Saturday’s chaos is going to tear the AP Top 25 apart.
Five teams ranked inside the top seven went down on Oct. 18, and the ripple effect figures to hit every corner of the poll. No.
1 Georgia, No. 2 Notre Dame, No.
5 Indiana, No. 6 Alabama and No.
7 Texas all lost, turning one day into a full-scale reset for college football’s ranking picture.
Notre Dame’s loss carries the most intrigue. The Fighting Irish were meeting their first ranked opponent of the season in No.
8 BYU on the road, and the finish came with controversy attached. One second was still on the clock after what looked like the final play, with Notre Dame still in position to make a last push.
Marcus Freeman and his team remain legitimate contenders, but the source of concern is whether they have enough experience to be fully “battle tested” before a game like this.
BYU’s win should push the Cougars up sharply, though exactly how far won’t be known until the rankings come out Sunday. That movement at the top will create a chain reaction, with a new No. 1 expected and a reshuffled top five.
Georgia and Indiana may not slide much despite losing, and Indiana’s spot is especially interesting after it came close to Ohio State. The Cougars’ rise will also affect the rest of the top 10.
Texas and Alabama may end up in the middle of the poll rather than tumbling all the way out of the top 15. The SEC’s depth could keep both teams closer to the top than a pair of losses might normally suggest. Tennessee, meanwhile, is positioned to move into the top 10, and Florida is set to come back into the rankings.
A projected poll had Ohio State at No. 1, followed by Miami, Georgia, Indiana and Ole Miss, with BYU at No. 6 and Tennessee at No. 7.
Notre Dame checked in at No. 8, Texas Tech at No. 9 and Utah at No.
- The rest of that projected top 25 listed UCLA, Alabama, Texas, Kentucky, Iowa, Houston, USC, LSU, Wake Forest, Missouri, Boise State, Oklahoma State, SMU, Northwestern and Florida.
Oregon also remains on the outside looking in for now. The Ducks received the 27th-most votes in the week 6 AP Poll, leaving them two spots short of the rankings.
A win over Nebraska should be enough to get Dan Lanning’s team back into the top 25, but the climb may not be dramatic even with all the upheaval around them. Oregon started the season at No. 2, so two early losses have already knocked it down considerably.
The Ducks’ résumé includes four ranked opponents so far, with two wins and two losses. One of those losses came when then-No.
18 Oklahoma State fell to then-No. 20 Houston, though Oklahoma State is still expected to stay ranked.
Oregon still has more chances ahead to strengthen its case, including games against No. 25 Northwestern and Ohio State.
The AP Top 25 Poll is set to be released at approximately 11 a.m. PT.
In Other News...
DeBoer Called Out What Fueled Alabamas Offensive Meltdown At Tennessee
Tennessees defense spent the afternoon turning Alabamas offense into a mess, and the numbers told the story as much as the score did. DeSean Bishop ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns in No. 14 Tennessees 26-10 win over No. 6 Alabama, while the Crimson Tide managed only 201 total yards and went just 2 of 13 on third down. The turnovers piled up, too, and the result was a game in which Alabama rarely looked settled long enough to build any rhythm.
Kalen DeBoer pointed to the same issue at halftime, when he said his team needed to stay composed and make better decisions. Thats the part Alabama will probably spend the most time sorting through after a loss like this, because the problems were not limited to one bad series or one breakdown. Against a Tennessee defense that kept forcing the issue, the Tide never found a clean offensive answer, and the frustration only mounted as the game slipped away. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Suddenly Has Two Crucial Injury Questions After Tennessee Loss
Alabamas bruising night in the loss to Tennessee brought more than just a setback in the standings, it added two injury situations the Crimson Tide will now have to sort through. Cornerback Zabien Brown and running back EJ Crowell both went down with lower-extremity injuries in the first half, forcing Alabama to keep adjusting on the fly in a game already shaped by absences and patchwork depth at multiple spots.
Brown made it back to the sideline in the second half, offering at least a small sign of hope, but Crowell did not return and left with a knee brace. With Alabama already missing several key players and leaning on replacements throughout the game, the health of both Brown and Crowell could quickly become one of the biggest questions heading into the next stretch of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Alabamas Offense Has Created A Playoff Problem Fans Cant Ignore
After a fast start that had Alabama looking like a playoff lock, the offense has hit a stretch that has made the margin for error a lot thinner. Consecutive losses to Georgia and Tennessee have put the spotlight on a unit that once seemed to have answers, with Kalen DeBoer pointing to the run game, penalties and the lack of explosive plays as reasons the Tide have stumbled.
At 5-2, Alabama is still very much alive in the College Football Playoff conversation, but the path forward looks different now. The bigger concern is whether the offense can regain enough rhythm and consistency to keep the season from turning into a weekly referendum on how much the Tide can afford to slip again. [Read more 🡒]