Illinois Fighting Illini. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Projecting the Week 7 AP Top 25 college football rankings after Alabama barely escaped Texas A&M, Ohio State, Tennessee and Georgia rolled and more.
Even with a number of teams in the AP Top 25 college football rankings having the week off, there was the potential for a lot of drama in Week 6 of the 2022 season. With the likes of Alabama, Tennessee, Utah and many, many more in potentially tricky matchups, there was a recipe for chaos.
In terms of actual upsets, there weren’t many. Kentucky lost without Will Levis to South Carolina, Washington wildly fell to Arizona State, Notre Dame toppled BYU and then UCLA beat Utah. But there were plenty of other close calls throughout the country that should get people thinking about the rankings.
So where do things stand now? Let’s check out the projected AP Top 25 college football rankings for the Week 7 poll.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 6: No. 25-21
25. Cincinnati Bearcats
For almost the entirety of the Bearcats’ matchup against South Florida, it looked as if Cincinnati was going to take their second loss of the year. But credit to Luke Fickell’s team and running back Charles McClelland in particular for rising to the occasion and providing the late touchdown to move the team to 5-1 on the season, which won’t drop them out of the Top 25.
24. Illinois Fighting Illini
Playing against Iowa is never going to result in a pretty game because that’s what the Hawkeyes want. When you then throw in an injury to Tommy DeVito for Illinois, it’s going to get uglier. But the Illini moved to an impressive 5-1 mark on the season now with the win over Iowa and has earned a spot in the Top 25 with the work they’ve put forth this season so far.
23. Baylor Bears
In all honesty, it’s hard to fault Baylor too much for the losses they’ve incurred so far this season. Yes, BYU might not be as good as they were previously thought to be, but the Cougars were much healthier and well-rested at the time. Meanwhile, the loss to Oklahoma State, a Top 10 team, could’ve gone their way too. The Bears were off on Saturday but they get a bump given the situations around them.
22. Utah Utes
While I’m not a huge fan of having two-loss teams ranked inside the Top 25, I’m not going to fault Utah for their two losses. They lost on the final play in the season opener against Florida and then fought valiantly on the road against an undefeated UCLA team. That’s nothing to scoff at and I’m willing to bank on the Utes bouncing back by keeping them inside the Top 25.
21. James Madison Dukes
It’s really a shame that James Madison made the jump to the FBS ranks this season, making them ineligible for both the Sun Belt title and a bowl game because the Dukes have been quite dominant. They moved to 5-0 on the season with a 42-20 win over Arkansas State and that undefeated record is enough to get them into the Top 25 where they belong.