For the first time in program history, Vanderbilt knocked off the nation’s No. 1 team, a stunning 40-35 victory over Alabama. Coming off the win over Georgia, the Crimson Tide struggled to match the Commodores’ physicality in Nashville and had no answers for quarterback Diego Pavia, whose pair of touchdown passes fueled the biggest SEC upset in several years.
Alabama’s setback tripped a chain reaction of unexpected results as five of the top-11 teams in the country suffered losses, including previous unbeatens Missouri and Tennessee. The Vols stubbed their toe at Arkansas, marking Sam Pittman’s first-career win over a to-five opponent. Texas and Ohio State have arguments for the top spot in the poll after the Buckeyes trounced Iowa and the Longhorns received 19 first-place votes last week and spent their open date preparing for Oklahoma.
All of these games have significant College Football Playoff and conference championship significance, but in the expansion era, rebounding from a loss is vitally important given the margin for error.
RELATED: College football’s contenders and pretenders this season
Here are the projected rankings for the Week 7 AP Poll following a series of stunning upsets:
Saturday’s result: Open
The Red River Rivalry is next week for the Longhorns, who know a win over Oklahoma is necessary to continue their march toward the SEC championship and playoff. A win could put the Longhorns on a path to a much-needed run of success in the series with Sooners winning 11 of the last 15 meetings. As Steve Sarkisian mentioned during his weekly news conference, the best Red River experiences involve bringing the Golden Hat back to the Forty Acres more often than not in the coming years.
“The best way to enjoy and experience a rivalry game is to prepare really well because the people that get caught up in the game on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday miss the preparation, and then you don’t play very good and then you get your butt kicked and then you think, ‘Man, this was a terrible experience,'” Sarkisian said. “If you want a good experience, we’ve got to make sure we prepare really well so that we can enjoy the experience because we’re playing good football.”
Saturday’s result: Beat Iowa, 35-7
Freshman Jeremiah Smith’s one-handed touchdown catch in the third quarter opened the floodgates for the Buckeyes, who scored four times coming out of halftime to pull away from the Hawkeyes. Ohio State battles unbeaten Oregon next week on the road, one of several ranked showdowns that highlight college football’s Week 7 schedule. The winner moves to top dog in the Big Ten and almost assures itself of a playoff berth, given the stakes.
Saturday’s result: Beat Auburn, 31-13
Two touchdown passes from Carson Beck were more than enough for the Bulldogs in their bounce-back effort against Auburn. Georgia plays Texas in two weeks and still has a trip to Ole Miss on the slate along with a home bout with Tennessee. Given the remaining schedule, if Georgia gets to 10 wins, Kirby Smart’s team will be one of the SEC’s playoff representatives.
Friday’s result: Beat Michigan State, 31-10
Dillon Gabriel overcame two first-half interceptions with a couple touchdowns, Jordan James rushed for 166 yards and the Ducks stymied Michigan State’s offense. The Spartans scored the game’s final 10 points midway through the fourth quarter, but had a critical turnover at the 1-yard line early in the game that seemed to swing momentum to the Ducks. Oregon hosts unbeaten Ohio State next week for one of the Big Ten’s most important games of the year.
Saturday’s result: Lost to Vanderbilt, 40-35
The Crimson Tide falls from the No. 1 spot, but how many places? Trailing Vanderbilt on the road by double-digits most of the afternoon was a tough look for a team coming off its win over Georgia, but college football’s unpredictability is part of what makes the sport great. Kalen DeBoer was never going to get the same level of effort from his team after that emotional victory over the Bulldogs. The Commodores were the better team.
Saturday’s result: Beat UCLA, 27-11
The Nittany Lions held the Bruins to 260 total yards — most of those coming on UCLA’s final possession — and won their second Big Ten game. Next week, Penn State heads to the West Coast to battle USC, an opportunity to charge ahead in the conference title race going into its mid-October open date. Drew Allar threw for 237 yards and a touchdown in Saturday’s game, but Penn State struggled to get anything going in the ground attack.
Saturday’s result: Beat California, 39-38
Miami erased a 25-point deficit in the second half to stay unbeaten. The Hurricanes scored the go-ahead touchdown with 26 seconds to play. Miami showed chinks in the armor last week against Virginia Tech and some of those errors resurfaced on the West Coast, but Miami lived to see another day. Cam Ward’s interception in the third quarter that was returned for a touchdown pushed the deficit to 25 points, but that’s when the comeback started.
Saturday’s result: Lost to Arkansas, 19-14
Malachi Singleton’s 11-yard touchdown run with 1:17 remaining downed the Vols, giving Sam Pittman the biggest win of his tenure at Arkansas. Tennessee was the fourth top 10 team to go down in Week 6, joining Alabama, Missouri and Michigan. The Vols had a golden opportunity to move into the top three after Vanderbilt’s upset of the Crimson Tide, but Tennessee failed to deliver on the road.
Saturday’s result: Beat South Carolina, 27-3
In need of an impressive showing after losing their first game of the season, Ole Miss handled South Carolina from start to finish on the road. Defensive tackle JJ Pegues punched in a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs and Ole Miss put together its best defensive effort of the season against a Gamecocks squad that was coming off an open week and confident at home. Up next for the Rebels is a date with Ole Miss in Week 7.
Saturday’s result: Open
LSU returns to SEC play against Ole Miss, a potential playoff elimination game of sorts for the Rebels and a major opportunity at home for Brian Kelly’s squad. LSU has not lost since the season opener against USC and found an explosive player in freshman running back Caden Durham. He comes off a blockbuster outing against South Alabama and looks to be RB1 moving forward in Baton Rouge.
Saturday’s result: Open
Notre Dame’s obvious goal is to win out and get to the College Football Playoff, but another loss would end that hope. The Fighting Irish still have to play unbeatens Navy, Army and take on USC in the regular-season finale. Those are the “big three” that stand int he way of this team getting to the 12-team playoff. After taking out Louisville last week, Notre Dame spent extra time in the film room during its open date ahead of Stanford.
Saturday’s result: Beat Missouri, 41-10
The Aggies make a notable surge in Sunday’s new rankings after dominating previously-unbeaten Missouri. It puts the Aggies at the top of the SEC standings and inside the playoff picture, too. Thanks to 138 yards and three touchdowns from Le’Veon Moss, Texas A&M had its way with the Tigers at the line of scrimmage and averaged nearly seven yards per carry on the ground. Texas A&M built a 24-point lead at halftime and never looked back in Mike Elko’s signature win thus far in his first season.
Saturday’s result: Beat Florida State, 29-13
Behind a pair of touchdown passes from Cade Klubnik and Phil Mafah’s 154 yards on the ground, Clemson handled Florida State in Tallahassee to stay unbeaten in ACC play. The Tigers, who jumped out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter, managed 500 yards of total offense and yielded just 250. Under Mike Norvell, the Seminoles are now 1-5 and bowl hopes are essentially over. Clemson will move up in Sunday’s new poll.
Saturday’s result: Beat Baylor, 43-21
The Cyclones sit pretty as a Big 12 unbeaten and control their own destiny in the College Football Playoff picture after a thrashing of Baylor. There are still several big-time games against top 25 competition during conference play, but a few of this team’s toughest games are already behind them, namely Iowa in the non-conference.
Saturday’s result: Open
BYU stays put this week as the projected Big 12 champion within a league that’s been anything but predictable this season. Arizona is in great shape early after beating Utah on the road and you can go ahead and take Oklahoma State out of the title picture since the Cowboys have suffered consecutive conference losses. There’s a string of teams alongside of BYU — namely Colorado and Texas Tech — who also have multiple league wins.
Saturday’s result: Lost to Texas A&M, 41-10
Missouri’s College Football Playoff hopes took a hit in a game that was never competitive in College Station. After consecutive narrow wins over Boston College and Vanderbilt, Missouri’s first road trip of the year went awry early and the Tigers’ offense never got on track against a constantly-attacking front seven from the Aggies. Missouri tumbles out of the top 10 and could land outside the top 20.
Saturday’s result: Open
Brent Venables will do everything he can to shut down Texas in next week’s Red River Rivalry showdown to highlight a robust Week 7 slate. Oklahoma erased a double-digit deficit at Auburn last week thanks to an interception return for a touchdown from Kip Lewis. Next week’s matchup marks Michael Hawkins Jr.’s second career start and the biggest moment of his young career with the Sooners. A win over Texas would push Oklahoma back near the top 10.
Saturday’s result: Lost to Minnesota, 24-17
USC’s stay at No. 11 in the AP Poll will be short-lived after an inexcusable road loss to Minnesota. Quarterback Max Brosmer scored on three short runs for the Gophers, who took the lead for good with 56 seconds left to cap a 12-play, 75-yard drive that spanned 5:13 of game time. Trojans star Miller Moss tossed two interceptions and USC spoiled a big outing from tailback Woody Marks, who galloped his way to 134 yards. Minnesota ballcarrier Darius Taylor bested Marks with 144 yards.
Saturday’s result: Lost to Washington, 27-17
Michigan’s Big Ten winning streak is over and so is the Wolverines’ shot at being in the top 10 this season unless something drastically changes. During a rematch of last season’s national championship game, Sherrone Moore’s squad lacked big plays in the passing game away from Ann Arbor and will tumble in the updated rankings. The loss to the Huskies was critical to conference title hopes too given the number of Big Ten unbeatens after Week 6.
20. Kansas State Wildcats (4-1)
Saturday’s result: Open
21. Boise State Broncos (4-1)
Saturday’s result: Beat Utah State, 62-30
22. SMU Mustangs (5-1)
Saturday’s result: Beat Louisville, 34-27
23. Indiana Hoosiers (6-0)
Saturday’s result: Beat Northwestern, 41-24
24. Nebraska Huskers (5-1)
Saturday’s result: Beat Rutgers, 14-7
25. Army Black Knights (5-0)
Friday’s result: Beat Tulsa, 49-7
Dropped from rankings: UNLV, Louisville
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