What was advertised as an off weekend for marquee college football games ended up as one of the most impactful weeks of the season in terms of the rankings and College Football Playoff picture.
Clemson, Washington and Washington State all lost for the first time this season, and now face a climb back into the playoff picture with no margin for error along the way. San Diego State and Navy each tasted defeat for the first time as well, bringing the list of undefeated teams to eight: Alabama, Penn State, Georgia, Wisconsin, TCU, Miami, USF and UCF.
Auburn's loss at LSU makes the SEC West picture look less difficult for Alabama, and in surviving a thriller in the rain against Georgia Tech, Miami enters Week 8 as the top team in the ACC standings.
Alabama leads the top of the poll followed by Penn State at No. 2 and Georgia at No. 3. LSU was the biggest move up, gaining nine spots to land at No. 25 while Auburn fell 10 spots to No. 21.
Four of the top 10 teams in the Associated Press Top 25 poll lost this week, giving us one of the biggest changes week-to-week in the college football rankings since the start of the season.
Defending conference champions Clemson and Washington are no longer in the top five after losing to conference opponents on the road, but the spots that have opened up for teams below them are far from permanent with pivotal games between top teams coming in the next few weeks.
Penn State, now at No. 2, will will play against No. 19 Michigan, No. 6 Ohio State and No. 18 Michigan State in the next three weeks. No. 8 Miami has dates with No. 14 Virginia Tech and No. 13 Notre Dame in the next month. Sometimes the rankings get changed from unexpected upsets, but the battles between these top teams are going to have even more of an impact on the college football landscape.
Alabama is now the unanimous No. 1 team in the land after Clemson's loss and Georgia has moved into the top three followed by TCU at No. 4. Clemson remained in the top 10, falling to No. 7, while Auburn was one of the biggest movers in this week's rankings with an 11-spot drop to No. 21.
