College football rankings poll projection: Who will be No. 1 after wild Week 7?

After maybe the wildest weekend for top-ranked teams in modern college football history, Miami should rise to No. 1 in the US LBM Coaches Poll for the first time since the penultimate poll of the 2002 season.

A record-setting five of the top eight in last week’s poll lost: Georgia (previously No. 1), Notre Dame (No. 2), Indiana (No. 4), Texas (No. 6) and Alabama (No. 7). The number would’ve grown to six had the Hurricanes not railed to beat Florida State 43-35 in double overtime.

Another team has an argument for No. 1 in Ohio State, which held the top spot until losing to Texas last month. Just in the past two weeks, the Buckeyes’ wins against Iowa and then Saturday at Indiana are better than anything on Miami’s résumé.

Still, the Hurricanes are unbeaten and were No. 3 last week, so they’re moving up. Miami won the 2001 national championship and was No. 1 for all of 2002 before losing the Fiesta Bowl to Ohio State.

Here’s how the top 10 should look in what will be a wild Coaches Poll:

There is no great win on Miami’s record but there are a few solid ones, beginning with the one ranked win against No. 23 Wake Forest. This is more of a by-default rise to No. 1 than a validation of the Hurricanes as the nation’s best team.

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By the end of the night, the Buckeyes had gone from beating Indiana to move to the front of the line in the Big Ten to nearly landing back to No. 1. But the bad news is the injury to quarterback Julian Sayin, which is expected to sideline him for multiple weeks.

There will be a debate over No. 2. BYU probably has the best win overall in Notre Dame, though the Buckeyes have Iowa and Indiana on the road. Look for the Cougars to make a five-spot jump from last week’s poll. It’ll be their first entry into the top five since 1996.

And here’s where things are going to get very unpredictable. Georgia led 14-0 but lost 28-24 to Auburn. Given all that has crumbled around them, a three-spot drop feels about right for the Bulldogs. If Saturday taught us anything, it’s that nobody’s perfect.

There was nearly a memorable comeback orchestrated by CJ Carr, who drove the Irish all the way to the BYU 9-yard line before throwing an incompletion in the end zone as time expired. This is a tough loss and one that could end up being a very big deal if the Irish lose to Miami next month. If so, they might have to sweat things out again.

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The Hoosiers will drop in the polls but maybe shouldn’t, especially after all that separated the loss to Ohio State from a late win was a few inches. Had Josh Hoover’s final pass not sailed a little bit too far toward the left sideline, Indiana would’ve topped the Buckeyes and moved to No. 2.

Tech finally looked like a Big 12 bully by scoring 21 points in the first quarter, 22 points in the second quarter and beating Arizona State 53-25. At a minimum, this is what the Red Raiders were expected to do in conference play. But ASU is much worse than last season, so Tech will remain the biggest enigma of any team near the top of the poll.
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A random loss to Florida knocked Ole Miss off the map, for some reason. All the Rebels did before and have done since is look like one of the best teams in the Power Four, as in a 31-3 win against Missouri that was opened up with a crucial touchdown drive late in the first half. Trinidad Chambliss threw for 241 yards and the offense had nearly 500 yards.

The Utes are projected to break into the top 10 thanks to those losses by Texas and Alabama if they beat Colorado to stay unbeaten. They’ve quietly been dynamite under new coach Morgan Scalley, especially on offense. A matchup against one-loss Houston awaits.

This is a very hard team to figure out. The Volunteers lost to Texas, were very pedestrian in wins against Auburn and Arkansas, and then go out and score the program’s largest win against Alabama this century. What gives? The win will give Tennessee the credibility to rise from No. 14 and leapfrog UCLA, which was No. 12 and beat Wisconsin at home.