College football rankings: Predicting the AP Top 25 for Week 8

Cincinnati had the week off and it was on the verge of dropping out of the rankings, at least in my projections, but a Colorado loss at USC changed things. The Bearcats are 6-0 and look like one of the strongest Group of Five teams out there. While Cincinnati may be undefeated, it has yet to be truly tested and may not be until November with back-to-back games against South Florida and UCF.

The Buffaloes were the lone remaining unbeaten team from the Pac-12 heading into a late-night battle with USC, but the Trojans were just too much for Colorado. Even with the road loss, the Buffaloes have to feel good about their positioning in the conference title race as they control their own destiny. The Buffs just hope to keep pace with a suddenly red-hot Oregon team. For now, they’ll hold firm near the bottom of the AP Top 25.

Everyone expected Wisconsin to run away with the Big Ten West, but after losing to Michigan in the fashion that they did, the Badgers may be in a fight for their lives in the division. The Wisconsin defense did alright against the Wolverines, but the offense just didn’t have the pieces outside of Jonathan Taylor. Alex Hornibrook took a step back in the loss but the Badgers will get a nice bounce-back opportunity next week with Illinois.

One week after getting dropped from the rankings and not receiving a single AP vote, the Spartans will jump back into the polls. Brian Lewerke had a shaky performance and the offense was basically a bunch of mismatched guys following a plethora of injuries, but the Spartans went into Happy Valley and upset No. 8 Penn State. The win was shocking for many, but not Michigan State fans who have seen Mark Dantonio-led team pulls off unthinkable upsets in the past. Say hello to the AP Top 25 again, Spartans.

In their first week in the AP Top 25 this season, the USF Bulls found that playing with a major target on their backs wasn’t easy. They traveled to Tulsa and were on upset alert all night but the Bulls made the late comeback and won on a last-second field goal. Charlie Strong’s team will stay alive in the rankings — just barely. They will need to avoid upset alerts like this against one-win American teams going forward.