College Football Playoff Rankings after Week 7: Another shakeup in the First Four in, First Two out
Week 7 separated some contenders from pretenders, and with Washington’s Top 10 win over Oregon, we have another shakeup in the latest College Football Playoff Rankings predictions.
Georgia, Michigan and Florida State all won again and remain among the First Four, but with the Huskies’ victory Saturday — now perhaps the best win of the season for any team — they leapfrogged Oklahoma, who was idle, to round out the field.
The First Two Out now features the Sooners and Ohio State, and this set of rankings could look a lot differently again next week with the Buckeyes set to play No. 7 Penn State.
Reminder: This is not a projection of how we see the playoff shaking out by the season’s end. It’s how we think the committee would rank these teams today based on preseason rankings and what we’ve seen thus far.
Here’s how we project the 2023 College Football Playoff Rankings would like after Week 7:
1. Georgia
The Bulldogs downed Vanderbilt 38-20, but the bigger news out of Athens is the injury to star tight end Brock Bowers, who will potentially miss the next four-to-six weeks after undergoing tightrope surgery to fix a high-ankle sprain suffered in the victory.
Quarterback Carson Beck, as well as wideouts Ladd McConkey, Dominic Lovett and RaRa Thomas will have to shoulder a bigger load against the teeth of UGA’s schedule (vs. Florida, No. 20 Missouri, No. 13 Ole Miss and at No. 17 Tennessee). Georgia does have a bye week to figure some things out without Bowers before playing rival Florida in Jacksonville just before Halloween.
2. Michigan
The Wolverines body-bagged another Big Ten foe, scoring 52 unanswered against Indiana to top last week’s blowout — giving them their biggest win in Big Ten play since 2019. Incredibly, they still haven’t faced a single red zone snap inside the 10-yard line ALL SEASON.
Quarterback J.J. McCarthy continues to creep up Heisman Trophy boards with another ho-hum 14 of 17 passing for 222 yards and three touchdowns.
He has 17 total scores to just three picks on the year, averaging nearly 11 yards per attempt. Defensively, Michigan has allowed just five touchdowns and four field goals all year — good for 6.7 points per game.
The Wolverines’ next victim? Rival Michigan State, which is already reeling.
3. Florida State
The Seminoles delivered their most impressive performance in several weeks with a 41-3 thrashing over Syracuse. Quarterback Jordan Travis got back on track (three total touchdowns) and transfer wideout Keon Coleman added to his 1st Round resume with more highlight-reel film (nine receptions for 140 yards and a score).
FSU’s other top wideout Johnny Wilson missed the win over the Orange with an undisclosed injury, but coach Mike Norvell said he expects the 6-7 playmaker to return to action this weekend. That’s good news for the ‘Noles, who host 6-1 Duke. We don’t know if the No. 17 Blue Devils will have the services of starting quarterback Riley Leonard (ankle injury), but Mike Elko’s secondary is the best in the ACC — allowing a league-low 4.9 yards per attempt (No. 2 nationally) and just three passing scores (also No. 2 in the country).
4. Washington
Behind the heroics of Heisman frontrunner Michael Penix Jr. and electric wideouts Rome Odunze (8 for 128 and two touchdowns) and Ja’Lynn Polk (6 for 118 and one score), the Huskies outgunned the Oregon Ducks 36-33 to remain undefeated and take the catbird seat in the Pac-12.
Washington remains a buzzsaw offensively — 8.49 yards per play, No. 1 nationally, and 44.3 points per game, No. 5 in the country — but it showed some bite defensively against the Ducks, coming up with key stops in the red zone and on 4th downs. Depth is an issue for Wazzu, but the schedule softens for a couple of weeks (Arizona State and at Stanford) before a gauntlet finish that will determine the Huskies’ postseason fate (and Penix’s Heisman hopes).
FIRST TWO OUT
5. Oklahoma
Two weeks ago, the Sooners secured what was the best win thus far of the 2023 season. But while the late touchdown to beat Texas remains very impressive, Wazzu’s victory over Oregon is the reason why OU got leapfrogged in the rankings.
Still, there’s plenty of movement to come, and the Sooners will have their chance to get back into the First Four. After being off this week, they start a six-game stretch where they will be favored in every game. We’ll see if they can handle their business.
6. Ohio State
The Buckeyes are a MASH unit offensively right now — down tailbacks TreVeyon Henderson, Chip Trayanum and Miyan Williams, as well as wideout Emeka Egbuka — yet it cruised past Purdue on Saturday to remain undefeated before their showdown with Penn State on Saturday.
Ohio State hopes to have several — if not all — the aforementioned players back against the Nittany Lions. Regardless, Kyle McCord will continue to lean on all-world wideout Marvin Harrison Jr., who has found his groove the last two weeks with 14 catches for 268 yards and two scores.
OSU was tested in its road win at Notre Dame, but Penn State, which has the best defense nationally so far in 2023, will be the Buckeyes’ toughest challenge to date.