College football rankings 2023: Projected Week 9 AP Top 25 after Ohio State rolls Penn State, UNC upset

If someone tries to tell you that foresaw the college football upsets, or even the near upsets, that we saw transpire in Week 8, just know that they are absolutely lying. With all of the wildness that we witnessed for teams inside the AP Top 25 college football rankings, there’s no way that any rational human being saw it coming. 

Perhaps the most stunning result was previously the undefeated UNC Tar Heels getting upset by previously 1-5 Virginia in Chapel Hill, ending any sleeper College Football Playoff hopes for Mack Brown’s team. However, we also saw Ohio State bully Penn State, USC lose for the second straight week (and third straight time to Utah), Texas, Oklahoma and Florida State all flirt with upset disasters as Top 10 teams, and much, much more throughout the country. 

We’re most certainly entering crunch time with the last month and change of the 2023 regular season. And frankly, some teams are looking like they may well crack under the pressure. 

For now, though, let’s see how a chaotic Week 8 leaves the college football rankings as we dive into our projections for Sunday’s AP Top 25, the next-to-last rankings before the College Football PlayoffL Selection Committee gets involved. 

Dropped out of Top 25 rankings: USC Trojans (18), Iowa Hawkeyes (24)

Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 8: No. 25-21

25. Liberty Flames

Clemson, had they been able to make a statement against Miami, might've taken this spot. Instead, the still-unbeaten Liberty Flames get it. Kaidon Salter and Jamey Chadwell's team struggled early on Tuesday night against MTSU but continued to counterpunch whenever it was completely necessary. Salter is putting up huge dual-threat numbers and Liberty might well have a stranglehold on Conference USA moving forward.

24. Tennessee Volunteers

There was full consideration given to the possibility of dropping Tennessee out of the AP Top 25 rankings. With the other losses from fringe teams, though, the Vols luck out and drop only to No. 24. This defense that had impressed up to this week was taken advantage of in the second half by Alabama while Joe Milton continues to be a problem more than a solution. With games at Missouri and against Georgia still looming, don’t expect the Vols to end the season still ranked. 

23. Duke Blue Devils

Riley Leonard gutted out a high-ankle sprain he’s still dealing with to play on Saturday night at Florida State, but a penalized hit in the second half forced him out of action. That severely limited the Duke offense and allowed the Seminoles to take full control of the game, pulling away in the fourth quarter. Even still, the Blue Devils still deserve to be ranked. 

22. James Madison Dukes

If JMU isn’t ranked this week, we riot. While James Madison is (wrongfully) still ineligible for a bowl game due to a senseless rule regarding the move up from FCS to FBS that the Dukes made last year, this team is the best in the Sun Belt, which might be the best top-to-bottom Group of 5 league this season. They thoroughly dominated Marshall on Thursday night this week and remain unbeaten. Put simply, Jordan McCloud and the Dukes have earned your respect, and AP Top 25 voters need to give it to them. 

21. UCLA Bruins

Perhaps quite contrastingly to recent Chip Kelly teams at UCLA, the Bruins boast arguably the best defense in the country, but the issue has been the offense. But they took a step toward dispelling that against lowly Stanford this week. With Ethan Garbers replacing Dante Moore, the offense found big new life on Saturday night as the Bruins rolled easily to a five-score victory, 42-7, on the road over the Cardinal.