College football rankings 2021: Projected Week 14 AP Top 25 after Michigan downs Ohio State, Alabama escapes, Oklahoma collapses in Bedlam

12. BYU Cougars

BYU might as well have been a Pac-12 team this season and, if that were the case, then they might well be on their way to the conference championship game. But the independent program obviously wasn’t a part of that and, as such, their final game against the conference on Saturday as they traveled to take on USC didn’t have any implications of that sort.

Still, it was a big opportunity for the Cougars to further improve their bowl résumé and they took care of business against a Trojans team that is more or less eyeing the future at this point. It wasn’t as dominant as it could’ve been but, on the road, BYU can be forgiven for that as they still came out of Cali with the victory.

11. Michigan State Spartans

With the snow pouring down in East Lansing, it was a wonder that the Spartans were able to do anything on either side of the ball against Penn State considering that the Nittany Lions were in all-white uniforms and blended perfectly into the snow. And while Payton Thorne and Michigan State made their share of errors on the afternoon, they ultimately took care of business.

Mel Tucker’s team may not have ended where they once thought they could after losses to Purdue and Ohio State but the Spartans have to be pleased overall. They are a top-15 team in the AP Top 25, without question, and that’s far better than anyone had them projected to be when prognosticators were doing their thing in the preseason.