We’ll add each significant new top 25 here as it shows up.
Week 6 sort of looked like a college football rankings SHAKEUP SATURDAY, based only on the numbers next to the names of the teams that were falling. Eight top-25 teams lost, almost all of them to lesser-ranked teams!
But look a little closer, and you see they were all either underdogs or very slightly favored. This wasn’t CARNAGE WEEK. Texas always plays like that as an underdog, Florida was basically the same team as LSU already, Notre Dame has simply been way better than Virginia Tech, and ... wait, why was Auburn No. 8, again?
Patience. The true CARNAGE WEEK is still coming.
Below, we’re collecting updated top-25 rankings heading into Week 7.
The usual disclaimers apply. The only college football ranking that matters in the end is the Playoff selection committee’s ranking on Selection Sunday, and the committee can change its mind suddenly. It doesn’t even start to release weekly Playoff rankings until around Halloween.
We’ll update each of the following rankings as they release, and explanations for each of these top 25s is below the table.
Only one of these rankings is made by anyone at SB Nation, so please don’t yell at me personally about any of them, unless that would make you very happy. Only top-25 rankings are listed, though most of these go beyond 25 teams. See below for links.
The Associated Press Top 25
The historical gold standard of human polls. Releases Sundays at 2 p.m. ET.
Bill Connelly’s S&P+ ratings
SB Nation’s favored college football advanced stat, which tends to perform well against the Vegas spread, along with offering much deeper evaluations of teams. Usually releases Sunday afternoon.
The Massey composite
Every poll and rating smashed into one continually updating ranking, more or less. Yep, there are dozens and dozens of weekly CFB rankings! We’ll update it a couple times throughout Sunday.
The Sagarin ratings
A long-running computer ranking that also includes FCS teams. Usually releases early Sunday.
The USA Today Coaches Poll
Doesn’t matter much, and often is more a poll of PR directors than actual coaches.