TULSA, Okla., Sporting Alert – Oklahoma was the biggest droppers in Week 7 of the ESPN NCAA College Football Power Rankings, released over the weekend.
The Sooners (4-1) dipped 12 spots in this week’s power rankings, after suffering a shocking defeat to the unranked and struggling Texas on Saturday.
Oklahoma started the game slowly, fell behind early and never recovered en route to a 24-17 negative result against the Longhorns in the Red River Rivalry.
Bob Stoops’ side also fell big time in the AP top 25 rankings because of that defeat.
Up next for Oklahoma is a trip to Kansas State on Saturday and this could be another challenging outing for the men from Norman, who are gradually losing grounds on fellow Big 12 rivals Baylor and TCU.
While Oklahoma’s season looks like it’s on the verge of plummeting, Big Ten hopeful Michigan seems to be going the correct way.
Wolverines (5-1), who have been impressive since losing to Utah in Week 1, have jumped seven places to No. 9 in this week’s ESPN Power Rankings with 225 points, after starting last week at 17th.
Michigan’s defense kept Northwestern offense very quiet for the entire day on Saturday in a 38-0 victory – posting a third consecutive shutout on the season, and become the first FBS team to achieve such a feat since 1995.
A tasty clash with Michigan State at home this coming Saturday is just the sort of test that could perhaps make or break the season for the Wolverines.
Victory on Saturday would make them serious challengers for the Big Ten crown, while a defeat would play into the hands of the Spartans (6-0) who dropped four spots in this week’s power rankings.
Northwestern’s unhealthy shutout defeat against Michigan saw them falling seven places on the ESPN list to No. 19.
Utah (5-0) remains the ESPN NCAA College Football Power Rankings No. 1 team with 307 points in Week 7, despite not dominating against California.
The Utes survived against a very good Cal team that stayed No. 23 in the AP top 25 poll, despite losing 30-24 on Saturday.
California (5-1) also moved up one slot in the top 25 power rankings for Week 7, even with the loss.
ESPN NCAA College Football Power Rankings
RK TEAM REC – via ESPN.com
1 Utah 5-0
2 Baylor 5-0
3 Ohio State 6-0
Clemson 5-0
5 TCU 6-0
6 Florida 6-0
LSU 5-0
8 Texas A&M 5-0
9 Michigan 5-1
10 Alabama 5-1
11 Michigan State 6-0
12 Florida State 5-0
13 Ole Miss 5-1
14 Notre Dame 5-1
15 Stanford 4-1
16 Oklahoma State 6-0
17 UCLA 4-1
18 Iowa 6-0
19 Northwestern 5-1
20 Oklahoma 4-1
21 Boise State 5-1
22 California 5-1
23 Temple 5-0
24 Houston 5-0
25 Toledo 5-0
Others receiving votes: Duke (21), Arizona State (11), Memphis (10), Penn State (10), Georgia (7), North Carolina (3), Arizona (2), Mississippi State (2), Kansas State (1), Minnesota (1)
