The top 25 teams rise and fall in Week 12

This past weekend was a prove-it Saturday in college football, especially in a pair of statement matchups in the SEC that will force some big decisions from the AP Top 25 voters as they cast their votes for the new rankings at way to week 12.

Two of the top four teams in this week’s rankings came out on the losing side, results that are sure to shake things up in the new poll and in the selection committee’s assessment of where things stand in the top dozen as we get deeper into November football. .

Which teams will appear in the AP’s top 25 college football rankings this week?

Let’s try to predict who will go up and who will go down in the polls heading into week 12.

The rankings reflect the AP top 25 poll

Last week’s ranking: No. 11

An effective elimination game for the College Football Playoff, under the lights, in the SEC. The winner? Still in the play-off picture. The loser? Almost certainly out.

Sixty minutes later, not only did Alabama emerge victorious over LSU, but in the aftermath of a 42-13 shellacking, the Crimson Tide made it clear to college football that it is still a contender.

Jalen Milroe was the reason why. The Alabama quarterback has been a weapon of mass destruction against LSU, rushing for 185 yards and 4 touchdowns, peppering the Tigers’ defense with touchdown runs of 10, 19, 39 and 72 yards.

Milroe, who has been paired up in this rivalry for the past two years, has rushed for 344 yards and 8 touchdowns, and on Saturday he became the second player in Alabama history with multiple four-touchdown games, joining Shaun Alexander.

That should be enough for the top 25 AP voters to push the Crimson Tide into the top 10 of this week’s rankings, after losses to top-four teams Georgia (who defeated Alabama) and Miami.

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Last week’s ranking: No. 14

Brian Kelly’s performance will be the subject of heavy criticism after his team looked uninspired and poorly coordinated on both sides of the ball in what was LSU’s biggest game of the season.

Facing elimination in the playoffs and hosting such a big game in college football’s most intense home field environment under the lights, LSU fell flat.

The decisive moment probably came in the middle of the game, when Alabama had a more manageable 14-6 lead and the Tigers had opportunities to get back within striking distance.

Instead, the offense had two turnovers, a fumble and an interception by Garrett Nussmeier in the end zone, both of which turned the Crimson Tide into 14 points.

Despite some broad defensive improvements this year, LSU’s secondary is still a cause for major concern, as is the team’s physicality on both lines of scrimmage.

Since leaving Notre Dame for the SEC, Kelly is 4-8 against ranked opponents. His replacement at ND, Marcus Freeman, is 10-4 against ranked teams in that time.

It’s too much to speculate that AP voters will drop LSU from the rankings entirely, but with other losers further down the polls this week, a drop to the bottom fifth isn’t out of the question.

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Last week’s ranking: No. 16

If not now, when? That was the question for transfer king Lane Kiffin, who ended the night with the signature win of his career as Ole Miss defeated No. 2 Georgia in a 28-10 decision.

While the Rebels’ high-powered offense gets the attention it deserves, much of this team’s success is due to a dominant front seven defensive line.

Kiffin pointed out that it was an ugly loss to Georgia last season that partially inspired him to become more aggressive in recruiting top-tier defensive players, and it was that cast that came to life in this statement game.

After letting Georgia score in the first quarter, the Rebels hunkered down and never looked back, recording five sacks and nine tackles for loss while forcing four fumbles, batting down five passes and intercepting Carson Beck once.

Princely Umanmielen and Jared Ivey, two transfer wins from Kiffin, each had two sacks.

According to Tru Media Sports, the Front recorded 100 negative actions on defense this season in Saturday’s match, almost twenty more than any other team in the country.

Add another 8 stops behind the line against a Georgia front that the Rebels completely dominated, and this looks like one of the most productive defensive fronts in the country playing its best football at the right time.

Beating the country’s second-ranked team in convincing fashion, combined with some mid-tier teams taking a week off, could create some space for the Rebels to move into the top 10 of the new rankings .

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Last week’s ranking: No. 2

Everyone knew that Georgia’s season would be largely determined by the big three-game road test against some of the SEC’s most formidable competitors.

Now, after the loss at Alabama and Saturday’s loss at Ole Miss, the Bulldogs fell to 1-2 in those games, with a 30-15 win at Texas the only highlight.

As a result, Georgia’s playoff hopes took a late-season hit heading into what could be a playoff elimination game at home against Tennessee next weekend.

Georgia took a quick 7–0 lead over Ole Miss when Nate Frazier scored a two-yard touchdown, but lost control of the game from then on and would score only three more points.

Now the Bulldogs have lost two regular-season games for the first time in a non-Covid year since 2016, head coach Kirby Smart’s debut, when he won 8-5.

Some of Georgia’s struggles have arisen as a result of the deteriorating quarterback play.

Beck has 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions this season, down from last season when he had 28 TDs and 6 picks, but the departures of Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey have clearly reduced the offense’s production.

Give some credit to Ole Miss, who put the most pressure on Beck he has seen in his career, forcing pressure on 40 percent of his dropbacks.

The result? Beck went 3 of 8 passing for 41 yards and was sacked five times under that pressure.

Georgia has also struggled running the football, allowing just 59 yards and an average of 1.8 yards per carry against the Rebels, falling to 0-2 this season when running for under 100 yards, compared to a perfect 7-0 if they overshadow 100 yards away. the ground.

It would take a drastic change of heart from AP voters, but it’s possible we could see Georgia fall out of the top 10 to let Ole Miss lead the way since both teams have similar records.

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– No. 4 Miami was one of college football’s five remaining undefeated teams, but Cam Ward was unable to lead a fourth-half comeback in a loss to Georgia Tech.

– Texas, ranked fifth this week, should benefit from losing two of the top four teams with plenty of room to move into one of those spots after Florida’s demolition.

– South Carolina received 58 votes last week, but after the win over Vandy, combined with the losses to other lower-ranked teams, there should be room for this team in the Week 12 rankings.

– With that loss to the Gamecocks, we should see No. 24 Vanderbilt disappear from the rankings this week.

-Tennessee should benefit from losses to Georgia and Miami in the top four and move slightly higher in the poll after knocking off Mississippi State.

– Pittsburgh could fall out of the rankings after a second straight loss, this one at home to Virginia, and with other teams looking to crack the top 25 instead this week.

– Colorado should rise from its No. 21 ranking after beating Texas Tech on the road in a key road game and putting this team in second place in the Big 12.

– Tulane received 41 votes last week but should make the new rankings after winning its seventh straight game and moving to 6-0 in AAC play.

– Iowa State could fall out of the rankings after a second straight loss, but this team is still within striking distance of the Big 12 title, even if it needs a little help.

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More … When the AP top 25 rankings are released

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