As we pick up the pieces from the latest games on Saturday, let’s look ahead to the AP top 25 college football rankings as we head into Rivalry Week action.
Who’s moving up? Who’s falling down?
Note: This isn’t our ranking of the best teams, but our prediction for how AP top 25 voters will slot them in the official poll on Sunday.
Dropping out: Army, Washington State
25. Kansas State. The Wildcats ended a two-game losing streak by routing Cincinnati and moving to 8-3 with wins over Colorado and Tulane this season.
24. Missouri. Marcus Carroll ran for 3 touchdowns in a big win against SEC punching bag Mississippi State, and the Tigers could get back into the rankings this week after losses by Army and Washington State.
23. Illinois. Taking advantage of their kicker being iced, the Illini opted to go for a touchdown instead and scored from 40 yards out to take and hold a lead against Rutgers, moving to 8-3.
22. Colorado. Travis Hunter further cemented his hold on the Heisman Trophy race after catching 2 touchdown passes and covering 125 yards, but the Buffaloes’ ground game was absent in a disappointing 37-21 loss to unranked Kansas.
21. UNLV. A strong rushing output and good defense helped the Rebels to their first win in San Jose since 1993 and keeps the team in the Mountain West title picture, but they need Colorado State to lose at least once for that to become a reality.
20. Texas A&M. After spotting Auburn a 21-0 lead early on, the Aggies stormed back to force four overtimes, but a would-be fifth-overtime-forcing play fell incomplete, giving A&M a costly third loss heading into the finale against rival Texas.
19. BYU. AP top 25 voters dumped the Cougars 7 spots after their first loss of the season last week, against unranked Kansas, and will punish them even more after another defeat, this time at ranked Arizona State, creating even more confusion in the Big 12 title picture.
18. Iowa State. Carson Hansen ran for 2 touchdowns as the Cyclones edged past Utah on the road and just stays in the crowded Big 12 title picture heading into the regular season finale against Kansas State.
17. Tulane. Idle this past weekend, the Green Wave got some rest after shutting out Navy the week before, a win that put the team in the AAC Championship Game against Army, but first there’s the regular season finale against 9-2 Memphis next week.
16. Arizona State. Cam Skattebo ran for 3 touchdowns as the Sun Devils took a quick 21-0 lead and a late takeaway sealed a signature win against Big 12 favorite BYU at home to throw another wrench into the conference championship picture.
15. Ole Miss. Facing likely College Football Playoff elimination with a loss, the Rebels let Florida score the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter and Jaxson Dart threw 2 late interceptions with the game on the line in a heartbreaking loss that should drop Ole Miss from the playoff picture.
14. South Carolina. LaNorris Sellers accounted for 4 of the Gamecocks’ 8 touchdowns in an expected rout against Wofford while the offense racked up more than 600 yards of offense and moved to 8-3 by winning its fifth-straight game heading into the finale against Clemson.
13. Alabama. A nightmare in Norman as the Crimson Tide could muster just a field goal as the offense was stopped by an inspired Sooners defense in a 24-3 decision that saw Jalen Milroe responsible for 3 costly turnovers, including a pick-six, putting Bama’s playoff hopes in some jeopardy.
12. Clemson. Cade Klubnik threw 3 touchdowns before being pulled as the Tigers stomped on The Citadel, moving to 9-2 and looking ahead to an intriguing date against rival South Carolina to close out the regular season sitting in second place in the ACC standings this week.
11. SMU. Kevin Jennings threw 2 touchdowns and ran for a third as the Mustangs eased past Virginia, clinching a spot in the ACC Championship Game in their first season in the conference, something that should get the selectors’ attention despite their reluctance to include SMU in the bracket up to now.
10. Indiana. One of college football’s top scoring offenses, good for over 40 points per game, was held to just 15 points and under 200 total yards in the Hoosiers’ first loss of the season in what was supposed to be a major test at Ohio State, but instead is a game the selection committee could use to argue Indiana doesn’t belong in the playoff.
9. Boise State. Ashton Jeanty exited Saturday’s win against Wyoming with an injury, but Jambres Dubar ran for the go-ahead score to put the Broncos ahead and maintain their position at the top of the selection committee’s Group of Five rankings this week.
8. Miami. Cam Ward and the Hurricanes’ offense stacked up over 500 total yards and went on a 25-0 scoring run to take down Wake Forest, and this team should still be the projected ACC champion when the selection committee reveals its next bracket and rankings.
7. Tennessee. Nico Iamaleava threw 4 touchdown passes and the Vols ran for 4 more scores in a rout against UTEP, but they have some work to do with Vandy next to close out the regular season, and after the selection committee kept them out of the playoff bracket coming into this week.
6. Georgia. The Bulldogs put up 550 yards and scored 59 points to eventually put away a surprisingly resilient UMass team, but allowed 226 rushing yards in the process heading into the finale against Georgia Tech with a chance to finish 10-2.
5. Notre Dame. Make it nine straight wins for the Irish, who once again pounded an undefeated service academy, trouncing Army at Yankee Stadium by holding the nation’s top-ranked rushing offense to just 3.2 yards per carry in a result that will satisfy the selection committee again this week.
4. Penn State. The Nittany Lions survived a real scare on the road against Minnesota in an eventual one-point win to stay firmly in place among the pool of at-large College Football Playoff teams with just a home date against Maryland remaining in the regular season.
3. Texas. Quinn Ewers scored twice and the Longhorns ran for 250 yards and 2 more scores to put away Kentucky and stay atop the SEC standings heading into a reunion with rival Texas A&M in a battle for first place in the conference.
2. Ohio State. Two huge special teams plays helped the Buckeyes pull away from the Hoosiers and their defense held Kurtis Rourke to just 68 passing yards and no touchdowns in a dominant 38-15 victory, inching closer to the Big Ten title game with a huge meeting against Michigan next.
1. Oregon. Idle this past weekend, the Ducks are still undefeated and have already booked a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game heading into Rivalry Week against Washington in a rematch of last year’s Pac-12 title bout and looking for a little revenge.
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More … When the AP top 25 rankings come out
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