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AP College Football Poll 2018: Week 8 Rankings Unveiled for Top 25 Teams

Timothy Rapp

There is always a week or two in the college football season when a number of upsets and major matchups shake up the landscape and the rankings. Week 7 was one of them.

Below, we'll take a look at how those results shook the latest Associated Press Poll, along with some of the biggest matchups from the weekend.

                 

Rankings

1. Alabama

2. Ohio State

3. Clemson

4. Notre Dame

5. LSU

6. Michigan

7. Texas

8. Georgia

9. Oklahoma

10. UCF

11. Florida

12. Oregon

13. West Virginia

14. Kentucky

15. Washington

16. NC State

17. Texas A&M

18. Penn State

19. Iowa

20. Cincinnati 

21. South Florida

22. Mississippi State

23. Wisconsin

24. Michigan State

25. Washington State

            

Analysis

No matchup in Week 7 was bigger than then-No. 2 Georgia at No. 13 LSU, and the Tigers came to play, steamrolling the Bulldogs 36-16 in Baton Rouge and putting a major dent in their national title hopes.

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The Tigers won behind their defense, which harassed Jake Fromm, sacking him three times and intercepting him twice.

"They did a good job with some third-down crazy stuff, some one-hit-wonder stuff. But we kind of got ourselves in a mess with the 3rd-and-longs," the quarterback said after the game, per the AP (via ESPN.com). "I don't know. We made some plays. I think they made more plays. We just really couldn't string them all together."

Among those plays: LSU converted all four of its fourth-down attempts. Fortune favors the bold, as the old adage suggests.

That wasn't the biggest upset on the day, however. That honor went to Iowa State, which shocked quarterback Will Grier and then-No. 6 West Virginia, beating the Mountaineers 30-14 in Ames. 

The Cyclones held Grier, a Heisman Trophy candidate coming into the week, to just 100 passing yards and one touchdown, and they snagged an interception. West Virginia managed just 152 yards of offense, while the Cyclones went for 498. It's hard to win when your opponent has more than three times the offense.

Iowa State dominated in the trenches, rushing for 244 yards and chewing up 37:21 in time of possession. The game plan was to keep the ball out of Grier's hands, and it worked like a charm. 

Then there was Penn State, which hasn't had much luck against Michigan State in recent years. That continued Saturday, as Brian Lewerke found Felton Davis III for a 25-yard touchdown pass with just 19 seconds remaining to give Sparty a 21-17 win on the road.

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It was Penn State's fourth loss to Michigan State in the past five years. And much like last year—when the Nittany Lions lost to Ohio State and the Spartans in consecutive weeks in nail-biter results—this defeat all but ends the team's national title dreams.

Washington's title hopes also probably came to an end Saturday in a 30-27 loss to Oregon in Eugene, as a CJ Verdell's six-yard run in overtime sealed the Huskies' fate.

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"This was for our fanbase, for the future of the program, for the season, for the Pac-12 race," Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal said, per James Crepea of The Oregonian. "It was immense, and it's only Week 6."

"Immense" is an apt way to describe Week 7 in general.

Week 8 has a lot to live up to, with some intriguing matchups on tap. Michigan is at Michigan State, and North Carolina State is taking on Clemson. Colorado at Washington lost some of its shine with both teams losing in Week 7, but it should still be an excellent contest. Meanwhile, Oregon at Washington State is a crucial Pac-12 matchup.

Add in Mississippi State at LSU, and next week should be fun. 

   

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