College football rankings 2022: Projected Week 8 AP Top 25 after Tennessee downs Alabama, USC falls, Michigan rolls

Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 7: No. 20-19

20. Texas Longhorns

With the way that Quinn Ewers and Texas completely savaged rival Oklahoma last week, everyone should’ve seen a bit of a letdown game coming from Steve Sarkisian’s team, but the expectation still seemed to be that they would roll over a downtrodden Iowa State team. That was not the case, however. Instead, it was a dogfight that saw the Longhorns need some crucial Cyclones mistakes and a big no-call go their way to come out with the 24-21 win.

Texas still looks like a team that could very well take the Big 12 title when it’s all said and done because of how dangerous the offense can look with Ewers now back at the helm. But the fact of the matter is that the defense and the offensive consistency have to improve if that’s going to be the case for the Longhorns.

19. Kentucky Wildcats

I have to tip my cap to Kentucky. After the loss last week when quarterback Will Levis was out of action due to an injury, my belief was that the Wildcats should no longer be ranked and deserved to be outside of the Top 25. The AP voters disagreed and slotted them in at No. 22. And with Levis back out on the field as UK welcomed Mississippi State to town, they showed why that was the right call.

There are undeniably flaws with Kentucky. Levis is prone to some head-scratching plays and the defense and offensive line aren’t what they have been in years past. But at the same time, the Wildcats are winning key games such as the one on Saturday and that’s all you can ask of teams at this point in the season. We could see them jostle around in the Top 25 throughout the year, but they keep showing they belong as part of the rankings.