B/R Experts Week 7 College Football Rankings 2024
Next weekend's college football slate features some huge SEC showdowns, but the biggest game of the day in Week 7 was No. 2 Ohio State on the road against No. 3 Oregon in a clash for Big Ten supremacy.
The heavyweight clash lived up to the hype, with the Ducks pulling out a 32-31 victory.
The other headliner of the day was the annual Red River Rivalry between No. 1 Texas and No. 18 Oklahoma, and the Longhorns looked very much like the best team in the country in a 34-3 blowout. The Sooners offense was limited to just 236 yards, while Quinn Ewers had 199 passing yards and two total touchdowns in his return under center for Texas.
Meanwhile, No. 4 Penn State (33-30 over USC in OT), No. 7 Alabama (27-25 over South Carolina) and No. 8 Tennessee (23-17 over Florida in OT) each survived major scares to remain squarely in the projected College Football Playoff field, while No. 13 LSU knocked off No. 9 Ole Miss in overtime in what might was essentially an elimination game.
All of that left B/R's college football crew with plenty of work to do tweaking our weekly Top 25 rankings.
This week's panel included David Kenyon, Adam Kramer, Morgan Moriarty and Joel Reuter. A first-place vote was worth 25 points, a second-place vote worth 24 points and so on.
Top 25
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B/R Top 25
1. Texas
2. Oregon
3. Georgia
4. Ohio State
5. Penn State
6. Miami
7. Clemson
8. Alabama
9. Iowa State
10. BYU
11. LSU
12. Texas A&M
13. Kansas State
14. Notre Dame
15. Tennessee
16. Indiana
17. Missouri
18. Boise State
19. Ole Miss
20. Pitt
21. SMU
22. Army
23. Michigan
24. Arizona State
25. Navy
Who's Hot: Oregon's Case for No. 1 in the Nation
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The Texas Longhorns entered Week 7 in the No. 1 spot in the latest AP poll, and they made a convincing case to remain perched atop the college football world with a 34-3 blowout of No. 18 Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry.
However, the Oregon Ducks now belong squarely in that same conversation.
After starting Big Ten play with lopsided wins over UCLA and Michigan State, the Ducks faced their first major test of conference play and easily their biggest game of the regular season when they welcomed Ohio State to Eugene on Saturday night.
The game lived up to the lofty expectations that come with No. 2 and No. 3 in the nation facing off, and quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel (373 yards, 3 TDs) and Will Howard (339 yards, 3 TDs) both had big games through the air.
The Ducks kicked the go-ahead field goal with 1:47 remaining after an 11-play, 59-yard drive, but the Buckeyes still had ample time to put together a scoring drive of their own. They marched down to the Oregon 28-yard line, but an offensive pass interference sent them back 15 yards and the game ended up finishing in bizarre fashion.
With five seconds to play, Howard scrambled for a 12-yard gain, but didn't get down in time to stop the play and allow the Buckeyes to use their final timeout for a field goal attempt before time expired.
The Ducks improved to 6-0 with a win over the No. 2 team in the nation, and added to a resume that also includes a win over now-No .17 Boise State back in Week 2. They will likely still be slotted behind Texas when the latest AP poll is revealed on Sunday, but the gap has narrowed considerably.
Who's Not: Ole Miss' Playoff Hopes
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On a Saturday that featured plenty of overtime action, it was only fitting that the SEC nightcap between No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 13 LSU would require extra time.
LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier capped off a 13-play, 75-yard drive with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Anderson to tie things up a 23-23 with 27 seconds remaining in regulation.
Ole Miss started with the ball in overtime, and after moving backwards 15 yards on a pair of penalties, Caden Davis drilled a 57-yard field goal to put the pressure on the Tigers to counter with points of their own.
It took Nussmeier just one play to hit Kyren Lacy with the game-winning touchdown, and with that the Tigers remain very much alive in the College Football Playoff picture.
On the other hand, the Rebels face a daunting uphill battle if they want to sneak into the 12-team field. They now have two losses after getting upset by unranked Kentucky in Week 5, and they still have to face Oklahoma (Oct. 26), Georgia (Nov. 9) at home, as well as far-from-easy road games against Arkansas (Nov. 2) and Florida (No. 23).
They will need to run the table and hope a few other things break in their favor if they are going to have any shot of sneaking into the playoffs.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
What's Next
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The impact of next week's SEC schedule will be felt across the college football landscape, as four College Football Playoff contenders clash in two of the highest profile games of the entire season.
In the afternoon slate, Alabama travels to Knoxville to take on Tennessee as both teams try to avoid picking up a second loss after each lost their first game of the season to unranked opponents in Week 6.
That will be followed by another heavyweight clash between Georgia and Texas in Austin, with a win by the Longhorns making them the clear No. 1 team in the conference, while a loss would leave the Bulldogs and the winner of the early game on even footing with one loss each.
Two other playoff contenders face tough road tests, with Miami facing arguably its toughest remaining game at Louisville, while Notre Dame takes on a Georgia Tech team that has wins over Florida State and Duke on its resume.
An intriguing matchup between disappointing Michigan and an upstart Illinois in Champaign is the headliner of Big Ten action, while Nebraska will look to hand an undefeated Indiana squad its first loss of the year.
If you're a fan of a good passing attack, keep an eye on the AAC matchup between North Texas at Memphis. Mean Green quarterback Chandler Morris (1,643 yards, 16 TD) and Tigers quarterback Seth Henigan (1,339 yards, 7 TD) can sling it as well as any mid-major quarterbacks in the nation.
See you all next Saturday!
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
