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

Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 7: No. 2-1

2. Michigan Wolverines

With so many huge point spreads on the board for Week 7, one had to wonder if there was an upset alert brewing in the Top 5. And immediately, it looked as if Indiana might shockingly put the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines on the ropes. The Hoosiers stopped J.J. McCarthy and Co. on their first two drives and, even after throwing a bad pick after a long drive, they still responded to take a 7-0 lead. Unfortunately for them, that might’ve been a wake-up call for the Wolverines. 

After falling behind 7-0, Michigan scored 52 unanswered points and didn’t allow the Hoosiers to hit the scoreboard again. In fact, Indiana had 136 yards on three first-quarter drives. They didn’t eclipse the 100-yard mark for the remaining three quarters. 

Michigan continues to look like a buzzsaw against subpar competition. They’ll go on the road to East Lansing for a rivalry contest against Sparty next week, but even that doesn’t look like much concern with the way Jim Harbaugh has this thing humming. 

1. Georgia Bulldogs

It was certainly not a banner day for the Georgia Bulldogs in Nashville. Vanderbilt shockingly delivered a punch to the mouth early with a 49-yard touchdown pass on the first drive of the game. Kirby Smart’s team eventually answered and ultimately found its stride, but there were plenty of stumbles to that point, including a pair of turnovers from Carson Beck. However, the biggest question moving forward might be regarding stud tight end Brock Bowers. 

The potential Heisman candidate left this game with a lower-leg injury. Smart said after the fact that X-rays were negative but he will undergo an MRI early in the next week to see where things stand. That would be a huge loss for the Dawgs right when they don’t need it. It was a middling performance after the first truly dominant showing of the season, which was the last thing the red-and-black-clad fans in Athens wanted to see from their team on the road.