College football rankings 2023: Projected Week 7 AP Top 25 after Oklahoma stuns Texas, Georgia routs Kentucky
- Oklahoma turned the Horns Down in Texas' dream of perfect season
- Georgia, Michigan showed exceptionally dominant form
- Louisville ended all of Notre Dame's hopes, keep their own alive
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 6: No. 15-11
15. Ole Miss Rebels
Ole Miss continues to be one of the most difficult teams in the country to ultimately figure out. The Rebels won the thriller against LSU last week, and then followed that up this week by messing around with a middling Arkansas team and needing two scores in the fourth quarter to secure the 27-20 victory. It remains to be seen if Lane Kiffin’s team is actually one of the 15 best in college football, but they’ll be ranked as such after this week.
14. Oregon State Beavers
Yes, Oregon State is coming in ranked ahead of Wazzu despite losing the head-to-head matchup and having the same record. No, I don’t believe that makes sense – but if we’re projecting the AP Top 25, it just seems like the most likely outcome. Regardless, Oregon State found itself in a pretty surprising shootout with Cal on the road. However, after the Golden Bears cut the lead to just three, DJ Uiagalelei and the Beavers got right with 17 unanswered points, which was enough to secure a double-digit victory in the end.
13. Louisville Cardinals
Louisville is for real. Make no mistake, I was labeling Jeff Brohm’s team as fraudulent coming into their primetime matchup at home against Notre Dame – and they made that take look completely ridiculous. The Cardinals offense relied heavily on the rushing attack but it was the defense that really stood out, picking off Sam Hartman three times and stifling Audric Estime to boot. Louisville deserves a major leap in the rankings after that performance.
12. North Carolina Tar Heels
Devontez Walker is freed and he played a role in UNC completely demolishing Syracuse in Chapel Hill on Saturday. Drake Maye found his new weapon for six catches and 43 yards, but the QB had a monster day with 442 passing yards with three touchdowns in addition to 55 rushing yards and another score. The Orange aren’t a fearsome offense, but with how the Tar Heels offense is cooking and the defense looking improved, they loom as a viable sleeper.
11. Alabama Crimson Tide
It definitely wasn’t pretty from Alabama as they went on the road to College Station on Saturday afternoon, but they got the win by any means necessary. Jalen Milroe found some juice with Jermaine Burton, but the story of the Crimson Tide was the defense. That side of the ball made life extremely difficult for Max Johnson, which was all they needed to do in order to secure the 26-20 victory.