Teams rise and fall in Week 7

As we recap the results of another impressive weekend of college football, we try to predict which teams will move up and down in the AP Top 25 rankings this week.

College football's top 25 voters are once again in a bind: Just a week after finding another new top team, they're looking for a new No. 1 team and ready to pick the top 5 for the to shake things up for the second time in a row.

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia single-handedly played a big role in how the AP's top 25 voters will cast their vote, as he scored two game-winning touchdowns in an SEC matchup that has big conference and national championship implications become.

This week's results will force voters to make some notable changes to their ballots, shaking things up again just six weeks after the start of the 2024 football season.

Which teams will be on the move when the new college football rankings are released this week?

This week's ranking: #1

Just seven days ago, the Crimson Tide jumped to No. 1 after an emotional home win over Georgia, but now they find themselves trending downward in the rankings after coming off the wrong end of one of college football's most remarkable upsets ever.

Vanderbilt has been the SEC's perennial punching bag for generations. It hadn't beaten Alabama since 1984, a 23-loss streak, and was 0-60 overall against the AP's top five teams.

That winning streak came to a shocking end when the Commodores defeated the Tide by a 40-35 margin.

Kane Wommack's defensive preparation is being questioned as his unit allowed several big winners, as is head coach Kalen DeBoer's overall strategy and the team's in-game execution amid mistakes, penalties and a lot of sloppy, thoughtless play.

There will be a lot to discuss on Finebaum this week.

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This week's ranking: No. 25 (tie)

Talk about a statement. A&M was already the first team to go 2-0 in SEC play, and after beating Missouri at home, it became the conference's first 3-0 squad.

The return of quarterback Conner Weigman played a role, throwing for 276 yards in his comeback from injury and leading an offense that rushed for more than 500 yards in a 41-10 win.

Le'Veon Moss ran for a career-best 138 yards and scored three touchdowns as the Aggies built a 24-0 halftime lead, and their stout defense held Mizzou to 2.3 yards per carry, 6 yards per pass and 5 of 15 on third down, and sacked quarterback Brady Cook six times.

Texas A&M has won five straight games since losing to Notre Dame in Week 1 and is heading into a schedule that could potentially put this team in the playoff discussion.

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This week's ranking: No. 9

“Revealed” will be the word used in college football to describe what happened to Mizzou, which had already come into this game on Fraud Alert.

There have been questions surrounding this team after its last two games, a narrow win against Boston College after coming from behind and then going into double overtime (and a missed field goal) to beat Vanderbilt.

Those questions now appeared to be answered in the negative as Missouri failed to generate offensive momentum and had no answers to Texas A&M's inspired rushing attack.

The AP's top 25 voters have a lot of confidence in Missouri and are in the mood to punish this team.

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This week's ranking: No. 23

For the second time ever, the Hoosiers are 6-0.

Working behind the third-best offense in the country, Indiana handled Northwestern on the lake, eclipsing the 40-point mark for the fifth time this season, rushing for more than 500 yards and not turning the ball over once.

Curt Cignetti has lit a fire in this offense, which has more than doubled its scoring output compared to last season, and quarterback Kurtis Rourke has thrown for 300 yards in his last four games.

Defensive? That's a different question, as the Hoosier tacklers allowed the Wildcats to pull off some notable winners.

Indiana will likely be overtaken by Texas A&M due to Texas A&M's big win, but should move up at least three spots after No. 22 Louisville lost its second straight game.

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— Nebraska had a solid 30 votes in last week's poll and should pick up some after prevailing behind a stout defense against an undefeated Rutgers team, but the offensive defense is a concern.

– SMU received 4 votes in the rankings last week and should gain a little more confidence after a big win over a ranked Louisville that brings the Mustangs to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in ACC play.

— Navy is a perfect 5-0 for the first time since 2017 after accumulating 329 yards on the ground in a big win over Air Force, the first leg of the Commander in Chief's Trophy series. The Midshipmen received 6 votes in last week's poll.

– Army received 6 votes last week and is 5-0 after defeating Tulsa. This is the first time since the legendary 1945 season that Army and Navy both started 5-0.

– Pittsburgh is 5-0 for the first time since 1991 after Eli Holstein rushed for a career-high 381 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for fourth place in a win over North Carolina. Holstein has 15 TDs and 3 picks and should help the Panthers get even more votes this week.

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More… When the new top 25 rankings appear

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