Movement In The Top 25

Crazy week of football is mostly behind us, with USC and UCLA among others still playing in the night cap. The changes to the top 25 CFP rankings will be dramatic, to say the least. Much speculation is being made already with regards to the top 4, of course. But looking down the rankings, many teams should be gaining or losing a lot of ground. 8 of the top 25 lost this week, with another 2 or 3 winning in ways that could drop them in the rankings or at least hinder their ceiling.

I know, I know, beat Nebraska. But the top 25 has been a part of college football for forever and it’s interesting, so if you’re interested, enjoy. Here’s the rankings from last week, with the game and record result from this week, and some commentary:

1. (8-1) Tennessee L 13-27 to Georgia (between this and Bama losing, I think they drop to 4 or 5)
2. (9-0) Ohio State W 21-7 over Northwestern (ugly win, they might drop to 3. hopefully Stroud’s Heisman odds drop even more)
3. (9-0) Georgia W 27-13 over Tennessee (clear #1 now)
4. (8-1) Clemson L 14-35 to Notre Dame (finally exposed in a way that affected the record, could still be in top 10 though)
5. (9-0) Michigan W 52-17 over Rutgers (could be as high as 2 now)
6. (7-2) Alabama L 31-32 to LSU in OT (should be out of the playoff, but… ya know)
7. (9-0) TCU W 34-23 over Texas Tech (waiting for them to have their game like Clemson did today)
8. (8-1) Oregon W 49-10 over Colorado (could jump into top 6, but still needs luck to push into top 4)
9. (7-1) USC vs. Cal (winning 20-7 at halftime)
10. (7-2) LSU W 32-31 over Alabama in OT (could also jump into top 6)
11. (8-1) Ole Miss bye (teams that lost ahead of them may not fall far enough to break into top 10)
12. (7-1) UCLA @ ASU (winning 28-10 at halftime)
13. (6-3) Kansas State L 27-34 to Texas (should be out of top 25 imo. lost to the only 3-loss team in top 25 entering into this week)
14. (7-2) Utah W 45-20 over Arizona (everyone who won from here down bumps at least one if KSU falls all the way out)
15. (7-2) Penn State W 45-14 over Indiana (oof this makes Illinois losing to IU look even worse)
16. (7-2) Illinois L 15-23 to MSU (speaking of making Illinois look worse)
17. (8-1) UNC W 32-29 over UVA (I was at this game. UVA was winning at half and would not go away, but they are bad. Would not be surprised if UNC drops a despite the W)
18. (6-3) Oklahoma State L 16-37 to Kansas (good Kansas is back I guess, OSU continues its descent)
19. (8-1) Tulane W 27-13 over Tulsa (Cincinnati isn’t walking through that door for the G5 this year)
20. (6-3) Syracuse L 9-19 to Pitt (‘Cuse has really fallen flat lately, and will be out)
21. (6-3) Wake Forest L 21-30 to NC State (Wake could in theory stay in at 24 or 25 with so many loses ahead of them)
22. (7-2) NC State W 30-21 over Wake Forest (will get to move up a good bit this week)
23. (6-3) Oregon State L 21-24 to Washington (making room for some new teams, kick your FGs kids)
24. (6-3) Texas W 34-27 over Kansas State (will likely get the biggest bump this week outside of ND. could find itself around the 15 or so range)
25. (7-2) UCF W 35-28 over Memphis (will stay in top 25 but barely)

With possibly 6 teams dropping out, new faces next week will likely include Notre Dame (6-3) who could climb quite high despite their up and down season, Liberty (8-1) who held on for their first ever win over an SEC team in Arkansas, Kentucky (6-3) who bounced back against Missouri after getting embarrassed by Tennessee last week, Washington (7-2) who could just swap spots with Oregon State, Cincinnati (7-2) who despite falling off this year extend their home win-streak to 31 games, and Coastal Carolina (8-1) who beat App State on Thursday.