Projected college football rankings after Florida State implodes; Alabama, Ole Miss survive

After a demolition derby last weekend, the early Week 7 college football slate flirted with more top 10 turnover on Saturday. No. 4 Ole Miss and No. 8 Alabama found themselves in dogfights against Washington State and No. 24 Missouri respectively. Meanwhile, No. 25 Florida State ended up clinging to the edge of a cliff against Pitt, in danger of falling back into the abyss.

As it turned out, the latter two survived. Ole Miss and Alabama both managed to run out the clock and avoid the upset. The Rebels won 24-21. The Crimson Tide won 27-24. The Seminoles weren’t so lucky. Their final touchdown with 1:45 remaining was too little too late. The Panthers were the ones who held onto the ball until the end, aided by a costly offside penalty on third-and-3.

So the rankings almost had a major shake up. Instead, it was just a little rumble.

Projected college football rankings

1. Ohio State Buckeyes
2. Miami Hurricanes
3. Oregon Ducks
4. Texas A&M Aggies
5. Ole Miss Rebels
6. Oklahoma Sooners
7. Indiana Hoosiers
8. Texas Tech Red Raiders
9. Alabama Crimson Tide
10. Georgia Bulldogs
11. LSU Tigers
12. Tennessee Volunteers
13. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
14. Missouri Tigers
15. Michigan Wolverines
16. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
17. Illinois Fighting Ilini
18. BYU Cougars
19. Virginia Cavaliers
20. Vanderbilt Commodores
21. Arizona State Sun Devils
22. Iowa State Cyclones
23. Memphis Tigers
24. South Florida Bulls
25. Cincinnati Bearcats

Dropped out: Florida State Seminoles

Florida State’s dream start has turned into a nightmare

Remember when Florida State was “back.” Yeah, that was a short-lived return to prominence. After shocking Alabama in the season opener, the Seminoles have gotten just about everything wrong. They blew out cupcakes East Texas A&M and Kent State, but now find themselves 0-3 in ACC play. A loss to Miami last weekend, by just six points, isn’t the problem. Even the overtime defeat at Virginia isn’t looking so bad with the Cavaliers now ranked in the Top 25. But a loss to Pitt at home? That’s a gut punch for the once-proud program in Tallahassee.

So the Seminoles tumble out of the rankings is now complete. They rose as high as No. 7. Now they’re unranked, exactly where they started in the preseason. That’s what happens when you drop to .500 in mid-October.

That’ll likely do it for any ACC title hopes. Even so, Florida State can salvage what’s left of this season with a relatively simple slate remaining. Road games at Clemson, NC State and Florida could also drag Mike Norvell’s team much closer to the question of bowl eligibility than anyone would have imagines just a few short weeks ago.

Do we trust Ole Miss?

Lane Kiffin is a damn good coach, but he’s run up against the same ceiling in his five seasons at Ole Miss. The Rebels rise and fall in a familiar pattern. Into the top 10. Out of the top 10. For every signature win, there has been a disappointing loss.

Now, Ole Miss is in the top five, but are they a top five team? They didn’t look like one during Saturday’s narrow win over Washington State in Oxford. To their credit, they won. Being 6-0 is really the only thing that matters. In the era of the College Football Playoff, style points matter less and less. Al Davis would love it: Just win, baby.

But do we trust Ole Miss to keep winning while playing like that? Four of their six victories have come by just one score, including both of their SEC wins. The next two weeks will test their mettle: Trips to Georgia and Oklahoma loom.

Maybe this is the year for Ole Miss. Neither Georgia nor Oklahoma are unbeatable. It’s certainly possible they split those games, if not take both, and punch a ticket to the SEC title game. I just can’t help but feel a certain amount of skepticism. They haven’t proved they can.

Alabama keeps passing the test

Alabama fell flat on their face to start the season, but they’ve passed every test since. Maybe not with flying colors, but they’ve passed. At Georgia, vs. Vanderbilt and now at Missouri, Ty Simpson and company have found their groove. After losing ugly, they’ve learned how to win ugly. They’re the opposite of Ole Miss in my head. That’s likely because I trust Kalen DeBoer more than I trust Lane Kiffin.

There are more tests to come, of course, but the road feels slightly easier from here. Their remaining games against ranked opponents — Tennessee, LSU and Oklahoma — are all at home.