Week 7 College Football Rankings 2011: Notre Dame and 3 Teams Nearing Top 25

With some top 25 teams losing on Saturday, teams on the outside looking into the top 25 are likely to find their way in next week.

There are a few teams that are starting to impress, but are still a good win or two away from being in the top 25.

These are all big name teams, even if they haven't won in a while. So, it's not inconceivable that they will eventually find their ways into the polls.

Still, we need to be careful to not jump the gun on these guys. They need to prove a little more before we deem them top 25 squads early.

Notre Dame

Emotions always run high with the Fighting Irish. Voters tend to overreact to everything that happens to the 4-2 team. Maybe that comes from the amount of exposure they get. Whatever it is, it happens.

The Fighting Irish have bounced back rather nicely from an 0-2 start. Air Force is not a bad team, but Notre Dame put up 59 points on them.

With a bye next week, Notre Dame will need to wait two weeks to prove themselves. That opportunity will come against USC. If they beat the Trojans and move to 5-2, we can revisit the top 25 discussion. Until then, we need to call them one of the best not in.

Washington

The 4-1 Huskies' only loss came against Nebraska, which is nothing to be ashamed of. While Cal and Utah aren't bad teams, you wouldn't call Washington's wins against them quality wins.

The same can be said if they beat Colorado next week.

Their biggest test will be against No. 7 Stanford on October 22.

Beating Stanford may be a pipe dream, but Washington will need to be competitive against the Cardinal before I see them as top 25 worthy.

Penn State

The Nittany Lions (5-1) lost to Alabama, but are otherwise perfect this year. But right now, they just aren't impressive enough to enter the rankings.

Penn State should handle Purdue next week. After that, it gets interesting. Games against Northwestern, Illinois, Nebraska, Ohio State, and Wisconsin will close out Penn State's season.

By the time they travel to Columbus on November 19, we'll know if they are top 25 worthy. Until they play Northwestern, we need to hold off on calling them worthy of a ranking.