CFN College Football Rankings: Week 7 Top 10
10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-1)
Last Week’s Ranking: 17
Week 7: OPEN DATE
Week 8 Opponent: USC
This ranking is a combination of things. To be consistent, it’s not fair to punish the Irish too much for that one loss to Cincinnati – even if it was at home. That, combined with Iowa being exposed and Michigan State struggling too much against Indiana, pushes the Irish into the top ten. The win over Purdue looks a whole lot stronger now.
9 Ohio State Buckeyes (5-1)
Last Week’s Ranking: 16
Week 7: OPEN DATE
Week 8 Opponent: at Indiana
This comes down the most basic of rankings questions – do you think this team would beat the teams ranked below it? The Buckeyes appear to be be fully charged and ready to rip through the second half of the season. But for now – as wrong as it might be – they have to be ranked behind …
8 Oregon Ducks (5-1)
Last Week’s Ranking: 15
Week 7: Oregon 24, Cal 17
Week 8 Opponent: at UCLA
It’s a philosophical thing here. Is Oregon playing like a top ten team? Not even remotely close. However, for the moment, the Ohio State win in Columbus remains one of the best wins by anyone this year – beaten only by Texas A&M’s takedown of Alabama.
7 Cincinnati Bearcats (6-0)
Last Week’s Ranking: 12
Week 7: Cincinnati 56, UCF 21
Week 8 Opponent: at Navy
The problem is that others are starting to come up with real wins over solid teams to keep moving past the Bearcats. The Notre Dame win in South Bend continues to be the one thing to hang the hat on, and there’s credit given for blasting Temple and UCF with ease. However, now things get a wee bit tough – at least, as challenging as it’ll get with this schedule – playing three of the next four on the road before facing SMU.
6 Ole Miss Rebels (5-1)
Last Week’s Ranking: 7
Week 7: Ole Miss 31, Tennessee 26
Week 8 Opponent: LSU
It might seem like the Rebels are renting space up this high, but 1) there’s no punishment here for losing at Alabama. 2) The Arkansas and Tennessee games were way too close, but 3) they were solid wins.
5 Michigan Wolverines (6-0)
Last Week’s Ranking: 3
Week 7: OPEN DATE
Week 8 Opponent: Northwestern
This is a courtesy ranking. The close call with Nebraska looks a whole lot worse now, the Wisconsin win doesn’t seem like any big deal, and beating Western Michigan and Northern Illinois – while solid – isn’t enough. Throw in the 20-13 struggle against a Rutgers team that hit a wall, and yeah, five may be a bit high.
4 Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-0)
Last Week’s Ranking: 13
Week 7: Oklahoma State 32, Texas 24
Week 8 Opponent: at Iowa State
The resumé is now getting too good to ignore. There might have been several close calls, but the Cowboys have road wins over Texas and Boise State, a win over a Kansas State team that pushed Oklahoma, and it handed Baylor its only loss with a 24-14 victory a few weeks ago.
3 Alabama Crimson Tide (6-1)
Last Week’s Ranking: 5
Week 7: Alabama 49, Mississippi State 9
Week 8 Opponent: Tennessee
No, this probably isn’t fair in our Respect the Results way of doing things, but it seems like the Texas A&M game might have woke everyone up. Throw in the dominant win over Ole Miss, and you’re not wrong to think this is the second-best team talent-wise.
2 Oklahoma Sooners (7-0)
Last Week’s Ranking: 4
Week 7: Oklahoma 52, TCU 31
Week 8 Opponent: at Kansas
Oklahoma would’ve been here even if Iowa had won. The Sooners still have to get stronger on defense, but the emergence of Caleb Williams has changed around the entire dynamic of the college football season. Now the OU O looks and works like it’s supposed to, and the upcoming dates with Kansas and Texas Tech should give the team time to sharpen things up even more.
1 Georgia Bulldogs (7-0)
Last Week’s Ranking: 1
Week 7: Georgia 30, Kentucky 13
Week 8 Opponent: OPEN DATE
Obviously there’s no other choice for No. 1 with a defense that has yet to allow more than 13 points and has ripped through everyone with ease since the 10-3 season-opening victory over Clemson. There’s still work to be done with three of the last five games away from Athens, but the Dawgs get two weeks off to get ready for Florida.
[protected-iframe id=”361699434b6d70baf15f631ed2408ac1-97672683-92922408″ info=”https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js” ]
CFN 2021 Rankings: Week 7
101-130 | 76-100 | 51-75 | 26-50 | 11-25 | Top 10
– Week 7 Scoreboard, Predictions For Every Game
Big Game Reactions: Purdue, Georgia, OU & more