UK & Ireland College Football Media Top 25 Rankings: Week 7

By Simon Carroll

If the AP or CFP committe can’t get it right, then perhaps we can!

Since the start of the 2022 season, some of the UK & Ireland’s most talented writers, content creators and students of the college game have combined to deliver their own weekly set of college football rankings. The UK & Ireland CFB Media Top 25 is announced every Monday evening, and today we can bring you the standings after Week 7. Buckle up – there’s a surprise or two!

2024 - Week 7

Graphic: Owain Jones (Twitter - @Owain_Jones_)
  1. TEXAS LONGHORNS (6-0, =)
  2. OREGON DUCKS (6-0, ↑1)
  3. PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (6-0, ↑1)
  4. MIAMI HURRICANES (6-0, ↑2)
  5. GEORGIA BULLDOGS (5-1, =)
  6. OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (5-1, ↓4)
  7. ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE (5-1, =)
  8. IOWA STATE CYCLONES (6-0, ↑2)
  9. LSU TIGERS (5-1, ↑5)
  10. CLEMSON TIGERS (5-1, ↑1)
  11. BYU COUGARS (6-0, ↑1)
  12. TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS (5-1, ↓4)
  13. NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (5-1, ↑2)
  14. TEXAS A&M AGGIES (5-1, ↓1)
  15. INDIANA HOOSIERS (6-0, ↑1)
  16. BOISE STATE BRONCOS (5-1, ↑2)
  17. PITT PANTHERS (6-0, ↑2)
  18. KANSAS STATE WILDCATS (5-1, ↑3)
  19. MISSOURI TIGERS (5-1, ↑3)
  20. OLE MISS REBELS (5-2, ↓11)
  21. ARMY BLACK KNIGHTS (6-0, NE)
  22. ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI (5-1, ↑1)
  23. SMU MUSTANGS (5-1, ↑2)
  24. NAVY MIDSHIPMEN (5-0, NE)
  25. NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS (5-1, NE)

*NE – New Entrant. Teams dropping out: Michigan, Oklahoma, Utah

TAKEAWAYS

Modest Movement Amongst The Ranks

My oh my. Some big games were on the slate this week, which in the new playoff format may or may not have lasting repercussions when it’s all said and done. But what a weekend of football! The Red River Rivalry saw Texas assert it’s dominance, Ohio State lost a dramatic duel with the Ducks in Autzen, and Penn State come back from the brink at USC. In a sport where drama comes as standard, Saturday somehow managed to take it to a new level.

Still. You’ll be pleased to know that the UK & Ireland media did not overreact simply to box scores, instead taking victories and defeats on their merits. For instance, the Buckeyes are still in the top six, a nod to how close they pushed Oregon in a tough away trip. Similarly, comfortable wins for BYU, Clemson and Boise State produced only modest bumps in their respective rankings. This is a committee that like to be impressed.

Conversely, if you don’t show up, you get punished. Tennessee won a thriller in a wild night in Knoxville, but their inability to despatch a poor Florida team with ease saw them drop four spots despite their victory. And Ole Miss, who have now lost two SEC games on the bounce, are lucky to be still ranked at all – the only program on the list to have more than one defeat to their name. It seems that falling eleven places was punishment enough.

Military Might

For the first time since 1960, both Army and Navy have been ranked. You can thank my good friend Oliver Hodgkinson for that little nugget of information. That is quite an incredible feat, considering the disadvantages those two military academies have when it comes to recruiting. I don’t know about you, but ‘pass up on any NIL opportunities, any semblance of traditional student life and come and serve in the armed forces for three years once you’ve finished playing football’ as a pitch doesn’t really do it for me.

Still. Here we are. Army dominated on the gridiron once again on Sunday, and rightfully move into the Top 25. I’m usually a small-school stan, but I’m a little more dubious about Navy’s inclusion, purely because they didn’t play last week. Regardless, we have two undefeated academies battling away for a chance to win their conference – and best of all, the traditional curtain call of the college football season, where these two play each other, won’t even be used when calculating the final CFP rankings. We couldn’t be looking at a pair of playoff teams battling it out for the Commander In Chiefs’ Trophy, could we?

Both these schools play Notre Dame in the next three weeks. Even if they both lose to the Fighting Irish, that’s a resume worth consideration. This new 12-team knockout has shaken up the college football landscape, and I’m here for it.

Conference Representation At A Glance

A new playoff format brings new rules, and until we’ve seen them in action it’s easy to forget what they actually are. Many assume that the top four spots go to the winners of the Power Four conferences. Not strictly so – if a winner of a Group of Five conference is ranked higher than that of one of the winners of the ACC Big Ten, Big Twelve or SEC, then they get the bye.

Now, obviously that won’t happen in the Big Ten or SEC. But what about the ACC or Big Twelve, where the competitive balance might bring about chaos? Not so this year on the Atlantic Coast, where Miami, Pitt and Clemson all look formidable. Whoever triumphs from that trio are bound to be higher ranked than any GO5 school. But the Big 12 is interesting. Sure, BYU and Iowa State are still undefeated. But it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that we have a three-loss champion come from that conference. And what then, say, if Army goes undefeated, or Boise runs the table from here on out? So far the UK & Ireland media have the following numbers represented from each conference:

SEC – 8

Big Ten – 6

ACC – 4

Big 12 – 3

American – 2

Mountain West – 1

Independent – 1

Improbable? Yes. Impossible? No. Here’s hoping for more chaos.

Players Of The Week:

Offense: Dillon Gabriel, QB, Oregon

Defense: Kyle Kennard, DE, South Carolina

Mock Draft

SIMON CARROLL

Lead Writer, Head Of Content

PREVIOUSLY THE FOUNDER OF NFL DRAFT UK, SIMON HAS BEEN COVERING COLLEGE FOOTBALL AND THE NFL DRAFT SINCE 2009. BASED IN MANCHESTER, SIMON IS ALSO CO-CREATOR & WEEKLY GUEST OF THE COLLAPSING POCKET PODCAST.

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