NCAA Football Rankings 2018: Week 8 College Top 25 Standings Shakeup Predictions

Another wild October Saturday is in the books, with seven teams from the Associated Press Top 25 suffering defeats, including four teams in the Top 10.

According to ESPN's Chris Fallica, it's a rare occurrence to see so many elite teams fall on the same day:

The shakeup will lead to some substantial changes in the AP Top 25, which will be released Sunday afternoon. Based on Saturday's results, below is a breakdown of how the new poll could look.

Projected AP Top 25

1. Alabama (last week: 1)

2. Ohio State (3)

3. Clemson (4)

4. Notre Dame (5)

5. Texas (9)

6. UCF (10)

7. LSU (13)

8. Michigan (12)

9. Oklahoma (11)

10. Florida (14)

11. Georgia (2)

12. Oregon (17)

13. Kentucky (18)

14. N.C. State (20)

15. West Virginia (6)

16. Penn State (8)

17. Washington (7)

18. Texas A&M (22)

19. Wisconsin (15)

20. South Florida (23)

21. Mississippi State (24)

22. Miami FL (16)

23. Cincinnati (25)

24. Iowa (NR)

25. Stanford (NR)

Dropped out: Colorado (19), Auburn (21)

11. Georgia

LSU easily handled Georgia 36-16 while racking up 475 yards of offense against a strong Bulldogs defense.

Georgia's loss opens up the door for a new No. 2 team in the country, likely Ohio State, which was just six points behind the Bulldogs in the Week 7 poll.

The good news for Georgia is it still controls its destiny in the SEC and, therefore, controls its path to the College Football Playoff as well. If Georgia wins out, it will advance to the SEC championship game, where it will likely face Alabama. And with a win over the Crimson Tide, this loss to LSU will be easily forgiven.

The downside to this loss, however, is that the SEC title is likely Georgia's only path to a playoff berth.

If Alabama and Georgia had entered the SEC championship with identical 12-0 records, the loser would still have a strong argument for selection. After Georgia's crushing defeat at LSU, though, that benefit of the doubt may only apply to Alabama.

12. Oregon

After a couple down years, it looks like Oregon is back and should be knocking on the door of the top 10 after a 30-27 victory over Washington. The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Ducks against their hated rival.

Unfortunately for the Ducks, they still don't control their destiny in the Pac-12 thanks to a devastating loss against Stanford earlier this season. A questionable decision in that game by head coach Mario Cristobal to continue running the ball—which led to a fumble—rather than kneeling down and punting with just seconds left will hang over this program for the rest of the year.

If Stanford loses again, however, Oregon will control its destiny in the Pac-12 and could be headed toward a Rose Bowl berth.

Oregon has faced ranked opponents in three consecutive weeks (Stanford, California and Washington) and could play a fourth in Week 8 if Washington State rises into the Top 25.

16. Penn State

After losing 27-26 to Ohio State in late September, Penn State's playoff chances remained alive. By running the table, the Nittany Lions likely would have advanced with just one close loss to an elite team on its resume.

Saturday's 21-17 defeat at the hands of Michigan State, however, effectively ended Penn State's postseason dreams.

With two conference losses, the Nittany Lions can't win the Big Ten East without both Michigan and Ohio State suffering two defeats. And even then, Penn State would need help from some tiebreakers.

Now on a two-game losing streak, Penn State is likely to plummet in the rankings and will need to add wins to its resume against Michigan (November 3) and Wisconsin (November 10) before making a significant rise again.