A notable story was made across the country this past weekend. Not only have the No. 1 teams in college football lost their games to unranked opponents for two straight weeks. They also lost for the first time in the AP Poll era on the final play of each of those games.
And for the first time, five of the seven top-ranked teams in the AP poll lost their games.
Once again, the AP’s top 25 pollsters are forced to sift through ballots late into the night, tasked with not only finding a new No. 1 team but also re-sorting a pile of once highly ranked contenders that suffered surprising defeats over the weekend.
What will this election look like? Honestly, who knows. Here’s what we think will happen.
Projecting the new AP Top 25 college football rankings for Week 8
Surrender: 16th State of Mississippi
25. Oregon. (Last week: NR). Dylan Raiola returned to the field against his former team at Nebraska with a late touchdown to improve the Ducks’ record to 4-2.
24. Oklahoma State (18). A loss to Houston was very costly, but scoring 29 points in the second half and the lack of obvious contenders who received fewer votes a week ago could keep the Cowboys on the right side of the standings.
23. Northwest (25). The win against Penn State doesn’t look great now, but again, the lack of teams to crack the top 25 should preserve the Wildcats’ position this week.
22. SMU (24). A close win against Virginia won’t make AP pollsters pump the Mustangs up, but they shouldn’t give up on them either.
21. Boise State (23). Still the Pac-12 favorites, the Broncos were off this weekend, then traveling to Washington State.
On the outside looking in
20. Texas (7). The biggest drop of the week should belong to the Longhorns after falling at home to unranked Florida a week after falling to unranked Oklahoma.
19. LSU (22). Winning a decisive 31-0 decision over Mississippi State looks good for this defense and critically moves them to .500 in SEC play.
18. Florida (NR). PA voters have reacted violently to everything the Gators have done, and upsetting Texas after losing two games in a row could put them back in the polls. They have two advantages over LSU: one more win in the SEC and a win over Ole Miss, who beat LSU.
17. Wake Forest (21). A dominant performance cleaned up Cal Stadium as the Demon Deacons improved to 6-1 and moved closer to the top of the ACC standings.
16. USC (19). The Trojans did not play this Saturday, but return to Wisconsin next week, then at home against Ohio State.
Middle of the pack
15. Iowa (17). Resting this weekend, the Hawkeyes then travel to Minnesota.
14. Houston (20). Beating ranked Oklahoma State, combined with missing Iowa and USC, will propel the Cougars up multiple positions.
13. Kentucky (15). Now 6-1 after a solid win at Oklahoma, the Wildcats are a serious contender for the College Football Playoff.
12.Alabama (6). A second straight loss hurts the Tide, but a dominant head-to-head victory at Kentucky should allow them to maintain the advantage in this week’s voting.
11.UCLA (12). Yes, the Bruins are the last undefeated team in the Big Ten.
Complete the top ten
10. Utah (11). For the first time since 2015, the Utes are undefeated after six games and tied for first place in the Big 12 heading into a serious matchup with Houston next.
9.Tennessee (14). This looks to be one of the best defenses in the SEC after holding Alabama to 10 points in a win. This will impress AP voters more than the Utah or UCLA wins, enough to overtake them both.
8. Texas Tech (10). Hanging 53 points on Arizona State to remain undefeated is a good look for the defending Big 12 champions.
7. Ole Miss (9). A dominant 31-3 win over ranked Missouri keeps the Rebels in the mix near the top of the SEC, a note of consistency in a weekend full of elite losses.
6. Indiana (5). Losing by four at home to Ohio State, and doing so by only a few inches, won’t cost the defending champions too much on this ballot.
The best of the best
5. Notre Dame (2). Clearly, the Irish had the confidence of the pollsters and a hard-fought four-point loss at BYU shouldn’t take too much away from them.
4. Georgia (1). A home loss to unranked Auburn definitely hurts, but the Alabama win should cushion the Bulldogs’ fall.
3. Ohio State (4). A close win at Indiana prevents the Buckeyes from a second costly loss, but at a huge cost as quarterback Julian Sayin is set to miss several weeks with a shoulder injury. Not ideal ahead of games against USC and Oregon.
2.Miami (3). Logic would suggest the Hurricanes get the top spot, but a close double-overtime win over Florida State could win over enough voters to keep them out of the top spot in favor of a surprise contender.
1. BYU (8). If games produce chaos, so should leaderboards. Pollsters could take advantage of all the changes at the top by giving most of their votes to a new No. 1 team, and the Cougars could fit the bill, coming off a signature win over No. 2 Notre Dame.
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