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. 14-13

14. Syracuse Orange

Just because no one saw this coming from Syracuse doesn’t mean that we can keep somewhat penalizing them in the rankings for not being a ranked team or even in that conversation coming into the year. It’s abundantly clear that the addition of offensive coordinator Robert Anae has worked wonders for the Orange while the defense is stout, which it showed in a convincing 24-9 win over NC State.

Make no mistake, the Wolfpack were shorthanded on Saturday after the season-ending injury to star quarterback Devin Leary suffered last week. But Dino Babers’ team looked like the better team playing against a backup quarterback throughout with how they controlled the action in virtually every facet of the game. The tests keep coming as they travel to face Clemson next week but, for now, ‘Cuse is still undefeated.

13. Oklahoma State Cowboys

When three quarters of play concluded on Saturday afternoon, the fans in Stillwater watching Oklahoma State on the road in Fort Worth had to believe that the Pokes were about to move even further into the Top 10 and remain undefeated as Spencer Sanders and the Cowboys had dominated the action against another team without a loss, TCU. Then the fourth quarter allowed a comeback and then led to overtime and the wheels fell off.

In the end, Oklahoma State suffered a 43-40 loss, its first of the season. This team always felt like somewhat of an outlier inside the Top 10 but very much like one of the 20 best teams in college football this season. That bore out on the field as TCU prevailed but the Cowboys were more than competitive. The season’s far from over for the Pokes and we’ll now see how they respond to their first taste of defeat.