Week 7 didn’t just shake up the College Football Playoff race - it blew the whole thing wide open.
After a Saturday loaded with upsets and ranked teams tumbling, ESPN’s college football experts came back on Sunday with fresh CFP projections, and the top of the bracket already looks nothing like a settled picture. Georgia’s loss to Auburn only added to the mess, making the Bulldogs the third AP No. 1 team to fall this season.
The most common theme in ESPN’s updated predictions was simple: BYU and Miami are the teams setting the pace, though the order kept changing from one analyst to the next. Ohio State also made a strong push near the top, and in one case climbed all the way to No. 1.
Andrea Adelson had Miami at No. 1, followed by BYU, UCLA and Ohio State. Her top 12 also included Notre Dame, Georgia, Texas Tech, Utah, Indiana, Ole Miss, Wake Forest and James Madison.
Kyle Bonagura went with Miami in the top spot as well, then BYU, Ohio State and Georgia. His bracket also featured Utah, UCLA, Texas Tech, Indiana, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Wake Forest and Boise State.
Bill Connelly took a different route, putting BYU first, Miami second and UCLA third. His list continued with Texas Tech, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Georgia, Utah, Indiana, Ole Miss, Houston and James Madison.
David Hale also had BYU and Miami at the top, but in the opposite order from some of his colleagues. He ranked Ohio State third and Georgia fourth, then filled out the field with Ole Miss, UCLA, Notre Dame, Indiana, Texas Tech, Kentucky, Tennessee and James Madison.
Max Olson was the lone voter to put Ohio State at No. 1.
BYU followed at No. 2, Miami at No. 3 and Georgia at No.
- His rest of the field included Indiana, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Texas Tech, Tennessee, UCLA and Boise State.
Adam Rittenberg matched the overall pattern with BYU first, Miami second and Ohio State third. He had Georgia at No. 4, then Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Indiana, UCLA, Texas Tech, Kentucky, Utah and Boise State.
Alex Scarborough placed Miami atop his bracket, with Ohio State second and BYU third. Georgia came in at No. 4, and his remaining teams were Indiana, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Texas Tech, Tennessee, UCLA and Boise State.
Mark Schlabach had BYU first, Miami second and Ohio State third, with Georgia right behind at No. 4. His field also included Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, Indiana, Kentucky, UCLA, Tennessee and Boise State.
Jake Trotter’s list started with BYU, Ohio State and Miami, then Georgia and Notre Dame. He rounded it out with Indiana, Texas Tech, Kentucky, UCLA, Utah, Ole Miss and Oregon State.
Paolo Uggetti also went with BYU, Miami and Ohio State in the top three, followed by Georgia, Indiana and Notre Dame. His other teams were Ole Miss, UCLA, Kentucky, Utah, Texas Tech and Boise State.
Dave Wilson placed Miami first, Ohio State second and BYU third, with Georgia at No. 4. Indiana, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Texas Tech, Utah, UCLA and Boise State completed his projection.
Georgia’s range across the panel ran from No. 4 to No. 7, but the Bulldogs still stood as the highest-ranked SEC team in every one of the ESPN fields.
There were also some new names creeping into the conversation. Wake Forest, UCLA and Houston all showed up in projections, while James Madison and Boise State were the most common Group of Six teams in the mix. Oregon State appeared once.
In Other News...
Tennessee Just Gave Vols Fans New Ammo Against Alabama
Week 7 delivered one of those Saturdays that reshapes the conversation around the SEC, and Tennessee had plenty to do with it. The Vols backed up a strong performance from running back DeSean Bishop with a defense that made life miserable for Alabama, giving their fans a fresh reason to revisit the rivalry and point to the Crimson Tides flaws after a game that felt more like a statement than a one-off upset.
It was also part of a broader shake-up across college football, with top-ranked Georgia and Notre Dame both going down in a chaotic slate. BYU knocked off Notre Dame without its star running back, Texas slipped again in a loss to Florida under Steve Sarkisian, and Oklahoma State continued to struggle, but Tennessees win stood out for the way it was built: physical, opportunistic and hard to dismiss no matter how the rest of the season plays out. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Just Shook Up The Rankings In A Way Fans Had To See
Week 7 turned the AP Top 25 upside down in a way college football rarely sees, with five of the top eight teams losing on the same day for the first time in the polls 90-year history. Auburns win over No. 1 Georgia was the headline grabber for Bulldogs fans to absorb, but it was part of a bigger wave of chaos that also included BYU taking down No. 2 Notre Dame.
The shakeup sent Miami to No. 1 for the first time since 2002, with BYU climbing to No. 2 and Ohio State landing at No. 3. For Georgia, the bigger picture is less about one bad Saturday than the way quickly a season can change when the teams around you start tumbling too, and the rankings now reflect just how much instability is baked into the race ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Is Suddenly At The Center Of An SEC Debate
The SEC conversation has gotten louder this week, and Georgia is right in the middle of it after another rough stretch for the leagues biggest names. Recent losses by top teams such as Georgia and Texas have fueled the familiar debate over whether the conference is as deep and dominant as it has been billed, while fans and observers continue to argue over how much weight to give one conferences bruising schedule.
Dan Wolken pushed back on the idea that the SEC has somehow become ordinary, arguing the league is still punishingly difficult from week to week. From Georgias perspective, that only adds to the scrutiny, because every stumble by a contender seems to become evidence in someone elses argument about the conference, and the latest round of reactions has left plenty of room for the debate to keep going. [Read more 🡒]