College football rankings 2021: Projected Week 7 AP Top 25 after Alabama, Penn State fall & Oklahoma, Michigan survive

Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 6: No. 20-19

20. SMU Mustangs

It definitely looked a little bit hairy for SMU in the first half against Navy as some turnovers cost the Mustangs and let the Midshipmen and their home crowd gain control of the game. But credit to Tanner Mordecai and this offense as they were able to level the game 21 apiece at halftime and then ultimately edge out their AAC rivals in the second half to take a 31-24 win and stay perfect.

It’s not hard to see the flaws for SMU when you watch this team play. This is not a good defense and, for as good as their offense can be, any mistakes really put the group behind the 8-ball. With all of that said, though, the explosive ability they have every time they snap the ball makes them a threat to beat quite literally any team in the country they come up against.

19. NC State Wolfpack

After avoiding a big letdown game a week ago on the heels of knocking off Clemson, the Wolfpack had the week off on Saturday. And with so many other teams losing inside the Top 25 rankings, that allows NC State to climb into the top 20 and they have certainly made a strong case they could win the ACC To this point in the year.

Now, the ACC has been a bit of a dumpster fire so far in the 2021 season but, with only one non-conference loss messing up the ledger for Dave Doren’s team right now, they could make a late push up the rankings in the second half of the season. All told, this is a team with a defense that can keep them in any game if they can just be more consistent than their conference mates.