AP Top 25 – Week 7
| Rank | Team | Previous | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | Previous | Movement |
| 1 | Alabama (43) | 1 | – |
| 2 | Clemson (18) | 2 | – |
| 3 | Penn State | 4 | +1 |
| 4 | Georgia | 5 | +1 |
| 5 | Washington | 6 | +1 |
| 6 | TCU | 8 | +2 |
| 7 | Wisconsin | 9 | +2 |
| 8 | Washington State | 11 | +2 |
| 9 | Ohio State | 10 | +1 |
| 10 | Auburn | 12 | +2 |
| 11 | Miami | 13 | +2 |
| 12 | Oklahoma | 3 | -9 |
| 13 | USC | 14 | +1 |
| 14 | Oklahoma State | 14 | +1 |
| 15 | Virginia Tech | 16 | +1 |
| 16 | Notre Dame | 21 | +5 |
| 17 | Michigan | 7 | -10 |
| 18 | South Florida | 18 | – |
| 19 | San Diego State | 19 | – |
| 20 | NC State | 24 | +4 |
| 21 | Michigan State | NR | – |
| 22 | UCF | 25 | +3 |
| 23 | Stanford | NR | – |
| 24 | Texas Tech | NR | – |
| 25 | Navy | NR | – |
| Others Receiving Votes | Georgia Tech 39, West Virginia 26, Louisville 25, Utah 17, LSU 9, Florida 9, Kentucky 6, Iowa State 5, Texas A&M 4, Memphis 2 |
Another week and the “Curse of Number 3” befell the Oklahoma Sooners. Hosting the supposedly lifeless Iowa State Cyclones, who were down their starting quarterback Jacob Park, due to undisclosed personal health issue, the Cyclones upset the Sooners in Norman 38-31. The Sooners, who were the darlings of the Big 12 after their upset win over the Ohio State Buckeyes, jumped out early but failed to put away the pesky ‘clones. As a result, the Sooners fell the now “standard” 9 spots from #3 to #12.
The other top ten team to lose this week was the Jim Harbaugh-led Michigan Wolverines who lost their eighth game to “little brother” Michigan State Spartans. Mark Dantonio continues to be underrated as a head coach and gets less credit despite being 94-43 as a head coach at MSU. The Spartans enter the rankings this week at 21, four spots behind Michigan even though the Spartans now own a road victory over the Wolverines. Voters, I tell you what.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, whose victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels jumped 5 spots into the top 20. The Tar Heels, who fell to 1-5, managed just 265 yards against the Irish. Notre Dame had two rushers, Deon McIntosh and Josh Adams, both break 100 yards on 12 and 13 carries respectively.
USA Today Coaches Poll Week 7
| Rank | Team | Previous | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | Previous | Movement |
| 1 | Alabama (57) | 1 | – |
| 2 | Clemson (8) | 2 | – |
| 3 | Penn State | 4 | +1 |
| 4 | Washington | 5 | +1 |
| 5 | Georgia | 6 | +1 |
| 6 | Wisconsin | 8 | +2 |
| 7 | TCU | 10 | +2 |
| 8 | Ohio State | 9 | +1 |
| 9 | Washington State | 11 | +2 |
| 10 | Miami | 12 | +2 |
| 11 | Auburn | 13 | +2 |
| 12 | Oklahoma | 3 | -9 |
| 13 | USC | 15 | +2 |
| 14 | Oklahoma State | 14 | – |
| 15 | South Florida | 16 | +1 |
| 16 | Michigan | 7 | -9 |
| 17 | Virginia Tech | 19 | +2 |
| 18 | San Diego State | 21 | +3 |
| 19 | Notre Dame | 22 | +3 |
| 20 | NC State | 24 | +4 |
| 21 | Central Florida | 25 | +4 |
| 22 | Michigan State | NR | – |
| 23 | Utah | 18 | -5 |
| 24 | Navy | NR | – |
| 25 | Stanford | NR | – |
| Others receiving votes | Louisville 85, Georgia Tech 47, Kentucky 41, West Virginia 29, Texas Tech 29, Florida 23, Texas A&M 14, Troy 10, Memphis 9, LSU 9, Wake Forest 5, Virginia 5, Iowa State 4, Mississippi State 3, Iowa 3, South Carolina 3, Texas 2, Colorado State |
Over in the Coaches Poll, the Stanford Cardinals, who have two losses to ranked teams, re-enter the polls this week after taking down #18 Utah Utes in Salt Lake City. Utah dropped five spots to #23 this week after the home loss to unranked Stanford.
The Louisville Cardinals dropped out of the polls after their Thursday night loss to NC State Wolfpack. The Cardinals, behind reigning Heisman winner Lamar Jackson continue to be dangerous on offense but fail to give Jackson any real defense to go along with his exploits. As a result, Jackson remains one of the most electrifying players in college football but his teams record is likely pushing him out of contention for the 2017 Heisman.
The Florida Gators once again resemble a high school offense, managing barely 300 yards against the LSU Tigers. The Gators, who seemed to find themselves against Vanderbilt last week, didn’t show up against LSU and lost 17-16 in The Swamp. Florida joins West Virginia and Louisville outside the polls.