The AP Top 25 college football rankings coming out of Week 5 had a high chance of staying relatively stable with many teams on bye weeks and only a few ranked matchups. But college football is college football and upsets find a way to shake things up every week.
There was a Pac-12 throughline to the weekend as Oregon State upset Utah on Friday night before USC and Colorado got things started on Saturday in an early Pac-12 edition of Big Noon Kickoff. Washington and Arizona had some Pac-12 After Dark vibes late into the night.
But the biggest upset bids of Saturday belonged to the SEC where Georgia had trouble with Auburn and Ole Miss toppled LSU.
Let's look at what the rankings should look like after another week of college football shenanigans.
Dropped out of Top 25 rankings: Florida (22), Kansas (24)
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 5: No. 25-21
25. Kansas State Wildcats
It pays to be on a bye week. Kansas State was inactive but teams like Florida and Kansas bring them back into the rankings with Oklahoma State on the horizon.
24. LSU Tigers
LSU may not deserve to be ranked after what their defense has done in the biggest games of the season. Ole Miss outpaced the Tigers 55-49 in an upset victory. But LSU has two losses to two ranked teams away from home and their offense is legitimate, so we're keeping them in.
23. Tennessee Volunteers
Tennessee's loss to Florida looks worse after the Gators lost to Kentucky but at least the Volunteers took care of their own business against South Carolina. An interception return for a touchdown just before halftime opened things up and helped send the Vols into their bye week.
22. Fresno State Bulldogs
The Bulldogs remained undefeated with what's starting to look like a typical kind of victory over Nevada, 27-0. Fresno State's defense looks tough to break down but it'll be up to Wyoming to try this week.
21. Kentucky Wildcats
Undefeated Kentucky is finally in thanks to their upset win over Florida. The Wildcat ground attack led by Ray Davis cut through the Gators to the tune of 329 yards rushing. That's not a typo. Kentucky averaged 9.1 yards per rush. Georgia will get a taste of that next.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 5: No. 20-16
20. Utah Utes
The Utes have been playing with fire the whole season without Cam Rising at quarterback and they finally got bit by Oregon State in Corvallis. It's tough to judge the ceiling for this Utah team without their leader but the ineffectiveness of the rushing attack has to be a huge concern, even when he does finally return from his Rose Bowl ACL injury.
19. Duke Blue Devils
Duke had Notre Dame on the ropes in the second half with a one-point fourth-quarter lead but they completely blew it by letting Sam Hartman convert a fourth-and-16 with 41 seconds remaining. The what-could-have-been is huge. Concern for quarterback Riley Leonard, who went down injured on the final drive, is even bigger.
18. Missouri Tigers
Mizzou has continued to chug along since their Kansas State upset, even if it hasn't always been pretty. Saturday's 38-21 win over Vanderbilt was relatively comfortable. LSU coming up is a massive opportunity for this team to show its worth.
17. Ole Miss Rebels
We all knew Ole Miss had a dangerous offense and LSU was the perfect opponent for them to show just how much. The Rebels were in a nine-point hole in the fourth quarter but they rallied back to win a barnburner. They have Arkansas coming up.
16. Oregon State Beavers
The Beavers responded to their loss to Washington State in the best possible way with a Top 10 upset over Utah. The rare defensive battle between Pac-12 foes on Friday night proves the Beavs are still a dark horse spoiler in the conference. Cal awaits.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 5: No. 15-11
15. Miami Hurricanes
Congratulations, you have reached the Teams On A Bye Week section of the rankings. Coming off a win over Temple on the road, the Hurricanes get to enjoy a bump up the rankings by default as they look forward to Georgia Tech.
14. Washington State Cougars
Washington State got to spend their bye week watching the team they just beat last week, Oregon State, take down a Top 10 Utah team. The win over the Beavers looks pretty dang good right about now. Next up? UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
13. North Carolina Tar Heels
The Tar Heels took care of Pitt on the road before heading into their bye week. They've got Syracuse coming up in a potential lookahead spot with Miami the following week. At this rate that'll be a Top 15 matchup.
12. Oklahoma Sooners
Finally a team not on a bye week! Oklahoma hosted Iowa State and messed around for one quarter and about five minutes until they decided to put their foot on the gas. A game that was 21-20 in favor of the Sooners with nine minutes left in the second quarter turned into a 40-20 game by halftime and ended 50-20.
11. Alabama Crimson Tide
Speaking of messing around, Mississippi State flirted with challenging Alabama in the first half before the Crimson Tide and Jalen Milroe put an end to that thought with two touchdowns in the final 1:07 of the second quarter. Alabama's offense isn't exactly sorted out but they're putting points on the board.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 5: No. 10-9
10. USC Trojans
The Trojans drop after winning again because of one reason: The defense. Going into the season, every ounce of skepticism about USC's ability to compete for a College Football Playoff spot was focused on Alex Grinch's defense. He's only given voters to raise their doubt levels a month into the season.
This week, it was a 48-41 victory that featured 564 yards of offense and 41 points for a Colorado team that had just been smacked around by Oregon. The Trojans were in control late in the third quarter but 21 unanswered points changed the narrative around the game.
USC has one of the most difficult schedules in the country coming up, so there will be opportunities to rise, but they have to field a defense capable of winning those games first. Next week, Arizona comes to the Coliseum to see if they can take advantage.
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame dropped out of the Top 10 after their heartbreaking loss to Ohio State. They should be right back in it thanks to Utah's loss but we're looking at an even bigger move for the Irish after they took down No. 17 Duke.
Notre Dame went on the road to face an undefeated Blue Devils team and prove they could with a close game with dramatic heroics of their own. Sam Hartman converted a late fourth down to set up the winning touchdown.
There's certainly no guarantee the Irish jump the Trojans here but a ranked victory on the road combined with USC's defensive deficiencies make it possible. Either way, the Irish have to take on Louisville next.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 5: No. 8-7
8. Oregon Ducks
The theme of Week 5 was ranked teams going on the road and looking shaky for at least one half of play. For the Oregon Ducks, it was the first half against Stanford. The Ducks had six total yards in the first quarter and led 14-6 after two. Of course, they flipped the switch in the second half and dropped 21 points on the Cardinal in the third quarter. A 42-6 victory made it clear those early cobwebs were just that...and maybe a bit of looking ahead.
Oregon heads for a bye week with a huge potentially season-defining road trip to Washington to follow.
7. Washington Huskies
Washington looked like the most unstoppable team in the country in the first four weeks but they finally hit a speed bump in Arizona. Michael Penix and the Huskies offense weren't quite as fluid as they've been, managing just 31 points. Arizona mounted a late comeback to make it interesting late, forcing the Huskies to recover an onside kick to end it at 31-24.
Kalen DeBoer and his team have the bye week coming up to get things settled before the Ducks come to town.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 5: No. 6-5
6. Penn State Nittany Lions
Penn State looked a bit hungover after last week's impressive win over Iowa because their trip to Northwestern was anything but pretty in the first half. They went into the break locked at 10-10. Of course, the second half was an entirely different story as Drew Allar and the offense finally found their footing en route to a 41-13 victory.
There isn't much room for the Nittany Lions to move up, but they're well positioned with a trip to Ohio State coming up in a couple of weeks. First, James Franklin and company need to avoid a look-ahead trap against UMass next week.
5. Florida State Seminoles
Florida State was on a bye following their overtime victory over Clemson. Nothing about the performances behind them put them in danger of being jumped this week and no one in front of them lost so there's no reason to expect them to move up.
Clemson did beat Syracuse to keep the strength of that win intact while Boston College beat Virginia to help that tight game look less damning. However, the big LSU victory at the start of the season looks worse every week.
It's on to Virginia Tech for the Seminoles next.
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 5: No. 4-3
4. Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State was also on a bye following their last-second victory over Notre Dame. The Buckeyes had very little fear of being leaped by anyone but they did have reason to have their eye on the Irish going up against Duke. An upset loss would only weaken the strength of Ohio State's win.
The good news? Notre Dame pulled out a victory over the Blue Devils, even if it was on a knife's edge.
The Buckeyes now await Maryland.
3. Texas Longhorns
For a minute there it looked like Texas might have been overlooking the No. 24 Kansas Jayhawks with the Red River Showdown coming up next week. The Longhorns led just by six at halftime. However, Jonathan Brooks turned it on in the third quarter with two touchdown runs to help Steve Sarkisian's team pull away for a 40-14 victory.
The tight first half may ensure they don't leap into the Top 2 but Texas will get that shot against Oklahoma coming up. The Longhorns may even expect some additional first-place votes this week considering what went on at the top of the poll...
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 5: No. 2-1
2. Michigan Wolverines
Michigan won their fifth game of the season without giving up more than seven points and scoring above 30 themselves. The only reason the Wolverines haven't already taken over the No. 1 spot is because they have not faced a strong opponent. Nebraska was the latest major underdog in front of Michigan.
As the Wolverines' first road test, it matters that Michigan easily cut through the Cornhuskers for a 45-7 win. On a day when other ranked teams on the road looked shaky, Jim Harbaugh's squad was solid as can be.
Next up Michigan gets Minnesota on the road.
1. Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs remain the No. 1 team in the land, but not by much. The Dawgs have been bleeding first-place votes every week since the start of the season and they'll lose more of those after a narrow victory over Auburn, especially with Texas and Michigan rolling.
Georgia didn't lead until the third quarter. The 27-20 victory over the Tigers came down to a Brock Bowers touchdown with under three minutes to play. Questions about the offense remain while the defense does not look infallible.
A stronger showing against a newly-ranked Kentucky team would go a long way to fortifying the No. 1 spot.
