Georgia is the overwhelming new choice for the top spot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll after a Saturday of chaotic action.
The Bulldogs held on to beat SEC rival Alabama 20-17 on the road, and Texas’ 27-24 loss to Oklahoma paved the way for Kirby Smart’s team.
PA voters responded by moving the Longhorns from first to seventh. The Tide went nowhere and remains sixth.
And the Longhorns’ fall wasn’t the only notable change in the Week 7 poll.
For LSU and Oregon, Week 6 didn’t knock them out of the College Football Playoff race, but they have almost no margin for error from here on out. They are respectively 22nd and unranked.
The Tigers allowed 401 yards to Kentucky, and Will Stein’s overtime play propelled the Wildcats to a dramatic 35-34 victory. After a CJ Baxter touchdown, the coach didn’t settle for the point after attempt and went for the win. Quarterback Kenny Minchey had a wide open path to the end zone to hand Lane Kiffin his second loss since arriving in Baton Rouge.
LSU has Mississippi State, Alabama, Texas and Tennessee at the top of the schedule. Running the table would certainly land the team a top-12 finish by the end of the season, but there’s plenty of room for the Tigers to suffer another costly stumble.
Oregon has an easier slate the rest of the way, but little from the Ducks’ first five games inspires much confidence.
Starting for an injured Dante Moore, Dylan Raiola didn’t even survive the entire game. He was benched for Brock Thomas after going 6 of 19 for 43 yards and two interceptions.
An Oregon defense that returned a ton of talent allowed UCLA to possess the ball for more than 39 minutes. Bruins running back Wayne Knight totaled 103 yards on 22 carries.
This was supposed to be the year where everything came together for coach Dan Lanning. The Ducks reached the CFP semifinals a season ago and then invested heavily in the roster, sparking hopes of a championship run.
Instead, Lanning must preach patience to fans and major donors:
Patience is at least something Jon Sumrall will have in abundance in Gainesville. The honeymoon period is over for the Florida coach, however.
The Gators fell to 4-2 with a 38-19 home loss to South Carolina as their defense was once again their undoing.
Two weeks ago, Florida rose to No. 8 in the AP poll, its highest position since 2020. Perhaps Sumrall proves to be the man to make the program a title contender again. He clearly needs more than one season to get there.
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