College football rankings: Projected Top 10 after Georgia loss – How far will Dawgs drop?

With the Georgia Bulldogs falling at home to the South Carolina Gamecocks in double overtime, here is what the top 10 of the next AP Poll could look like.

Upsets are part of what makes college football so special. Given that it’s a game being played among 18-to-23-year-olds, the amount of unpredictability and variance in this sport means that anybody can beat anybody on any given Saturday, especially when two bitter division rivals clash on the gridiron.

That was exactly the case when the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs hosted the sub-.500 South Carolina Gamecocks Between the Hedges on Saturday. South Carolina had Georgia’s number back when Steve Spurrier was the head coach, but Will Muschamp has not had the same success against his alma mater’s program, especially after Kirby Smart took over in 2016. At least, not until today.

South Carolina needed two overtimes but got the job done against Georgia, beating the No. 3 team in the nation 20-17 to shock the college football world. This win should give South Carolina momentum and will improve its odds of getting to a bowl game. Georgia is a solid team but has to pick up the pieces in defeat.

While both teams still have half their schedule left to be played, we do know one thing: Georgia will drop from No. 3 in the upcoming AP Top 25 Poll. Will the Dawgs still stick in the top 10, even after a shameful home loss to South Carolina? Will other teams be rising or falling in the latest AP Poll? Here is what the top 10 could look like entering Week 8.

Projected Top 10 for Week 8

1. Alabama Crimson Tide
2. Clemson Tigers
3. Ohio State Buckeyes
4. LSU Tigers
5. Oklahoma Sooners
6. Wisconsin Badgers
7. Georgia Bulldogs
8. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
9. Florida Gators
10. Penn State Nittany Lions

If the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide hold off the No. 24 Texas A&M Aggies, that should be enough for them to keep the top spot entering Week 8. The No. 2 Clemson Tigers should have no problem getting past a mediocre Florida State Seminoles team to stay undefeated. However, beating the brakes off division rival Florida State won’t be enough to take back the top spot from Alabama.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are in their bye week and will stay at No. 3, but won’t be sharing it with a team that doesn’t deserve that ranking any longer in Georgia. Assuming the No. 5 LSU Tigers take care of business in Death Valley tonight against the No. 7 Florida Gators, the Bayou Bengals will move up a spot and into the top four.

Moving up a spot from No. 6 to No. 5 will be the Oklahoma Sooners after messing with the No. 11 Texas Longhorns in the Red River Showdown down in Dallas. Assuming they get past the Michigan State Spartans at home, the Wisconsin Badgers will go up two spots from No. 8 to No. 6. That game with Ohio State in The Horseshoe in a couple of weeks is looking mighty tasty.

Georgia will fall from No. 3 to No. 7 as the best one-loss team in the country in a group of three strong one-loss teams in the upcoming top 10. If the No. 9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish puts a whopping on the rival USC Trojans in South Bend, they’ll be the new No. 8 team in the land behind the same Georgia team that beat them a few weeks ago.

Since someone has to lose down in Death Valley this week, it’ll likely be the visiting Gators. Though they were undefeated entering play at No. 7, they’ll get dinged a few spots by falling to No. 5 LSU to find themselves still in the top 10, coming in at No. 9.

Rounding out the new top 10 will likely be the No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions keeping their spot by holding off the No. 17 Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City in primetime this week. Georgia won’t be the only top-10 team to lose this week. Either Florida or LSU is going down. Given that playing in Kinnick Stadium at night is always tough, Penn State could be on upset alert in a few hours.

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