Tomorrow’s Top 25 Players showcase our college football rankings entering Week 8

Discussion at the top of College football The rankings gained another worthy challenger on Saturday when Indiana marched on Oregon State and handed the Ducks a stunning double-digit loss. Oregon State was previously in the mix — along with No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Miami — as a team worthy of consideration for the title of “best team in the country.” Voting points in last week’s AP Top 25 poll reflected that with a small margin between Ohio State in first place and Oregon in third place and then a relatively larger gap before reaching Ole Miss in fourth place.

Well, that top tier changed in Week 7, and the new college football rankings should reflect that with Oregon out but Indiana joining the new “best team in the country” debate.

While Indiana faces the same uphill battle from a perception standpoint that it has faced since Curt Cignetti began this incredible run, the win at Autzen Stadium was a change in perception. The Hoosiers looked to the line of scrimmage, a spot that had been their game-clinching Achilles heel after losses to Ohio State and Notre Dame last year, and dominated the game all afternoon.

The win was also historic. It was the first time in 46 tries that Indiana recorded a win over a top-five opponent in the AP on the road, and it should earn a rare program appearance in the top five for this team after the win.

In a further downgrade in the rankings, we expect Oklahoma to drop outside the top 10 and a return to the rankings for Arch Manning and Texas after beating the Sooners in Dallas. This, combined with a lot of changes towards the end of the polls, will highlight the major changes for Sunday’s new rankings release.

Here’s how to view the top 25 new AP care for Week 7:

1. Ohio State (last week – 1): The Buckeyes took care of business at Illinois, winning the program’s eighth straight game against an AP-ranked team.

2. Miami (2): The Hurricanes were off in Week 7 and will return to action Friday night against Louisville.

3. Indiana (7): Last season, the Hoosiers peaked at No. 5 in the AP Poll, and before that, their high was No. 4 in the final rankings for 1967 and 1945. If Indiana climbs to No. 3 and makes program history, it will be another sign of success for one of the best power conference turnarounds of the 21st century.

4. Texas A&M (5): Mike Elko is now 7-3 in his first 10 conference games as coach of the Aggies, who are now 6-0 on the year and once again on pace to be in the mix for the SEC Championship. The margin between Texas A&M and Ole Miss was slim last week, so there’s room for progress after a double-digit win over Florida.

5. Ole Miss (4): A slow start and inconsistent play led to Ole Miss having a tough battle with Washington State, which was nowhere near as expected. Next weekend’s game at Georgia will be one of the games with the biggest response, but some voters will start to pull the Rebels back a point or two.

6. Alabama (8): The massive effort to secure a hard-fought win on the road at Missouri was only matched by a slight bump in the rankings, mostly due to other teams losing. Alabama is still saddled with a season-opening loss to Florida State, but will continue to rally as long as they lead the way in the SEC title race.

7. Texas Tech (9): The Red Raiders have a dominant gear that can leave teams in the dust, and that doesn’t seem to matter to the opponent or setup. Texas Tech hit a couple of spikes against Kansas that left the feisty Jayhawks team chasing the game all night.

8. Oregon (3): The Ducks’ downfall is ultimately determined by the pecking order of one-loss teams. Unfortunately, for those comparing resumes, “winning big” at Penn State loses some of its value. However, losses to other top 25 teams provide a cushion for how far Oregon will fall.

9. Georgia (10): The Dawgs were trailing Auburn 10-0 and were on the verge of down 17-0 when Raylen Wilson spiked the ball from Jackson Arnold right at the goal line. The 20-0 run that followed allowed Georgia to improve to 5-1 on the year and stay inside the top 10.

10. LSU(11): The last SEC title hope that found itself in a tight game late, LSU moved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play with a low-scoring win over South Carolina.

11. Tennessee (12): As interim coach Bobby Petrino’s first opponent, Tennessee was unsurprisingly busy with Arkansas on Saturday. It was tough sandwich territory with Alabama on deck in Week 8, but the Vols overcame the Hogs for another one-score SEC win.

12.Georgia Tech (13): One of the best rushing attacks in the country racked up 268 yards on the ground and Georgia Tech cruised to a 15-point win over Virginia Tech.

13. Oklahoma (6): If voters are really picky, they’ll notice that Oklahoma’s resume took a hit with losses to both Michigan and Auburn on Saturday. But, ultimately, this is a matter of preference as to whether the Sooners are judged by their impressive 5-1 profile or left out when they lose to a previously unranked team.

14. Notre Dame (16): The Fighting Irish notched their 23rd straight home win against an ACC opponent, a streak dating back to 2016, in a 36-7 win over NC State. It’s the fourth straight win after starting the season 0-2 and the second straight game in which the defense was a star in the winning effort.

15. Brigham Young University (18): What an escape for the Cougars against Arizona. In a bizarre game that was delayed by weather and ultimately needed two overtime periods to settle. BYU trailed by 10 early in the fourth quarter but came back to force overtime and then came away with Bear Bachmeier’s game-winning touchdown in the second overtime period to improve to 6-0 on the season.

16. Virginia (19): The Cavaliers bowed out in Week 7 and will return to action next week against Washington State.

17. Vanderbilt (20): The Commodores were out in Week 7 and will return to action next week against LSU.

18. Missouri (14): The Tigers will be buoyed by their 5-1 record and performance against Alabama that proved this group is worthy of top-tier attention. With a similar profile to SEC foe Vanderbilt (both wins over South Carolina, a loss to Alabama and a non-conference Power Four win), somewhere in the range for the Commodores makes a lot of sense for a landing spot.

19. Texas (NR): The Longhorns beat Oklahoma, and there was no asterisk on whether or not their opponent had a star quarterback. The Texans, as a team, dug deep and won an ugly, low-scoring version of the Red Rivalry. Last week, the Longhorns finished 27th in points voting even without a win in the Power Conference, so I’m optimistic about where they can go with a top-10 win.

20. South Florida (24): Friday’s highly publicized showdown between USF and North Texas delivered on fireworks (99 points) but wasn’t quite as competitive as expected. The fact that the Bulls took a big stage and put 63 points on the board versus their peers will provide some momentum for voters to reconsider their place among the best in the country.

21. Memphis (23): The Tigers were out in Week 7 and will return to action next week at UAB.

22. Nebraska (NR): Last week, the Cornhuskers were significantly behind Cincinnati, but I think some of that will be adjusted on the ballots now that Nebraska will get more attention among the top 25 teams overall at 5-1. Some voters weren’t even thinking about Nebraska last week after Week 7, and this is where a head-to-head win against the Bearcats could send them into the top 25.

23. Cincinnati (NR): Last week, voters finished 26th in voting points with a very small margin separating No. 26 from No. 23, where Memphis was last week. Due to some changes at the end of the rankings, it will likely make it into the top 25 as Cincinnati improved to 3-0 in Big 12 play with a win over UCF.

24. University of Southern California (NR): The Trojans looked good on the big stage against a good opponent, endured more injuries and yet still delivered deep punches in what became a 31-13 win over Michigan. A loss to Illinois complicates some head-to-head debates at the end of the ballot, but a 5-1 record with a win over the Wolverines would certainly raise voting points.

25. Utah (NR): Now at 5-1, the Utes have a solid resume with the only loss to Texas Tech, which remains undefeated and looks worthy of a top-10 ranking. A 42-10 rout of Arizona State (even without the Sun Devils starting at midfield in the lineup) would give Utah enough attention to make the leap ahead of some other teams into the top 25.

He is expected to leave: No. 15 Michigan, No. 17 Illinois, No. 21 Arizona State, No. 22 Iowa, No. 25 Florida State