Week 7 upsets reshape college football playoff outlook
Five of the top seven AP-ranked teams lost in Week 7, prompting a major reshuffle of the College Football Playoff picture.
A wave of upsets on Saturday saw five of the top seven teams in the AP Top 25 suffer defeats, dramatically altering the College Football Playoff projections. No. 1 Georgia fell at home to Auburn after surrendering a 10-point lead, while No. 2 Notre Dame was beaten on the road by No. 8 BYU, which scored the winning touchdown with under two minutes remaining. The losses opened the door for Miami to claim the No. 1 spot in the upcoming AP poll.
Other ranked teams also stumbled: No. 5 Indiana narrowly missed a win over Ohio State, No. 6 Alabama was beaten by Tennessee, and No. 7 Texas lost to an unranked Florida team that rallied from a two-score deficit. Georgia, despite the loss, remains 6-1 and could still secure a first-round bye, but another defeat could jeopardize its playoff chances.
Ohio State secured a road victory over Indiana, moving ahead in the Big Ten race, though its starting quarterback Julian Sayin suffered an injury that will sideline him for several weeks. The Buckeyes now face a road game at USC and will need to navigate the remainder of the season without Sayin.
The week’s results are expected to cause a "seismic shift" in the playoff bracket, with analysts projecting a new lineup based on the updated standings.