There was another chaotic week of college football, but finally, Oklahoma fans just got to sit back and enjoy, with really no stress at all caused by the Sooners.
The score makes the game look closer than it really was, but the Sooners actually handled Mississippi State 23-15 on Saturday. There was no reason for OU fans’ blood pressure to rise, but the same can’t be said for fan bases around the rest of college football, including those south of the Red River.
It wasn’t as delirious as last week, but Week 8 still included No. 2 BYU going down, No. 6 Indiana struggling against Michigan, No. 19 Texas surviving No. 7 Ole Miss to avoid a losing streak, and a late-night top-15 matchup out west between No. 10 Utah and No. 14 that went into Sunday.
With all that, the AP Top 25 Poll will experience another makeover before the new rankings are unveiled on Sunday afternoon. This isn’t how I believe it should be, but this is predicting how voters will likely vote after witnessing Week 8.
Projecting AP Top 25 Poll after Week 8
1. Miami
2. Ohio State
3. Notre Dame
4. Georgia
5. Indiana
6. Utah
7. UCLA
8. BYU
9. Kentucky
10. Alabama
11. LSU
12. Texas
13. Ole Miss
14. Wake Forest
15. Tennessee
16. Florida
17. Texas Tech
18. Houston
19. Boise State
20. Missouri
21. SMU
22. Northwestern
23. Wisconsin
24. Arizona
25. Oklahoma State
This might get by most fan bases, but maybe the greatest change with these rankings would be Lincoln Riley's USC falling out after the Trojans' 24-7 loss to Wisconsin, which dropped them to 6-2 with no quality wins. That loss also cranked up the heat on Riley's already smoldering seat.
USC, though, is a media darling, so the Trojans might actually remain inside the top 25. If not, USC would essentially be replaced by Oklahoma State, which hammered Colorado 57-24 to jump to 5-2.
Up top, undefeated Utah and UCLA make big jumps inside the top 10. Both probably deserve to be ahead of reigning national champion Indiana, especially after how bad the Hoosiers looked against Michigan with a backup quarterback, but voters will still likely reward Indiana for another win and keep the Hoosiers ahead.
If this ranking prediction holds even somewhat true, it puts three top-25 opponents ahead on the Sooners' schedule, including Florida, Ole Miss, and Missouri. Although unranked, South Carolina also clearly can't be overlooked after just upsetting Tennessee.
That road ahead and all this chaos actually put the Sooners in a position to earn their way back into the top 25. A home win over South Carolina next week wouldn't be enough, but a third straight win coming against a top-20 Florida team in The Swamp definitely could do the trick.
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