College Football 2023: B/R's Top 25 Rankings After Week 7
The Pac-12 heavyweight clash between undefeated Washington and undefeated Oregon lived up to the hype on Saturday, with Michael Penix Jr. and the Huskies emerging victorious and raising their national profile in the process.
Meanwhile, College Football Playoff hopefuls Michigan, Ohio State, Florida State and Penn State won by a combined 197-17 margin as the gap between defending champion Georgia and the rest of the nation's top-tier teams has all but vanished.
With four different matchups of ranked teams and a handful of upsets at the bottom half of the rankings, there was plenty of opportunity for shuffling across the college football landscape this weekend.
Here's how Bleacher Report's college football writing staff—David Kenyon, Adam Kramer, Morgan Moriarty, Joel Reuter and Brad Shepard—view the top 25 teams in the nation after Week 7 action:
1. Michigan
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
T-4. Oklahoma
T-4. Washington
6. Penn State
7. Florida State
8. Texas
9. North Carolina
10. Oregon
11. Alabama
12. Ole Miss
13. Utah
14. Duke
15. Oregon State
16. Tennessee
T-17. Notre Dame
T-17. USC
19. LSU
20. Missouri
21. Louisville
T-22. UCLA
T-22. Air Force
24. James Madison
25. Tulane
Editor's note: There was an issue with our rankings doc last night that accidentally omitted Duke from the final cumulative rankings. That issue has been corrected and they are now in the spot they were originally voted to fill when ballots were submitted.
Who's Hot: The Top Contenders to Dethrone Georgia Flex Their Muscles
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The No. 1-ranked Georgia Bulldogs ran their FBS-leading winning streak to 24 games on Saturday, but it was a closer-than-expected game once again as they picked up a 37-20 victory on the road against Vanderbilt in a game where they were 32.5-point favorites.
The Bulldogs played close games against South Carolina (24-14) and Auburn (27-20) during their 7-0 start to the season. It's still fair to call the defending champs the team to beat this year, but the leading contenders to bump them from their throne all put on a show on Saturday.
- No. 2 Michigan 52, Indiana 7
- No. 3 Ohio State 41, Purdue 7
- No. 4 Florida State 41, Syracuse 3
- No. 6 Penn State 63, UMass 0
While No. 5 Oklahoma was idle this week, the Sooners made perhaps the biggest statement of any team in the contender field last week with a victory over Texas in the Red River Rivalry.
With Ohio State and Penn State set to collide next weekend, Florida State playing host to a talented Duke team, and Michigan facing a rivalry game against Michigan State, the College Football Playoff picture could shift dramatically next Saturday.
For now, the gap between Georgia and everyone else looks closer than ever, and the Bulldogs have a tough matchup of their own on the horizon as they travel to Jacksonville to take on Florida in Week 9.
Who's Not: A Major Blow to Caleb Williams' Hopes of Repeating as Heisman Winner
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USC quarterback Caleb Williams entered Saturday night's matchup against Notre Dame as the Heisman Trophy favorite after racking up 1,822 passing yards with a 71.7 percent completion rate, 22 touchdowns and only one interception during the team's 6-0 start to the year.
By halftime, his odds had shifted dramatically.
The Trojans trailed 24-6 at halftime after Williams threw three interceptions for the first time in his career, and the Fighting Irish turned those three giveaways into 21 points.
He finished 23-of-37 passing with 199 yards and one touchdown against those three interceptions, and USC suffered its first loss of the year in a lopsided 48-20 game that will likely send it tumbling down the AP poll.
That performance came in stark contrast to fellow Pac-12 standout Michael Penix Jr., who threw for 302 yards and four touchdowns in a huge 36-33 victory over Oregon earlier in the day to move to the front of the pack.
Fun Fact: A Historic Matchup of High-Powered Pac-12 Offenses
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The Pac-12 has dominated the headlines through the first half of the 2023 college football season, and while USC star Caleb Williams entered Week 7 as the biggest name at the quarterback position, Michael Penix Jr. (Washington) and Bo Nix (Oregon) were generating plenty of national attention of their own.
The stats entering Saturday's game make it easy to understand the hype:
- Penix: 133-of-178, 1,999 yards, 16 TD, 2 INT
- Nix: 131-of-163, 1,459 yards, 15 TD, 1 INT
With those two experienced quarterbacks at the helm, Oregon (51.6 PPG) and Washington (46.0 PPG) ranked second and third, respectively, in scoring offense heading into their head-to-head clash on Saturday afternoon.
That alone was enough to make history before the opening kickoff.
The game lived up to the hype and the two offenses both delivered plenty of big plays, with 931 yards of total offense and 69 total points on the board, and both quarterbacks had strong individual games.
- Penix: 22-of-37, 302 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT
- Nix: 32-of-43, 312 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
In the end, it was Washington that came out on top in a 36-33 thriller. Penix hit star wide receiver Rome Odunze for an 18-yard touchdown strike with 1:38 left in the fourth quarter, and Oregon kicker Camden Lewis missed a 43-yard field goal as time expired that would have sent the game to overtime.
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Looking Ahead: College Football Playoff Implications in the Big Ten
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Will the Big Ten Conference occupy two spots in this year's College Football Playoff?
With Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State all off to undefeated starts and ranked in the Top 10, it's not out of the realm of possibility, but something has to give for one of those teams next Saturday when Ohio State and Penn State face off in the marquee matchup of the week.
It will also be a busy weekend in a wide-open ACC race. Undefeated Florida State has a tough home game against one-loss Duke, while North Carolina will look to continue climbing the rankings in a game where it will be heavily favored against Virginia.
The biggest game in the SEC is Tennessee vs. Alabama, and while that game doesn't carry the same weight it might have if both teams didn't suffer early losses, it's still a clash of ranked opponents.
That game is joined in the afternoon slate by a Pac-12 showdown between Washington State and Oregon as teams continue to jockey for position in a conference loaded with ranked teams.
The evening lineup is highlighted by a rematch of last year's Pac-12 title game, with Caleb Williams and USC playing host to a ranked Utah team. The Utes won a lopsided 47-24 game in that last matchup, with Williams throwing for 363 yards and three touchdowns in the losing effort.
Buckle up for another exciting week of college football action!
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