College Football Rankings Week 7: Michigan rises, Michigan State falls

Oct 10, 2015; Piscataway, NJ, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Connor Cook (18) is helped up after sack by Rutgers Scarlet Knights linebacker Steve Longa (not in picture) at High Points Solutions Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

Our Spartan Avenue college football rankings heading into week seven have been updated following Saturday’s wild festivities and there have been many risers and many teams who have fallen from last week.

Every week seems to get more unpredictable and this one is no different as a few of the top teams in the country had been stifled by lesser opponents.

Let’s take a look at our week seven college football rankings:

USC barely stays in our Top 25 because, well, I refuse to believe that the Trojans are really as bad as the team we saw lose to Washington, 17-12. Cody Kessler had quite possibly the worst game of his career, but the defense looked solid. One more performance like this and USC won’t be sniffing the Top 25 anymore.

College football is a game of inches. Georgia hit the road to play a tough Tennessee squad, leading 24-17 at half, but the Bulldogs allowed 14 straight points in the fourth quarter and a last-drive effort to score a touchdown came up just short, losing by seven. Nick Chubb is likely done for the year after a serious knee injury and the Bulldogs’ quarterback issues are obvious.

It seems like every year the Oklahoma Sooners have a tough time with Texas in the Red River Rivalry, no matter how good — or bad — the Longhorns are that season. Oklahoma got down early and never recovered, losing 24-17 because of its inability to stop Texas’ run game. Samaje Perine didn’t have a great game, either, rushing for just 36 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

OK, so Arizona State began the season ranked and then lost the opener to Texas A&M and then a conference bout against USC. The Sun Devils have since rebounded from that loss to the Trojans to knock off a top-10 opponent in UCLA on the road. Mike Bercovici is quietly putting together a solid season for the Sun Devils, but more impressive wins need to happen to move them up.

This was a difficult one for me. Putting the Toledo Rockets in the Top 25 just goes to show how whacky this season has already been. Toledo is 5-0 with a key win on the road of Bret Bielema’s Arkansas team which has become one of the biggest disappointments of the 2015 season. If the Rockets keep winning, it’s going to be hard to keep them out.

Next: No. 20 Duke - No. 16 UCLA