AP Top 25 Poll Prediction for Week 8

As we examine the damage from Saturday’s final games, let’s look ahead to the AP Top 25 college football rankings ahead of Week 8

Who is moving up? Who is moving down?

Note: This is not our ranking of the best teams, but our prediction of how the top 25 voters will place them in Sunday’s official poll

Exit: Utah, Oklahoma

25. Navy. After receiving 43 votes in the AP rankings last week, the Midshipmen could capitalize on the defeat of other ranked teams and move into the top 25, although they were 5-0 this week and had a nice win over the week before Air Force had earned 3rd nationally in rushing and had a chance to face Notre Dame in a big test for both schools in two weeks.

24th Army. AP’s top 25 voters gave the Black Knights 33 votes last week but are expected to move up the rankings after they defeated UAB, extending college football’s longest winning streak to 10 games and emerging as one of two teams nationally to Haven’t been behind at any point in a game this season.

23. SMU. This week the Mustangs are idle, next up is Stanford and then Duke, and they only face one ranked team at home, Pittsburgh. They are 5-1 on offense and are currently playing the 14th best offense in college football with 41 points per attack.

22.Michigan. The defending college football champions fell 14 spots in the rankings after last week’s loss at Washington and return from their idle weekend away against Illinois next Saturday.

21. Illinois. Although the Illini took a 27-3 lead in the third quarter, they trailed lowly Purdue late in the game, giving up 40 points in the second half but ultimately pulling away with a 2-1 score in overtime. Winning Big Ten play and next a home game against Michigan and then a trip to Oregon.

20. Missouri. Brady Cook had two touchdowns and the Tigers ran for 231 yards to rout UMass on the road after suffering a tough loss at Texas A&M the week before.

19. Pittsburgh. The Panthers are 6-0 for the first time since 1982 after outlasting Cal as Desmond Reid scored two touchdowns to power the offense and the Pitt defense tallied six sacks. There are two games against ranked teams in the next four weeks, at SMU and against Clemson.

18. Kansas State. in Colorado, late.

17.Indiana. The Hoosiers, who are idle this week, are 6-0 for the second time ever and are the only team that has never trailed in a game at any point this season, thanks to an offense that has scored at least 41 in five straight games has scored points and will face off against Nebraska next.

16. Boise State. at. Hawaii, late

15. Texas A&M. This week, the Aggies are on a high at 3-0 in SEC play after beating Missouri the week before, and are playing their best football at a time when quarterback Conner Weigman is back to full health and rushing offense is ranked 9th nationally.

14. Ole Miss. This really felt like Lane Kiffin wanted to take the next step and get into the playoffs, but his Rebels fell behind 2-1 in SEC play after being held out of the end zone in the second half on the road against LSU . and now games against Oklahoma and Georgia await in the next three weeks.

13.BYU. Jake Retzlaff played turnover-free football and scored two goals while the defense had three points to beat Arizona at home, and the Cougars move to 6-0 overall in Big 12 play with a solid 3-0 record thus another extremely important step in this direction of the dispute over the conference title.

12. Iowa State. Carson Hansen ran for three touchdowns and Rocco Becht passed for a fourth as the Cyclones beat the Mountaineers, moving to 6-0 for the first time since 1938 and well ahead of all likely prospects heading into the season finale against Kansas State with a Big 12 schedule Teams stood.

11. Notre Dame. We could see the Irish moving into the top 10 after taking care of Stanford, as befits a College Football Playoff team, because Riley Leonard threw three touchdowns and ran for a fourth, and now ND looks ahead to Georgia Tech before taking on undefeated Navy afterward.

10. Clemson. Cade Klubnik had 3 TDs and Phil Mafah scored 2 more to beat Wake Forest with 28 points in the second quarter, and Clemson has scored a total of 243 points during its 5-game winning streak, moving to 4-0 in ACC play and became one of the 2 favorites to compete for the conference title.

9.LSU. Garrett Nussmeier threw for 300 yards and the game-winning touchdown to Aaron Anderson to force overtime when he connected with Kyren Lacy, rallying from a 20-13 second-half deficit to upset Ole Miss and make it 2-2. 0 start led The SEC plays Arkansas and then Texas A&M before road games.

8. Tennessee. Big Orange survived a very slow start, two turnovers and an early deficit against the Gators, but Dylan Sampson came through for the game-winning touchdown in overtime, although concerns still remain as Nico Iamaleava did not throw a TD pass with Alabama as Next I’m going to Rocky Top and two weeks later I’m going to Georgia.

7.Alabama. After the Vandy loss, the Tide nearly suffered another apocalyptic L against South Carolina, suffering costly turnovers, allowing a late touchdown, trailing in the fourth quarter and nearly paying the price for a late special teams fumble, but managing just enough to survive to win a 2-point game that leaves more questions than answers.

6.Miami. The Hurricanes sit idle at a perfect 6-0 record this week and are looking forward to a pretty favorable schedule since they don’t have a ranked opponent for the rest of the season. They are No. 1 in college football with 400 passing yards per game and No. 1 in college football averaging nearly 48 points per game.

5. Ohio State. There are some legitimate questions about the Buckeyes’ ability to defend against quality players after letting some big plays slip, even if their own offense has the wherewithal to go the distance, but Ryan Day falls against top -5 opponents fall to 1-7 after a 1-point loss at Oregon.

4. Georgia. While the Bulldogs’ offense managed over 600 total yards, there are some questions about a defensive unit that gave up 385 yards to Mississippi State at home, especially with a date at Texas coming up next weekend, the second of three big road tests for Georgia.

3. Penn State. Drew Allar survived three interceptions, threw two touchdowns and led a 20-6 second-half scoring run, and Tyler Warren had a career day with 237 all-purpose yards as a receiver, rusher and passer (and center) for the Nittany Lions perfect after a narrow overtime win at USC.

2.Oregon. Dillon Gabriel rushed for 370 yards and scored three touchdowns in a statement win over the Buckeyes that announced the Ducks as real contenders for the Big Ten title, and while the AP’s top 25 voters were already ready to send Texas away Displacing the No. 1 spot — when Alabama defeated a top-five Georgia — the Ducks probably won’t get enough of the Longhorns’ 52 first-place votes to fall back out of the top spot.

1.Texas. What will AP voters value more: Oregon’s win over a top-five team or the Longhorns’ dominance of the Sooners in the Red River Shootout by 31 points? While it’s clear that Texas will lose some first-place votes, Oregon didn’t get any votes last week and it would be hard to predict that they would need enough to edge out Texas again.

More… When the top 25 rankings are released

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