College football rankings: Where will Alabama be ranked after struggling to beat USF?

The Alabama Crimson Tide suffered their first loss of the season last weekend against the Texas Longhorns by the score of 34-24. With that, Alabama tumbled down from the No. 3 spot in last week's AP Top 25 poll to No. 10.

Alabama went on the road this week to take on the South Florida Bulls. The team made a quarterback change, benching Jalen Milroe in favor of Tyler Buchner, who transferred to the program from Notre Dame to reunite with former offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. Would the luck change?

On Saturday, Alabama escaped with a narrow 17-3 victory over USF. Buchner, who completed just five passes for 34 yards on 14 attempts, was benched when the game returned from a weather delay in favor of Ty Simpson.

Yes, the Crimson Tide picked up the win, but they will undoubtedly drop in the next AP Top 25 rankings. But how far do they fall?

Projected college football rankings after Alabama narrowly beats South Florida

1. Georgia Bulldogs
2. Michigan Wolverines
3. Texas Longhorns
4. Florida State Seminoles
5. USC Trojans
6. Ohio State Buckeyes
7. Penn State Nittany Lions
8. Washington Huskies
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
10. Tennessee Volunteers
11. Utah Utes
12. Oregon Ducks
13. LSU Tigers
14. Alabama Crimson Tide
15. Oregon State Beavers
16. Ole Miss Rebels
17. Colorado Buffaloes
18. Oklahoma Sooners
19. North Carolina Tar Heels
20. Duke Blue Devils
21. Miami Hurricanes
22. Washington State Cougars
23. UCLA Bruins
24. Missouri Tigers
25. Kansas State Wildcats

Alabama finds itself in our rankings as the No. 14 ranked team. Top teams like Oregon and Tennessee have yet to play as of this writing. But, with this narrow win, it's hard to put Alabama ahead of any of them. Not to mention that Utah picked up a 31-7 win over Weber State, and LSU bulldozed Mississippi State 41-14.

Things can change in the late slate of games. The Tennessee Volunteers, for example, could get upset by the Florida Gators. Not to mention that the Texas Longhorns face off against the undefeated Wyoming Cowboys. As for Oregon, they play 1-2 Hawaii in what should be a win.

Regardless of what happens in the late slate, Alabama could find themselves falling in the rankings by Sunday.