that was another one of the big rankings winners of the week.
Here’s how we project the new AP Top 25 to look on Sunday after Week 8.
1. Oregon (2): The Ducks did not at all suffer any effects of a letdown or hangover from last week’s epic win against Ohio State. Going on the road on a short week after that kind of result and shutting out the opponent is impressive, and voters will take note as they move Oregon up to No. 1.
2. Penn State (3): The Nittany Lions were off in Week 8 and will be back in action next week at Wisconsin.
3. Georgia (5): The Bulldogs don’t have a ton of room to move up in the rankings, but my do they have a boost of confidence when it comes to the SEC title race and other championship contention after going into Austin and dominating Texas. The 30-15 score may not fully highlight how Kirby Smart’s team had the Longhorns tied up in knots, looking as out-of-sorts as they had all year.
4. Ohio State (4): The Buckeyes were off in Week 8 and will be back in action next week at home against Nebraska.
5. Texas (Last week — 1): Voters have an easy decision to make when it comes to slotting the Longhorns on their ballots; losing to Georgia allows for Texas to be one of the top one-loss team in the country.
6. Miami (6): Cam Ward continues to throw up eye-popping statistics, this time going for 319 yards and four touchdowns as Miami held off Louisville in a 52-45 shootout win on the road. It’s the third straight game that the Hurricanes have needed some late heroics to remain unbeaten, but it’s also the seventh straight game where Ward and the offense have answered the call to produce at a high level.
7. LSU (8): The Tigers have now won six in a row since that season-opening loss to USC, and in following up last week’s overtime win against Ole Miss with a road victory against Arkansas, they’re starting to build some real strength to the rankings profile. The highlights from the victory include another strong performance from LSU’s defense, which forced turnovers and kept the Razorbacks from building any kind of momentum in front of their home crowd.
8. Iowa State (9): It took some serious second half heroics, but Iowa State improved to 7-0 with a thrilling 38-35 win against UCF. The 7-0 record marks the program’s best start since before World War II, and now Cyclones fans can set their eyes on the highest of heights for what Iowa State can achieve this season.
9. Clemson (10): Leading by just seven at halftime, Clemson hit the gas in the third quarter to create some distance and hold off a late charge from Virginia in a 48-31 win. The Tigers have taken care of business in a 5-0 start to ACC play but now face some of the toughest tests on the conference schedule with Louisville, Virginia Tech and Pitt coming up in the next three weeks.
10. Tennessee (11): Not only does Tennessee get to light some cigars after another win against rival Alabama, but the rankings profile gets a big boost from the victory. Even if the movement might not be dramatic immediately, the staying power for Tennessee as a top team is boosted when previously the best wins on the schedule were Oklahoma and Florida.
11. BYU (13): The Cougars improved to 7-0 with some late-game dramatics from Jake Retzlaff, and with yet another conference win on the resume, it’s getting tougher for voters to keep slotting BYU behind multiple one-loss teams.
12. Indiana (16): Confidence is booming in Bloomington as Curt Cignetti’s team not only passed their toughest test of the season so far but aced it, hanging 56 points on Nebraska in a 49-point win. Star quarterback Kurtis Rourke did not even play in the second half due to a thumb injury and the Hoosiers still outscored the Cornhuskers 28-0 in the third and fourth quarter. It’s possible Indiana jumps ahead of BYU in the pecking order for undefeated teams, but we’re projecting a landing just one spot behind the Cougars.
13. Notre Dame (12): There were just a few hiccups along the way, but for the most part, Notre Dame did a great job of handling its business in a road trip to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech. The 31-13 win now has the Fighting Irish at 6-1 on the season, and despite a multitude of injuries, this defense continues to play at a high level holding the opponent under 14 points for the fifth time this season.
14. Texas A&M (14): The Aggies defensive front traveled and answered the call with three sacks and 11 tackles for loss against Mississippi State in a 34-24 win. The offense was not quite as dominant as it was last time out against Missouri, but the road victory keeps Texas A&M inside the top 15 as one of the best one-loss teams in the country.
15. Alabama (7): Last month’s win against Georgia is doing a lot of work to Alabama’s rankings profile as the Crimson Tide fall to 5-2 with the loss at Tennessee. The eye test has not done Alabama a lot of favors the last couple of weeks, and voters will wrestle with how to rank a team that has not looked at all like the group they pushed to No. 1 just three weeks ago.
16. Boise State (15): The Broncos were off in Week 8 and will be back in action next week in a huge Mountain West showdown at UNLV.
17. Kansas State (17): It’s hard to see a major shakeup in the rankings, but the Wildcats deserve plenty of credit with the way they have handled business in two tough road trips, beating Colorado in Boulder and West Virginia in Morgantown in back-to-back weeks. Kansas State is now 6-1 with its only loss coming at BYU, and given the schedule ahead, there’s plenty of opportunities to keep stacking wins and slowly climb up the rankings.
18. Illinois (22): The Fighting Illini continue to be doubted and overlooked but have exceeded expectations at nearly every turn. At 6-1 overall with the only loss coming to Penn State, Illinois is starting to build a profile that will warrant consideration as one of the best one-loss teams in the country. The good news and bad news of the schedule ahead could end those debates; Illinois now hits the road to take on Oregon in Eugene next week on CBS.
19. Ole Miss (18): The Rebels were off in Week 8 and will be back in action next week against Oklahoma.
20. Pitt (20): The Panthers were off in Week 8 but will be back in action on Thursday night against Syracuse.
21. SMU (21): The Mustangs handled business in a road trip to Stanford and are now 6-1 are the 40-10 win.
22. Army (23): Quarterback Bryson Daily has already put together one of the best single-season performances in program history, leading the way with six total touchdowns in a 45-28 win against East Carolina to improve to 7-0 on the season and 6-0 in AAC play. In doing so, Daily broke the single-season record for rushing touchdowns, now leading the previous record holders by two with 19 scores on the ground and plenty of games left to extend that record.
23. Navy (25): The Midshipmen continue to keep pace with their Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy rivals, improving to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in AAC play with a 51-17 thumping of Charlotte.
24. Missouri (19): The Tigers deserve credit for storming back from a 17-6 deficit to win 21-17 behind a gritty effort from quarterback Brady Cook, who was hobbled by an ankle injury suffered during the first half. But the team could see some ground given up to the undefeated squads behind them in the rankings given the aesthetic quality of performance in the game and the continued momentum of the impressive undefeated starts from Army and Navy.
25. Vanderbilt (NR): Will Vanderbilt break into the top 25 based on the strength of a 24-14 win against Ball State? No. But with wins against Alabama, Virginia Tech and Kentucky, there’s some beef behind that 5-2 record that could garner a few more votes than last week when the Commodores were 26th in voting points and appeared on more than half of the ballots even as high as No. 17.
Projected to drop out: No. 24 Michigan
