College Football Rankings 2021: Projected AP Top 25 for Week 5

I’ll be honest, I expected a Stanford upset of UCLA this week after the Cardinal were red-hot and the Bruins were upset by Fresno State last weekend. We didn’t see that as Dorian Thompson-Robinson avoided a comeback loss to the Cardinal and we saw the Bruins hold on to win in Palo Alto. This was a huge bounce-back for Stanford.

The Bulldogs got behind early against lowly UNLV on Friday night but bounced back from that 14-0 deficit. They battled back to take a 29-21 lead in the fourth quarter before the Rebels took a late lead after a field goal. Fresno State held on to win, but this has to change the minds of some AP voters who had them ranked No. 22. I see a slight drop.

For the first time in what feels like an eternity, Clemson is going to be on the outside of the top-10, looking in. The Tigers went on the road and lost an overtime battle to NC State which just caps off a nightmare first month of the season for Dabo Swinney and Clemson. Maybe the Tigers just aren’t that good?

Michigan State dodged a bullet as Nebraska had the win in hand before a punt return touchdown changed the entire outlook of the game. The offense struggled mightily in the second half, but Mel Tucker and Co. improved to 4-0 and should sneak into that top-20 range. Are we concerned about the Spartans? Sure, but no one expected them to do anything this year.

It’s never a good sign when you struggle at home against Rutgers and we might see AP voters penalize the Wolverines for limping to a seven-point win over the Scarlet Knights in Week 4. Sure, Michigan controlled the entire game, but if not for a missed field goal and a late turnover by Rutgers, this may have been the upset of the week.