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. 18-17

18. Utah Utes

With the way that the Utes lost to UCLA a week ago and having lost to what appears to be a pedestrian Florida team to open the year, there was a belief that they were no longer deserving of a spot in the Top 25. But instead, the Utes welcomed a Top 10 USC team to town and made sure to let the world know that Cam Rising and this fiery team weren’t about to roll over after a couple of tough breaks.

Utah fought back from an early deficit at home and was able to create a shootout with the Trojans. And with an opportune drive that resulted in a last-minute touchdown and converted two-point conversion, they pulled out the huge win to knock off a potential College Football Playoff contender and keep their Pac-12 title hopes alive.

17. Kansas State Wildcats

Even though you would think that a 5-1 record to start the season would be a good indication of what this Kansas State team is, that’s not the case. In fact, they are one of the most difficult teams inside the AP Top 25 to peg and we didn’t get any further evidence in either direction on Saturday with the Wildcats off in Week 7.

Adrian Martinez and Deuce Vaughn have proven to be an elite tandem for the Wildcats but every aspect of this team will be put to the test over the next month as Kansas State is about to run through a gauntlet. Their next four games are at TCU, vs Oklahoma State, vs Texas and at Baylor. If they come out of that unscathed, we’ll know Chris Kleiman’s team is for real.