College football rankings: Projected AP Top 25 after Georgia downs Alabama, Texas, Oregon, Florida and LSU upset

What a truly insane Week 6 in college football. We'll have a new No. 1-ranked team in the AP Top 25 after the Texas Longhorns took a shocking loss in Red River to Oklahoma. That team is likely going to be the Georgia Bulldogs, who won a heavyweight bout with Alabama in Tuscaloosa. But there will be plenty of more shakeups as UCLA stayed undefeated by upsetting Oregon, Florida lost for the second straight week, LSU got clipped at Kentucky, and even Pittsburgh got upset by North Carolina. The college football rankings might be near unrecognizable with all of the movement we're about to see.

These are the types of weeks that college football fans live for. It was wall-to-wall excitement throughout the weekend. But the dust is settling and it's time for us to evaluate where things will shake out in the end when the AP Top 25 college football rankings are released on Sunday. Let's dive into it.

Dropped Out of Rankings: 10 LSU Tigers, 16 Florida Gators, 25 Pittsburgh Panthers

No. 25-21

25. Oregon Ducks

• Last Rank: 13
• Result: lost to UCLA, 17-15
• Record: 3-2

In reality, I really didn't want to keep Oregon in the AP Top 25 projections. But I think we end up in a spot where voters let them hang on thanks to LSU's loss that should knock them out. Oregon's win over USC is still an impressive mark on their ledger and the loss to UCLA came with backup quarterbacks in the mix. I think that plays a factor, even if the Ducks won't find much solace in still being barely ranked now that their College Football Playoff dreams are likely dead.

24. Wake Forest Demon Deacons

• Last Rank: Unranked
• Result: def. NC State, 38-14
• Record: 5-1

Wake Forest was on the cusp of cracking the top 25 last week, but came up just shy on voting points. After going on the road and blasting NC State, even if the Wolfpack aren't any good, the Demon Deacons should surge into the No. 24 spot or thereabouts. Jake Dickert is proving that he's one heck of a coach this season and that Wake Forest is not to be taken seriously. After all, their one loss was a game in which they pushed Miami more so than any other team has to this point.

23. SMU Mustangs

• Last Rank: 24
• Result: Off
• Record: 4-1

For my money, SMU shouldn’t have been ranked last week. However, the Mustangs were and they certainly will be this week after several teams will drop out of the AP Top 25, some with two losses, others that didn’t back up finally being ranked (looking at you, Pitt). What’s certain, however, is that Kevin Jennings and this offense need to find their footing in a hurry if the Mustangs want to stay ranked and have a hope of making it to Charlotte for the ACC Championship Game.

22. Northwestern Wildcats

• Last Rank: Unranked
• Result: def. Ball State, 45-14
• Record: 4-1

Look, Northwestern hasn't beaten anyone really, but after last week's win over Penn State, they were very close to cracking the AP Top 25. Chip Kelly has this offense humming with Aidan Chiles and some of the wildest formations you're going to see in the modern era of the sport. He's fully in his bag, and a win over Ball State, while ultimately pretty meaningless, will prove to be enough to see the Wildcats get into the rankings.

21. Kentucky Wildcats

• Last Rank: Unranked
• Result: def. LSU, 35-34 (OT)
• Record: 5-1

Kentucky might not have the defense to dominate anyone, but the offense under Will Stein is good enough to remain any game. More importantly, the Wildcats play a fearless brand of football that paid off with the game-winning two-point conversion in overtime. It was disrespectful that Kentucky dropped out of the rankings last week, but they'll surge into the AP Top 25 once again after a win like this.

No. 20-16

20. Boise State Broncos (Still playing at Fresno State)

• Last Rank: 23
• Result: TBD
• Record: 4-1

Boise State has been making light work out of Group of Six competition since losing to Oregon closely in the opener. Now, the Broncos had to go on the road to play a frisky Fresno team on Saturday night in late action. It's a fun game, one that could be the stiffest test that Boise has seen since that loss to the Ducks, which is saying something given their non-conference slate. Even still, the smart money remains on the Broncos to be in the CFP when it's at season's end.

19. Houston Cougars

• Last Rank: 22
• Result: def. Kansas State, 35-16
• Record: 5-1

Point blank, this was the most impressive performance all season from Houston. While Kansas State isn’t the Big 12 darling that some people said they’d be coming into the season, they’re a tough offense to defend and Manhattan is a tough place to play. The Cougars were barely slowed down as Conner Weigman threw a quartet of touchdown passes and while the defense had all the answers on the day. That’s quite the showing, especially with Oklahoma State coming to town next week.

18. Iowa Hawkeyes

• Last Rank: 20
• Result: def. Washington, 41-24
• Record: 5-1

Going on the road with Jeremy Hecklinski starting for Hank Brown at quarterback, there were people picking Washington to take down Iowa. The opposite was true, however. It was pure domination from the Hawkeyes on the road, even coming off the loss to Ohio State, which is a testament to the high baseline that this team offers. Again, I think the Buckeyes showed that the ceiling is not necessarily CFP-caliber, but they’ll be flirting with the top of the Big Ten for most of the year.

17. USC Trojans

• Last Rank: 19
• Result: def. Penn State, 31-23
• Record: 6-1

Beating Penn State, knowing what we do about the Nittany Lions now, isn't some grand feat — though doing it in a white-out does feel significant. Jayden Maiava was awesome in this game, despite injuries for USC at wide receiver, and King Miller held his own as well. This defense still looks like what will ultimately hold the Trojans back from being a CFP team when it's all said and done, but USC is still a very good offense and, as a result, a good team that's difficult to reckon with.

16. Mississippi State Bulldogs

• Last Rank: 17
• Result: Off
• Record: 4-1

The comedown from the high of beating Missouri quickly dissipated against Alabama with a decisive loss, especially when Kamario Taylor finished the game in a boot on the sidelines. However, Mississippi State still looks like a team that poses a real threat in the SEC this season, and they’ll get another obvious chance at a ground-shaking upset next week when they go on the road to face Lane Kiffin and LSU. 

No. 15-11

15. Oklahoma State Cowboys

• Last Rank: 18
• Result: def. UCF, 42-28
• Record: 4-1

There’s no world where it feels hyperbolic to say that Oklahoma State’s defense will probably cost them a second loss at some point in the season. At the same time, the level that Drew Mestemaker is playing at right now is simply absurd. He’s slinging the pill and the Cowboys offense is absolutely humming in a massive way. The Pokes will get a huge test next week as they go on the road to Houston for a night tilt, but I love the explosiveness and bankability of their offense against most anyone in the conference. 

14. Tennessee Volunteers

• Last Rank: 15
• Result: def. Arkansas, 24-17
• Record: 5-1

Tennessee needs to just give the keys to the offense to George MacIntyre. That much is clear at this point. Faizon Brandon just hasn’t looked up to snuff against the highest level of competition and the Vols need to make a change permanent in order to keep their season on the right track — especially with a peeved Alabama team looming. Still, despite a poor offensive showing, they survived a lookahead spot and got the job done, which is more than many others could say this week.

13. Missouri Tigers

• Last Rank: 14
• Result: def. Texas A&M, 27-6
• Record: 5-1

If you’d told Missouri that they’d notch a decisive victory over Texas A&M before the season started, most people would’ve suspected that it was a monstrous victory for the Tigers. Unfortunately, the Aggies have been disastrous enough that’s not the case. However, for Mizzou to follow up its big win over Florida with another resounding victory, that speaks highly of Eli Drinkwitz’s team and leads us to a spot where we have to consider Mizzou’s place in the SEC hierarchy.

12. Utah Utes

• Last Rank: 12
• Result: def. Kansas, 41-24
• Record: 5-0

Utah continues to not really see too much of a test but to be impressive in doing so, particularly on offense. Devon Dampier is special and Wayshawn Parker is the same. While I do wonder if this defense is going to hold up against the best teams in the Big 12, the fact of the matter is that the Utes keep getting it done week in and week out at this point. And while it's another soft matchup with Colorado next week, get ready for a fun run with Houston, Cincinnati and BYU in their three following matchups.

11. UCLA Bruins

• Last Rank: 21
• Result: def. Oregon, 17-15
• Record: 5-0

While I understand that it was against Oregon’s backup quarterbacks, the fact of the matter is that UCLA was able to dominate most of the game on the road in Eugene. Had you told Bob Chesney that coming into the year, he’d be ecstatic. And let’s also not forget that Nico Iamaleava missed the second half with an injury. The Bruins defense is playing out of its mind and the rushing attack is good enough to keep them in most games. Don’t look now, but UCLA is dangerous and should be knocking on the door of the Top 10 now. 

No. 10-9

10. Texas Tech Red Raiders

• Last Rank: 11
• Result: Off
• Record: 5-0

Texas Tech has been imperfect to start the season — I don’t think anyone would reasonably deny that. The defense, however, does indeed look like a group that’s starting to round into a bit more form than we saw earlier in the year from a lot of new pieces trying to gel. But it’s Will Hammond and the offense that remain a big question. The good news for the Red Raiders is that they won’t have to face anyone among the class of the Big 12 until at least Halloween when Arizona comes to Lubbock. 

Hammond and the offense really just need to find an identity. More specifically, that identity needs to be holding onto the football. This defense is good enoguh to control most matchups they’ll see in conference play, but that’s harder to do if the offense puts them in disadvantageous spots. They have to be more conservative and less mistake-prone to achieve what they’re capable of.

9. Ole Miss Rebels

• Last Rank: 9
• Result: def. Vanderbilt, 52-17
• Record: 4-1

Ole Miss showed us on Saturday just how much Kewan Lacy changes the complexion of this offense. Yes, he only had seven touches in this game, but the offense was humming on all cylinders while on the road in Nashville. Vanderbilt has pulled back considerably from what they were last year, sure, but the Rebels treated the Commodores like they were, indeed, a vastly inferior team on the field as they completely ran them off of it. 

Trinidad Chambliss remains one of the Heisman frontrunners at this point and the Rebels continue to put together wins in a tough conference. Granted, the loss to Florida by margin looks worse than it did even last week now, but if Ole Miss continues playing to the level that they have against LSU and even in this win on Saturday, they’ll be able to hang with any of the other favorites in the SEC on any given Saturday. 

No. 8-7

8. Alabama Crimson Tide

• Last Rank: 6
• Result: lost to Georgia, 20-17
• Record: 5-1

Alabama fans will certainly want to talk about the officiating in the loss to Georgia, but the fact of the matter is that they didn't take advantage of enough mistakes in this game, nor did they come up with enough big plays. For the first time this season, Keelon Russell looked like a 19-year-old. That's not to say he didn't have moments of magnificence, because he absolutely did — he just had some poor moments that we haven't really seen from the young quarterback to this point.

Even still, I don't think anyone is going to come away from this game thinking that much less of Alabama. They were worse than Georgia on Saturday. If the two teams met again, that result could absolutely flip. But the Crimson Tide defense is still legit as they held Georgia to just 20 points in the loss and their offense has so much explosiveness in its own right. They're still a Top 10 team and the voters will certainly agree when the poll comes out.

7. BYU Cougars

• Last Rank: 8
• Result: def. Iowa State, 24-10
• Record: 5-0

On the one hand, Bear Bachmeier and Legend Glasker came up big for BYU’s offense late in the game when they weren’t having much success running the ball. And on that same hand, Iowa State might not be a good football team, but they are playing extremely spirited football and making life hard on every opponent. So there’s not a ton to completely discredit the Cougars and they have looked the part of a near-Top 10 team. 

At the same time, things continue to be a bit sloppy for BYU at times. You can potentially write that off with this one more than others, though, given that they have Notre Dame coming to Provo next week. The passing offense has flashed more and we know what the run game can be. The Irish are the first real test, no question, but BYU will need to put together a full 60 minutes to pass it, which is not something they did on Friday night.

No. 6-5

6. Indiana Hoosiers

• Last Rank: 7
• Result: def. Nebraska, 20-17
• Record: 6-0

Not everything was pretty for the Indiana Hoosiers as they went on the road to Lincoln this week, that’s for sure. At times, the offense was sputtering and Josh Hoover just seemed a bit too out of sync with the offense and the run game continues to be stop-and-go. Moreover, the defense also continued to have the unfortunate trend of looking dominant for one drive and a bit sloppy on others. 

And yet, Indiana went on the road and came out with a win over a good Nebraska team — in a spot that could be described as a lookahead game for some on top of that. It’s quite clear that the Hoosiers aren’t the world-beaters that we saw en route to a national championship last season, but they are still a very good team and quite clearly one of the top two teams in the Big Ten. We’ll find out if they’re No. 1 or 2 next week when it’s Ohio State on the docket.

5. Texas Longhorns

• Last Rank: 1
• Result: lost to Oklahoma, 27-24
• Record: 4-1

What the AP voters do with Texas after a loss in Red River is going to be fascinating. Based on the Sooners’ resumé, a loss to them is pretty close to a bad loss. But in a rivalry game in which the Longhorns simply were the better team that just kept shooting itself in the foot, that complicates the matter. What’s more, you still have to weigh the fact that Steve Sarkisian’s team does have wins over both Ohio State and Tennessee on the season. 

Ultimately, I think the head-to-head over the Buckeyes gets pushed aside and Texas drops into the lower half of the Top 10. However, the Longhorns’ margin for error just shrunk pretty noticeably. There are moments when Arch Manning and the defense look unbeatable, but there are too many lapses too often for a team with title aspirations. That has to get cleaned up with the gauntlet of a schedule looming with Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri and LSU as their next five games with no bye between them.

No. 4-3

4. Ohio State Buckeyes

• Last Rank: 5
• Result: def. Maryland, 45-16
• Record: 5-1

Jeremiah Smith is truly unstoppable. That term gets thrown around a ton in football, by myself included. But man, the Ohio State star truly fits the word to a tee with how he plays the position. He’s so explosive, so big and so difficult to stop. And it’s a button that the Buckeyes continue to push time and again when games are probably a bit closer than they should be, which is how this one was with Maryland on Saturday. 

Beating the Terps doesn’t really move me and this game was much closer for the majority of the action than the final score would have you believe. At the end of the day, though, Ohio State was able to pull away and get the job done emphatically. They’ll now be ahead of Texas in the rankings and should certainly be considered the clear favorite to win the Big Ten — though that can change quickly with a big test against Indiana looming next week.

3. Miami Hurricanes

• Last Rank: 4
• Result: Off
• Record: 5-0

Despite only being ranked fourth in the country, Miami is right up there with the best-looking teams in college football to this point. The Hurricanes had the week off on Saturday, which was absolutely needed. For how good this team has looked and for how healthy stars like Darian Mensah and Malachi Toney have been, Mario Cristobal needed a week to get his team at least a bit closer to 100 percent on the injury report, especially on defense. 

Based on what we’ve seen to this point as well, the Canes might actually have two weeks to do so. While next week’s matchup against Florida State is a rivalry game, that’s really in name only given the state of the Seminoles. We saw this week that anything can happen when those longstanding program stakes are involved, but Miami should be able to outclass them before getting into the real meat of the schedule.

No. 2-1

2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

• Last Rank: 3
• Result: def. Stanford, 58-7
• Record: 6-0

Notre Dame won another game with margin to move to 6-0 on the season. And yet, I still don’t know how good this team is. Beating Stanford means next to nothing and it was clear basically out of the gate that CJ Carr and the Fighting Irish were about to outclass the Cardinal in this matchup. That’s been the story for Notre Dame’s season thus far. The level of competition has been lacking, but to their credit, they’ve won with the margin they should in most of those matchups. 

But now, we’re about to see the Fighting Irish get tested. Not only do they have their first matchup against a ranked team next week, but it’s against a Top 10 team in BYU. On top of that, they also have to go on the road to Provo, a notoriously difficult place to play. We’ll learn a lot about the Irish in that regard, as we not only see how the elite defense holds up but also how the offense can acquit itself against playoff-caliber competition.

1. Georgia Bulldogs

• Last Rank: 2
• Result: def. Alabama, 20-17
• Record: 6-0

Georgia wasn't the highest-scoring team in the country on Saturday as they faced their realest test yet on the road in Tuscaloosa. But what this team did show was a ton of fight on both sides of the ball. The Bulldogs defense played one of the best games we've seen from that side of the ball in a few years to largely bottle up Keelon Russell, while Gunner Stockton, though imperfect, made some big-time throws while Dwight Phillips answered the call.

There were mistakes, no doubt, when it came to the Dawgs. They put the ball on the ground way too many times and were lucky to fall on them. They also had some poor and sloppy penalties that were costly, as well as Stockton making some bad decisions and throws. Yet, this team has the completeness to still hang with anyone in spite of that, and they look the part of the best team in college football.

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