College football rankings: Projected Week 5 AP Top 25 after Clemson, Texas A&M highlight 6 ranked teams to lose

Projected AP Top 25 College Football Rankings after Week 4: No. 20-19

20. Clemson Tigers

In all honesty, you could make a case for Clemson not being ranked at this point. Sure, their losses aren’t all that bad, falling to Georgia and then to a good conference foe in NC State. But it’s how pedestrian the Tigers have looked to this point that really makes the case.

D.J. Uiagalalei doesn’t look like the next star but, instead, looks like just another big arm in the Power 5 ranks. And the offense around him for the Tigers isn’t doing anything to help that perception either. Moreover, the injuries are piling up. But despite all this, Dabo Swinney and his team have too much clout and respect for them to drop out after their Week 4 upset loss to the Wolfpack.

19. UCLA Bruins

On the heels of their tough loss to Fresno State last week, I thought the trip to Stanford was a huge spot for UCLA. The Bruins weren’t heading into a particularly hostile environment by any stretch but they were going to face a good team in a tough spot on the schedule as Chip Kelly’s group needed to really prove themselves.

They did that behind a monstrous rushing effort from both Zach Carbonnet and Dorian Thompson-Robertson and with the UCLA defense holding off Tanner McKee enough to get the 35-24 win. It was a big spot for the Bruins to prove they’re still for real in the 2021 season and they did just that.