Teams were living on the edge this weekend in College Football. Clemson and Ohio State needed overtime to keep their championship hopes intact. Tennessee and Ole Miss, living on the edge all season, finally fell off their respective cliffs. And up-and-down teams North Carolina, LSU, and Arkansas were all up this weekend.
Last Word on College Football Top 25: Week 7
Our top seven remains unchanged, although there was some reshuffling with Clemson’s close loss. Baylor and Nebraska used other teams’ losses to move up into the Top 10. And Wisconsin‘s OT loss to Ohio State only cost them two spots as they remain in the Top 10.
In the next group of teams, two-loss Florida State (12th) and Oklahoma (15th) moved up four and five spots respectively. Undefeateds Boise State and West Virginia come in at 13th and 14th. West Virginia remains our lowest ranked undefeated Power 5 team.
Tennessee (17th) and Ole Miss (25th) were the biggest drops this week, dropping six and 13 spots, respectively.
Western Michigan continues their march forward at 18th. And Navy enters our poll at 24th this week.
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LAST WORD ON COLLEGE FOOTBALL TOP 25: WEEK 7
| Rank
|
Team
|
Points
|
Previous
|
|
1. |
|
400 | 1 | |
| Alabama went on the road and aboslutely dominated a depleted Tennessee team. A match-up with Texas A&M looms this week, with the inside track to the SEC West championship — and CFP bid — likely at stake. Mike Loveall
|
||||
2. |
|
380 | 2 | |
| The Buckeyes overcame a 10 point deficit to win against Wisconsin. J.T. Barrett had another Heisman caliber performance with 92 rushing yards and 226 passing yards with 3 TDs. The Buckeyes travel to Penn State this week. Rob Gritzer
|
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3. |
|
364 | 4 | |
| Michigan was off this week, which is fine; the domination against Rutgers was enough to last for two weeks. Next up should be another blowout, against Illinois. Yesh Ginsburg
|
||||
4. |
|
353 | 5 | |
| The Huskies enjoyed a mid-season bye in Week 7 after destroying Stanford and Oregon in successive games. Next up is Oregon State, who is proving to be a tough out despite its sub-.500 record. Donald King
|
||||
5. |
|
340 | 3 | |
| Another close call this week. Clemson all but gave the game away to NC State. But all that matters is surviving and advancing closer to Orlando. The Tigers have a habit of playing down to their opponent but stepping up in big games which will be crucial for their pivotal matchup in two weeks in Tallahassee. Justin Gordon
|
||||
6. |
|
316 | 6 | |
| The Aggies enjoyed a much needed bye week after injuries had started to mount up over the past few games. They take their unbeaten record to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama. This is another top ten matchup which will undoubtedly be the toughest test they have faced so far. Matthew Atkinson
|
||||
7. |
|
307 | 7 | |
| Louisville was held to its lowest point total of the season in a 24-14 win over Duke. The Cardinals’ next game is even trickier against an NC State team that took Clemson to overtime. Jonathan Bailey
|
||||
8. |
|
277 | 10 | |
| Baylor led 42-0 at the half when Coach Jim Grobe decided to remove QB Seth Russell from the game. Russell led the team in both passing and rushing, which included a 26 yard scoring run. Baylor’s defense forced five turnovers and coasted to an easy victory. Sean Garmer
|
||||
9. |
|
264 | 9 | |
| The Huskers survived an upset bid on the road against Indiana to move to 6-0 for the first time since 2001. Next up on the schedule is Purdue at home before two tough road games against Wisconsin and Ohio State. John Bava III
|
||||
10. |
|
251 | 8 | |
| The Badgers fell just short again to a Top 3 opponent, leaving disappointed, but still in the Top 10. Corey Clement ran for 164 yards including a 68 yard run that was fumbled out of bounce. Next week, the Badgers will go on the road to face Iowa. Rob Gritzer
|
||||
11. |
|
219 | 13 | |
| Houston almost let Navy beat it twice, but came away with a goal-line stand to save the game against Tulsa. Maybe looking ahead to that Louisville game is a dangerous mode of thought. Yesh Ginsburg
|
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12. |
|
205 | 16 | |
| Defense dominated the day in the Seminoles 17-6 win over Wake Forest. Florida State has a week off to prepare for Deshaun Watson and Clemson. Jonathan Bailey
|
||||
13. |
|
191 | 14 | |
| The Broncos jumped out to a 28-3 fourth quarter lead over and then hung on for a narrow 28-23 win over Colorado State at home to remain undefeated. Jeremy McNichols rushed for 217 yards and two touchdowns to lead Boise State’s offense. Tony Siracusa
|
||||
14. |
|
183 | 19 | |
| West Virginia handled Texas Tech in Lubbock 48-17 this week on the back of a dominant defensive performance. The Mountaineers held a Red Raiders team averaging 55.2 points per game to just 17 points. Dana Holgorsen’s squad looks to remain undefeated at home next week against TCU. Brendan Dzwierzynski
|
||||
15. |
|
170 | 20 | |
| The Sooners won their third consecutive game behind another outstanding performance by DeDe Westbrook. The senior had 9 receptions for 185 yards and 3 Touchdowns. Oklahoma travels to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech next weekend. Jason Rhea
|
||||
16. |
|
143 | 18 | |
| The Gator offense looked shaky in Luke Del Rio’s return from injury against a Missouri and the defensive leader Jarrad Davis exited the game with an injury. Florida controls its own destiny in the SEC East race but will need improvement from Del Rio and a healthy Davis to make it to Atlanta. Zach Jones
|
||||
17. |
|
141 | 11 | |
| Tennessee is depleted with injuries and has lost control of the SEC East. There’s still hope as they enter a bye week and look to get healthy. Their second half schedule is friendly, as well. Atlanta, and 10 wins, is still possible. Mike Loveall
|
||||
18. |
|
129 | 23 | |
| Running back Jarvion Franklin tallied a school-record 281 rushing yards on 33 carries while adding a touchdown as the Broncos moved to 7-0 with a 41-0 rout of Akron. They face in-state MAC foe Eastern Michigan in week eight, a team who might be one of the biggest surprises in college football at 5-2. John Bava III
|
||||
19. |
|
109 | 22 | |
| Auburn entered its bye week with momentum and still in a position to compete for the SEC West championship. If they can get consistent QB play, the Tigers might make some more noise this seaosn. Lauren Beasley
|
||||
20. |
|
98 | 24 | |
| Austin Allen continues to prove he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC while Rawleigh Wiliams III carried the load at running back. With many people writing off the Razorbacks after early defeats, yesterday’s victory over Ole Miss shows that they can compete with anybody in the SEC. Matthew Atkinson
|
||||
21. |
|
87 | 21 | |
| Some retirements are shorter than others. After suffering a rash of injuries at running back the last few weeks, the Utes talked Joe Williams into returning to the team. Williams had quit football after the second week of the season because he no longer felt the desire to play. That changed Saturday when he rushed for 179 yards and one touchdown in a 19-14 win over Oregon State. Tony Siracusa
|
||||
22. |
|
45 | 25 | |
| The penalty prone Tigers came out sluggish in the first half. They went on to dominate Southern Miss after a big third quarter. They host Ole Miss Saturday with both teams looking for a big Division win. Kate Pearson-Halyburton
|
||||
23. |
|
40 | NR | |
| The up-and-down Tar Heels were up again this week. After upsetting FSU two weeks ago, UNC was demolished by Viriginia Tech last week. Their response? Beating a Top 15 Miami team. Does anyone want the ACC Coastal? Mike Loveall
|
||||
24. |
|
38 | NR | |
| Two weeks after handling Houston its only loss of the season, the Midshipmen find themselves in our Top 25 for the first time this season. Their game against East Carolina was postponed until November 19th. Mike Loveall
|
||||
25. |
|
33 | 12 | |
| After two losses in their first three games, Ole Miss looked like it had righted the ship. But a crushing defeat at Arkansas has Ole Miss on the edge of falling off thte national scene. They travel to a hostile environment in Baton Rouge to paly another team desparate for a division win in LSU. Lauren Beasley | ||||
OHIO STATE (6-0)
MICHIGAN (6-0)
WASHINGTON (6-0)
CLEMSON (7-0)
TEXAS A&M (6-0)
LOUISVILLE (5-1)
BAYLOR (6-0)
NEBRASKA (6-0) 
WISCONSIN (4-2)
HOUSTON (6-1)
FLORIDA STATE (5-2)
BOISE STATE (6-0)
WEST VIRGINIA (5-0)
OKLAHOMA (4-2)
FLORIDA (5-1)
TENNESSEE (5-2)
WESTERN MICHIGAN (7-0)
AUBURN (4-2)
ARKANSAS (5-2)
UTAH (6-1)
LSU (4-2)
NORTH CAROLINA (5-2)
NAVY (4-1)
MISSISSIPPI (3-3)Others Receiving Votes: Washington State (28), Miami (24), Stanford (17), Colorado (16), South Florida (15), Oklahoma State (12), Virginia Tech (2), Troy (2), Toledo (1).
As we get closer to the College Football Playoff weekly rankings, teams will start to feel more and more pressure. How will they respond? And how will that affect our Top 25? Check back in after Week 8 to find out.
Previous LWOS Polls:
Preseason Top 25
Week 1 Top 25
Week 2 Top 25
Week 3 Top 25
Week 4 Top 25
Week 5 Top 25
Week 6 Top 25
About the poll: Sixteen Last Word on College Football writers submit ballots and points are awarded on a inverse-scale (a first place vote receives 25 points, a 25th-place vote receives 1 point).
Main Photo:
