College football rankings 2023: Projected Week 8 AP Top 25 after Notre Dame blasts USC, Washington prevails

Fans were expecting some sort of shakeup in the AP Top 25 college football rankings in Week 7 just based on the schedule. No one could've predicted the entire buffet of chaos that was delivered throughout Saturday, however.

The biggest results of the day were undoubtedly Notre Dame beating USC into oblivion in South Bend, ending the Trojans' perfect season, and Washington winning an absolute thriller in Seattle over Oregon. Beyond that, though, we also got Louisville getting clipped and taking its first loss of the 2023 season to Pitt -- one week after climbing into the Top 15 of the college football rankings -- UNC making a statement against Miami, Arizona blasting Washington State, and much more.

Once again, the AP Top 25 will be shaken up and we have the projections for the Week 8 college football rankings after a wild Saturday throughout the country.

Dropped out of Top 25 rankings: Washington State (19), Kansas (23), Kentucky (24), Miami (25)

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

25. UCLA Bruins

Yes, the Bruins are now a two-loss team. But ask yourself this: Would you take a UCLA team with arguably the best defense in the Pac-12 and an inexperienced young quarterback over whatever you want to call Iowa at the No. 25 spot? I suspect AP Top 25 voters will feel the same, so Chip Kelly’s team barely hangs onto a spot in the rankings. 

24. James Madison Dukes

It’s almost blasphemous that James Madison won’t be able to play in a bowl game this year due to archaic NCAA rules about a waiting period after making a leap from FCS to FBS. The Dukes blasted a good Georgia Southern team in Week 7 to move to 6-0 on the year as Jordan McCloud might be the best QB you don’t know about. They could be the best team in the Sun Belt and one of the best at the G5 level, and it’s a shame they won’t reap rewards from that. 

23. Tulane Green Wave

Tulane had to go on the road to Memphis on Friday night in a game that could go a long way in deciding the champion in the American, or at least a championship game representative. Michael Pratt’s return has been massively important for the Green Wave and that proved true in the big-time 31-21 win. Tulane still has just one loss on the year, which came against Ole Miss, proving they’re among the Group of 5’s best yet again. 

22. Missouri Tigers

I argued that Missouri deserved to be ranked over Kentucky last week. Now, I don’t have to make that argument as the Tigers went on the road to Lexington and made a statement against the Wildcats. It was a complete team effort as the defense forced multiple turnovers, Brady Cook scored twice, Cody Schrader had a nice day, and Mizzou just dominated the action. They might actually be the biggest SEC East threat to Georgia. 

21. Air Force Falcons

Air Force moved to 6-0 on the season with a gritty win over a really good Wyoming team in Colorado Springs on Saturday night. This was basically a battle for which Mountain West contender would end up ranked after Week 7 and it was the Falcons thanks to an electric game-winning TD from John Lee Eldridge III that got the job done. Don’t look now, but Air Force is trending toward a New Year’s Six game.