College football rankings 2023: Projected Week 7 AP Top 25 after Oklahoma stuns Texas, Georgia routs Kentucky

Whether we’re ready for it or not, chaos always wins in college football. And if you were a team inside the AP Top 25 college football rankings coming into Week 6, you definitely learned that the hard way on Saturday. 

Of the seven Top 10 teams in action on Saturday, two were upset: the previously No. 3 Texas Longhorns and previously No. 10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Granted, both losses came against ranked opponents in Oklahoma and Louisville, respectively, but it was still a tough scene. And that wasn’t where the upsets stopped as four more ranked teams also fell on Saturday. 

So what will the AP Top 25 college football rankings look like after all of this madness in Week 6? Let’s take a look at our projections for the poll that will be released on Sunday afternoon. 

Dropped out of Top 25 rankings: Miami (17), Kentucky (20), Missouri (21), Fresno State (24)

Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 6: No. 25-21

25. Air Force Falcons

Air Force hasn’t exactly played the best of competition to this point, but the Falcons have also run through the opening stretch of their season at 5-0. They’re one of a few teams who didn’t play in Week 6 with an off day that will be able to crack the AP Top 25, but they will get a test right out of the gate next week as they face off with a highly talented Wyoming team next week. 

24. Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin handled its business on Saturday against Rutgers, as you’d have hoped the Badgers would. Luke Fickell’s team is far from perfect as the offense has been maddeningly inconsistent so far this year, but their one loss to Washington State in Pullman looks far less damning than it did in the moment, which allows Wisconsin to climb into the Top 25. 

23. Tulane Green Wave

Tulane only has one blemish on their record through the first five games in the season, a 17-point loss to a Top 20 Ole Miss team when quarterback Michael Pratt was unable to play. The Green Wave were off in Week 6, but they’ll be back in action on Friday night against Memphis. Even with the idle week, though, it feels like Tulane has earned enough goodwill that they can climb back into the AP Top 25. 

22. LSU Tigers

Something has to get figured out with this LSU defense because, for as good as Jayden Daniels and the Tigers offense is, sustaining a style of play wherein this team gets into a shootout basically every week is not a recipe for success. They survived this week to beat Missouri in a ranked-on-ranked matchup, but giving up nearly 40 points yet again still doesn’t inspire much confidence in LSU moving forward. 

21. UCLA Bruins

It’s hard not to look back on the flat performance Chip Kelly’s team put forth against Utah and not think it was a tremendous missed opportunity for UCLA this season. After knocking off Washington State this week, the Bruins are clearly a talented and well-coached team that can compete at least near the upper echelon of the Pac-12. Unfortunately, already having one loss against them won’t do the Bruins any favors.