BYU Projected No. 1 After Notre Dame Upset Caps Week 7 Chaos — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- BYU is projected to jump from No. 8 to No. 1 after beating then-No. 2 Notre Dame on the final play in Provo, extending their unbeaten run with a milestone win that vaults the Cougars to the top of the ballot
- Georgia falls from No. 1 to No. 4 after losing at home as a heavy favorite to unranked Auburn, a stunning drop for a team that held 66 first-place votes the prior week and still owns a road win at Alabama
- Tennessee moves from No. 14 to No. 10 after a 26-10 home win over Alabama, holding the Tide to season lows of 10 points and 101 total yards while DeSean Bishop ran for 159 yards and two scores
- Texas drops from No. 7 to No. 19 at 4-2 after blowing a lead in an upset loss at unranked Florida — their second straight defeat following a loss to Oklahoma — leaving the Longhorns' College Football Playoff hopes in serious jeopardy
- Florida returns to the rankings at No. 18 after the upset of Texas pairs with their Week 4 win against Ole Miss, giving the two-loss Gators a substantive résumé that lifts them back into the poll
- Alabama falls from No. 6 to No. 12 following the Tennessee loss — their second straight defeat — though a head-to-head win over now-No. 13 Kentucky likely prevents a steeper drop
- UCLA projects at No. 9, improving to 6-0 as the last undefeated Big Ten team with a 17-7 win at Wisconsin even with injured quarterback Nico Iamaleava sidelined
Why it matters: With four top-16 upsets and losses piling up on every team ranked No. 1 through No. 7 in a single day, the projected AP ballot — led by previously unheralded BYU at No. 1 — signals that this season's College Football Playoff race has been blown wide open before November, with Tennessee, UCLA and Florida crashing the conversation alongside the traditional powers.
Ask SkimNews
