College football rankings: Winners and losers from AP Top 25, Week 8

There were winners and losers to be had in the latest batch of college football rankings with the AP Top 25 Poll being released.

Not every fanbase is going to be happy seeing where their teams stand in the latest college football rankings with the release of the AP Top 25 Poll on Sunday afternoon.

Then again, this just comes with the territory, especially after four teams inside the top 10 lost on Saturday. Penn State fell in The Big House to Michigan. Oklahoma State could not hang with TCU in overtime in Fort Worth. Alabama could not stop Tennessee’s offense in Knoxville. USC could not keep Utah out of the end zone in Salt Lake City. All four of these games impacted these rankings.

Here are the biggest winners and losers from the latest AP Top 25 Poll coming out on Sunday.

College football rankings: Winners from AP Top 25 Poll, Week 8

Tennessee has switched places with Alabama after the Third Saturday in October

By winning their first Third Saturday in October in nearly two decades, the Tennessee Volunteers absolutely earned the right to switch places with the Alabama Crimson Tide in the latest AP Top 25 Poll. The Vols go all the way up to No. 3, and we cannot wait for the massive SEC East showdown between Tennessee and top-ranked Georgia in three weeks. It will be one for the ages.

TCU Horned Frogs have essentially clinched a spot in Big 12 Championship Game

This was a statement win for Sonny Dykes and his TCU Horned Frogs program. It may be his first year on the job, but he has TCU humming already. Beating Oklahoma State at home in overtime essentially guarantees that the Frogs will be one of two teams playing for a Big 12 Championship. Of course, they are going to need some help if they want to make the College Football Playoff…

UCLA saw a team it beat in Utah beat USC, and didn’t have to play to reach top 10

This was a fantastic weekend for Chip Kelly’s UCLA Bruins to watch the madness unfold from the comfort of their couches. After getting to 6-0 last week with a big Pac-12 win over Utah, those same Utes beat the Bruins’ arch rival USC to hand the Trojans their first loss of the season. With Oklahoma State, Penn State and USC losing, UCLA cracks the top 10 ahead of the Oregon game.

Look at the Syracuse Orange being ranked inside of the top 15 ahead of Clemson!

There was a time when everybody and their brother wanted to put Dino Babers on the hot seat. Now his Syracuse Orange is going bowling in as few games as possible! Syracuse handled a depleted North Carolina State team to get to 6-0 on the season. The Orange moved up four spots from No. 18 to No. 14. If they beat No. 5 Clemson in Death Valley, they might win the ACC Atlantic.

While Tennessee, TCU, UCLA and Syracuse were all big winners this week, not all were so lucky…