College football rankings: Projected AP Top 25 after Texas, Oregon, LSU win massive matchups in Week 7

Week 7 was always going to have a major impact on the college football rankings. With matchups between Texas and Oklahoma, Ohio State and Oregon, and Ole Miss and LSU, just to name a few, the slate was giving.

The Longhorns, Ducks and LSU emerged as the big winners thanks to their victories. More than a few teams were just happy to win at all as four games involving ranked teams went into overtime this week.

Oklahoma's expected loss and Utah's upset defeat knocked both out of the projected Top 25 while bye weeks kept Nebraska and Navy on the outside looking in. Let's dive in!

Projected AP Top 25 rankings after Week 7: No. 25-21

25. Arizona State Sun Devils

Is undefeated Navy more deserving here? Maybe. Does Nebraska deserve a shout? There's a good argument. So why go with Arizona State? Well, it helps they were actually in action this week. The Sun Devils put Utah out of their misery, handing them a second loss, 27-19 on Friday night. That result was definitely a reflection of Cam Rising's injured...well...everything. But it was also a showcase for ASU running back Cam Skattebo, who ripped off runs of 50 and 47 yards to lead his team to a thrilling victory. Kenny Dillingham and the Devils are having fun right now. They deserve the nod.

Will 5-1 turn into 6-1? Arizona State has to go on the road to Cincinnati to find out.

24. Army Black Knights

Why hello there Army! Welcome to the mix. The Black Knights are undefeated after six games and they haven't really been troubled all season. That was certainly the case this week with a 44-10 victory over the hapless UAB Blazers. Quarterback Bryson Daily commanded the triple-option en route to four touchdowns and 136 yards on the ground. He even showed off his arm on a 50-yard touchdown throw.

At this rate, Army has the chance to roll into their Nov. 23 meeting with Notre Dame still undefeated. First, they need to dispatch ECU.

23. SMU Mustangs

It's a great feeling when you can move up in the polls despite being inactive. That's the position the SMU Mustangs find themselves in this week. They're fresh off a win over Louisville and feeling good about their 5-1 record. The ACC title game is still well within reach.

Their second half road begins with Stanford on Saturday.

22. Michigan Wolverines

Michigan suffered a shocking loss to Washington last weekend, so their bye week came at an opportune time. The Wolverines are 4-2 and clinging to hope of sneaking into the playoff. They'll have to start the road back by going to Champagne to face off with Illinois.

21. Illinois Fighting Illini

Illinois week off after a disappointing showing against Penn State didn't seem to do them much good. Well, to be fair, they looked well-rested in the first half against Purdue as they took a 24-3 lead. Then things got weird. The Boilermakers hit a long pass and returned a fumble for a touchdown to just about erase the deficit in the span of eight seconds. From there, both sides went back and forth until an onside kick led to Ryan Browne's 13-yard go-ahead touchdown with 46 seconds left. The Illini survived to force overtime on a 38-yard field goal as time expired. It took a failed Purdue two-point conversion in overtime to end the game. What does all that mean for Illinois? They flirted with disaster but survived a second overtime game. So they're still alive in the Big Ten title race, as unlikely as that continues to seem.

Michigan will be looking to put an end to their run on Saturday.

Projected AP Top 25 rankings after Week 7: No. 20-16

20. Pittsburgh Panthers

By now we should all recognize call is a rough out for anybody despite their record. So Pitt can feel good about surviving a late surge from the Golden Bears and locking in a 17-15 victory to improve to 6-0. Desmond Reid's two touchdown runs, including a 72-yard romp, were enough to keep Cal's fourth-quarter touchdown from doing any damage.

Can the good times keep rolling for the Panthers? They'll take the weekend off before hosting Kyle McCord and the Syracuse Orange for a Thursday night game.

19. Missouri Tigers

Missouri got the bad taste of their blowout loss to Texas A&M out of their mouth by plastering UMass, 45-3. That was some good catharsis for the Tigers and Luther Burden III, who broke off a 61-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game.

Auburn awaits. Missouri should beware a lookahead trouble spot with Alabama looming.

18. Ole Miss Rebels

Losing to LSU, 29-26 in overtime, would be less costly if Ole Miss hadn't already lost to Kentucky. The Rebels will feel in many ways that they gave the game away to LSU. They had a 17-7 lead near the end of the first half. Then they gave up a field goal to the Tigers with 34 seconds to go, fumbled on the first play of their next drive and handed LSU another three points with a field goal from there. In the second half, Jaxson Dart threw an interception into the endzone. They went backwards too often and settled for field goals too often. Then the defense gave up a 23-yard touchdown on fourth-and-five with 27 seconds remaining. This came was there for the taking. Ole Miss blew it.

The Rebels' CFP hopes now rest on winning out. But first, they'll take a bye week to prepare for the final stretch, beginning with a game against Oklahoma.

17. Kansas State Wildcats

Avery Johnson very nearly thew a win away against Colorado with a costly late interception that set up a go-ahead touchdown for the Buffaloes. However, he found a way to make up for it with two huge completions with under three minutes to play, putting Kansas State back in front. The Buffs are a gritty team, so getting a close win in Boulder isn't something to scoff at. Critically, the victory keeps the Wildcats in the race for the Big 12 title.

The next hurdle is West Virginia in Morgantown.

16. Indiana Hoosiers

The Indiana Hoosiers completed the first half of their season last week with a win over Northwestern then got a chance to breath this week on a bye. They needed to make the most of this rest because the second half of the season is far more challenging than the first.

Nebraska awaits as their first opponent with a winning record.

Projected AP Top 25 rankings after Week 7: No. 15-11

15. Boise State Broncos

Ashton Jeany had his typical 54-yard touchdown run against Hawaii to go along with his routine 217 rushing yards. And he got a receiving touchdown for good measure. Still, Boise State didn't exactly blow the socks off the Rainbow Warriors. Their lead was 13-7 going into the fourth quarter. Considering their recent point explosions, that was a worrisome scoreline. Thena gain, every team has "one of those days." The Broncos scored two touchdowns in the fourth to put the game to bed.

The win over Hawai'i wasn't even the best thing that happened to BSU on Saturday. Oregon's win over Ohio State only made their close loss to the Ducks look better. They're in prime position to take the G5 CFP bid. In fact, if they win their next game against UNLV, you can go ahead and pencil them in. But they have a bye week before that massive showdown.

14. Texas A&M Aggies

Texas A&M enjoyed a bye week following their 41-10 beat down of Missouri at the start of October. Being inactive didn't help them climb very much but it kept them from falling at least.

Coming up, the Aggies have a road trip to Mississippi State to take care of before an increasingly juicy matchup with LSU.

13. BYU Cougars

The Arizona Wildcats are in the middle of a disappointing campaign but they have talent enough to cause problems for any team that doesn't take them seriously enough. BYU didn't have that problem, trouncing Noah Fifita et al, 41-19. If the Cougars keep winning, they'll keep rising. They have a clear path to the Big 12 title game if they take care of business from here on out.

It starts on Friday against Oklahoma State. Will the Big 12 cannibalization begin? You never know, but BYU has been immune so far.

12. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame's win over Texas A&M looks better by the week and their loss to Northern Illinois looks worse. They weren't playing either of those teams this week though. They had Stanford in front of them and they demolished them in short order, 49-7. Could the Fighting Irish rise this week? I'd listen to an argument for that, especially relative to the team directly in front of them here. For now, they stay put.

The trouble for ND is they don't have many opportunities for impressive wins coming up. Georgia Tech comes next. Then they'll have to hope Navy stays undefeated and ranked before their meeting.

11. Tennesse Volunteers

Tennessee, Tennessee, wherefor art thou offense, Tennessee? Seriously, since the start of SEC play, the Volunteers offense has been straight up absent. This week's 23-17 overtime win over Florida was Nico Iamaleava's second game without a touchdown pass. He committed two turnovers, including an interception and a fumble. The Vols were held scoreless in the first half. And as solid as the defense has been, they let DJ Lagway toss a game-tying touchdown on third-and-19. This hardly looks like a top 15 team right now, let alone a top 10 team.

The only plus for Tennessee is they get Alabama when the Crimson Tide are looking pretty wobbly themselves.

Projected AP Top 25 rankings after Week 7: No. 10-6

10. Iowa State Cyclones

Should the 6-0 Iowa State Cyclones be even higher than this? There might be a good argument for that one. I'm just not there yet. The Cyclones are taking care of business these days, including beating West Virginia 28-16. Rocco Becht continues to play good football. The ISU defense takes care of business. This is just a well-drilled team winning games without much fuss.

Considering that, it's safe to expect Iowa State to keep this up with UCF next up.

9. LSU Tigers

After LSU lost to USC and struggled with Nichols State, South Carolina and UCLA, we all would have rightly laughed at the idea of the Tigers contending for a CFP bid. Something has clicked for Garrett Nussmeier and the Tigers and it showed on the final drive of regulation against Ole Miss as LSU captured a 29-26 overtime victory. The QB hit Aaron Anderson with a perfect strike to tie the game with 27 seconds remaining and then he found Kyron Lacy with another beautiful throw into the endzone to end OT.

The challenges keep coming from here though. Road trips to Arkansas and Texas A&M await. Then the ultimate heat check against Alabama.

8. Clemson Tigers

Speaking of teams that have rebounded from a difficult opening loss. At the final whistle of Clemson's 34-3 drubbing at the hands of Georgia in Week 1, it would have been difficult to imagine them being a Top 10 team just a few weeks later. But Dabo Swinney, for all his flaws and stubbornness, is a good coach and he's got his Tigers back on track. Saturday's 49-14 win over Wake Forest showed Clemson is feeling it offensively. Cade Klubnik tossed three touchdowns with 309 yards passing. Phil Mafah rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns. It was a good day to be the Tigers.

There's little reason to expect the momentum to stop. Clemson has to take on Virginia next with their next real test looming in Pittsburgh in mid-November.

7. Alabama Crimson Tide

I'm honestly tempted to punish Alabama for their 27-25 squeaker of a win over South Carolina. A week after suffering an embarrassing loss to Vanderbilt, the Crimson Tide should have been out for blood. Instead, it was the same story as blunders on offense and questionable defense opened the door for a lesser opponent. The Gamecocks were a two-point conversion away from forcing overtime and wrecking Bama's season. But the Tide got away with another shaky performance so they cling to this spot.

Next time around they get Tennessee, a team with a similarly unsatisfying win in Week 7. Which team will find their footing first? We'll see.

6. Miami Hurricanes

After a wild trip to Berkeley in Week 6, the Miami Hurricanes got to sit back, relax and watch everyone else deal with an upset bid for a change. What matters for Miami after two straight close calls is that they're still undefeated and on track to play for the ACC title with an automatic CFP bid on the line.

Next up for the Hurricanes is a road trip to Louisville, who bounced back from losses to Notre Dame and SMU with a win over Virginia.

Projected AP Top 25 rankings after Week 7: No. 5-1

5. Georgia Bulldogs

The Georgia Bulldogs had a relatively uneventful week, if a 10-point win over a one-win team like Mississippi State can be classed as "uneventful." The Dawgs had a 34-10 lead in the third quarter but they took their foot off the gas and MSU closed the gap. It took a 7:26-minute, 16-play touchdown drive in the fourth quarter to close things out. Despite Carson Beck's 459 yards and three touchdowns, it doesn't feel like UGA has gotten things running smoothly just yet this season.

Kirby Smart and company need to get things right coming into their next matchup. They've got No. 1 Texas up next in Austin.

4. Penn State Nittany Lions

James Franklin has a reputation for losing the tough games, so going on the road to face a recently-unranked USC team was always going to be a bit of a "show me" outing. The Nittany Lions can hold their heads high having avoided the upset, but they looked vulnerable while doing it. A bigger win might have justified a ranking ahead of a conference rival who just picked up their first loss. However, Penn State had to overcome a 14-point deficit and beat the Trojans in overtime while Tyler Warren had a herculean effort with 224 yards on 17 catches.

Penn State now heads for a bye week to prepare themselves for the second half of the season, including road a road trip to Wisconsin and a home title against Ohio State.

3. Ohio State Buckeyes

Traditionally AP voters drop teams who lose a few spots simply because they've added to the loss column. This time, they should avoid such a simple read of the situation. The Ohio State Buckeyes traveled across the country to play in one of the most hostile environments in college football and came away with a last-second, one-point loss to the No. 3 team in the polls. They shouldn't be punished harshly for this one.

The Buckeyes will lick their wounds and take the upcoming bye week to get their heads back in it after that disappointing result.

2. Oregon Ducks

The Oregon Ducks were one of the shakiest top 10 teams in college football to begin the season. Now, they're the owners of the most impressive win of the year. The Ducks bested Ohio State, 32-31, in a tight battle that went down to the very end. The difference? Dillon Gabriel made the plays to win while Will Howard fell short. The Ducks QB went 23-of-34 for 341 yards and two touchdowns, with 32 yards and a score on the ground as well. Running back Jordan James and receiver Evan Stewart each went off with more than 100 yards and a touchdown.

Oregon is in the drivers seat in the Big Ten and with a win over Ohio State, it's hard to see who could possibly trip them up. Maybe it'll come sooner than we think. They'll face a letdown special on Friday at Purdue this coming week.

1. Texas Longhorns

Quinn Ewers was back in action against the Oklahoma Sooners and he picked up right where he left off. With 199 yards and a touchdown in a 34-3 victory, the quarterback left no doubt about who the No. 1 team in the land is after Week 7.

The Longhorns face their tougest test of the season on Saturday against Georgia in what will be a Top 5 showdown for the ages.