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. 18-17

18. Florida Gators

As you’d expect, Florida took out the loss to Kentucky a week ago on a quite bad Vanderbilt group on Saturday. It was a game that Gators fans will certainly hope was a get-right moment for this team with Emory Jones throwing for four touchdowns while the defense feasted on a clearly inferior opponent, snuffing out any semblance of smoke or flames that Vandy could try and get going on offense.

Now it’s about trying to parlay that type of performance against the elite competition of the SEC moving forward for the rest of the year. Florida is a bit behind the 8-ball with two conference losses already but their path isn’t wholly shut off just yet. They get a trip to Death Valley next week before a bye and then the Cocktail Party, so the Gators needed this boost of confidence in a big way.

17. Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Wake Forest certainly didn’t make staying undefeated on the season look easy as they took to the Carrier Dome to face a surprisingly tough Syracuse team but, with a touchdown to answer a field goal in the first overtime, the Demon Deacons now move to 6-0 on the season and rightfully move up three spots in the rankings from last week.

Sam Hartman remains at the helm of a dangerous and prolific offense as he threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns but Wake has started playing a far less dominant brand of football in recent weeks. If they’re going to take control of the ACC, they need to shore up the defense a bit more and, perhaps, find a more stable approach on offense if they can do so without sacrificing explosiveness.