College Football Rankings 2015: AP, Amway Standings Revealed for Week 7 Polls

As the college football season nears its halfway point, one thing has become abundantly clear: the College Football Playoff committee again looks set to create a few angry mobs out of some elite teams' fan bases this year.

Ten of the top 11 teams in the both the new Amway Coaches and Associated Press polls sport undefeated records. However, tough conference matchups loom.

A bunch of those teams are going to pick up a loss at some point. Ohio State ends the year with a double-dose of trouble in Michigan State and Michigan, while Baylor and TCU also face off toward the end of the year. On Oct. 31, Clemson has to take on Florida. Unless four elite teams make it through the season unscathed, there is going to be another big debate about which squads have had "better losses" this season.

Week 6 saw five Associated Press top-25 teams come away with losses, so there was bound to be a few shakeups heading into Week 7. The biggest upset was perhaps lowly Texas' 24-17 win over then-No. 10 Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry game.

Here are the latest Associated Press and Amway standings, as well as Bleacher Report's own take on the college football landscape.

When it seems like all the attention is on quarterbacks, spread offenses and eye-popping point totals—looking at you, Baylor, this year's kings of the ludicrously lopsided blowout win—it's nice to see two teams rocketing up the standings thanks to heroic running back play and smash-mouth, clobbering defense.

LSU is rising in the polls thanks to the talents of one Leonard Fournette, who racked up 158 rushing yards in a 45-24 win over South Carolina. He crossed the 1,000-yard threshold on an 87-yard scoring run, making him the fastest LSU back to reach the mark and knotting him up with nine other players for quickest to the total, per CBS Sports' Robby Kalland.

Bleacher Report has video of his big run: 

How awesome is Fournette? He's getting the all-powerful NCAA to bend its rules, via the Advocate's Ross Dellenger: 

The fact that this has for the most part been accomplished without the Bayou Bengals putting together anything remotely resembling a competent passing game makes it even more astonishing. LSU quarterback Brandon Harris has just 610 passing yards and four touchdowns this year.

This unbalanced offense might be a problem for LSU at some point. Then again, it might not matter if Fournette keeps running like he's Bo Jackson in yellow and purple.

As for the squad doing the rankings climb on the back of an astounding defense, look no further than Cal. Just kidding, it's totally Michigan, which notched its third consecutive shutout in a 38-0 win over previously undefeated Northwestern on Saturday.

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

Jim Harbaugh has quickly worked wonders in his first year with the Wolverines. So far this year, his team has allowed a measly 31 points through six games. En route to a dismal 5-7 record in 2014, Michigan gave up 35 points in just the first six quarters of the year.

Writer John U. Bacon was impressed with the pass rush against Northwestern: 

USA Today's Nicole Auerbach passed along a couple of insights on what makes this elite defense tick: 

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Coordinator D.J. Durkin's defense is the focal point; a healthy Jabrill Peppers is its crown jewel, tormenting any team that dares to run the option or any sort of pitch-and-catch plays, like Northwestern tried (and failed at) on Saturday. This defense focuses on doing all the little things right to execute its game plan 'as perfect as possible,' as Peppers put it.

That's crisp tackling. That's getting into backfield every single snap to pressure passers and rushers. That's getting hands on the ball to break up passes and provide solid coverage in the secondary. That's an aggressive, effective pass rush. Harbaugh lauded his team in all those areas after Saturday's win, saying Durkin called a 'near flawless game.'

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From the University of San Diego to Stanford to the NFL's San Francisco 49ers and now Michigan, Harbaugh has always found a way to craft an elite defense.

Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images

It should be noted that 17 of the 31 points Michigan has allowed this year came in Week 1 against Utah, who appear to be the class of the Pac-12 and are a possible College Football Playoff team. They've been dominant on both sides of the ball and scored a huge 30-24 win over Cal on Saturday, forcing future first-round NFL pick Jared Goff to throw five interceptions and fumble once. It was a fantastic follow-up to a 62-20 victory over then-No. 13 Oregon.

The Pac-12 is a minefield of a conference, but at this point, the Utes only face two more ranked teams this year: USC and UCLA. With the way Utah bullied Goff, one has to worry for Bruins true freshman Josh Rosen. USC is always a tough out at home, but the Trojans have lost twice already this year, including a disappointing 17-12 defeat to Washington on Friday.

A Pac-12 championship and an undefeated season should be more than enough to put Utah in the playoffs. The picture would be much murkier if they do take a loss; much will depend on who emerges from the Big-12 (Baylor just can't stop blowing out teams, but a date with TCU looms) and whether or not Clemson can maintain a good enough record to make a run out of the ACC.