College football rankings: Week 8, 2021

By Kevin Kelley -

College football rankings for week 8 of the 2021 season have been released. Georgia remained in first, while Cincinnati moved up to second.

The Georgia Bulldogs (7-0) remained the top-ranked team in the nation following their 30-13 home victory over the 11th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats. The loss dropped Kentucky to 15th in the AP Poll and 14th in the Coaches Poll.

The Cincinnati Bearcats (6-0) climbed one spot in the AP Poll to second following their 56-21 blowout victory over the UCF Knights. Cincinnati also moved up a spot in the Coaches Poll to No. 3 behind the second-ranked Oklahoma Sooners.

The top five in the AP Poll is now (1) Georgia, (2) Cincinnati, (3) Oklahoma, (4) Alabama, and (5) Ohio State while the top five in the Coaches Poll is (1) Georgia, (2) Oklahoma, (3) Cincinnati, (4) Alabama, and (5) Ohio State.

Arizona State, Arkansas, BYU, and Florida dropped out of both polls, while Texas dropped out of the AP Poll following losses this weekend.

Below is the full AP Poll and USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll for Week 8 of the 2021 season (first-place votes in parentheses). The STATS Perform FCS Top 25 and FCS Coaches Poll will be announced on Monday.

AP Poll – Week 8

1. Georgia (63)
2. Cincinnati
3. Oklahoma
4. Alabama
5. Ohio State
6. Michigan
7. Penn State
8. Oklahoma State
9. Michigan State
10. Oregon
11. Iowa
12. Ole Miss
13. Notre Dame
14. Coastal Carolina
15. Kentucky
16. Wake Forest
17. Texas A&M
18. NC State
19. Auburn
20. Baylor
21. SMU
22. San Diego State
23. Pitt
24. UTSA
25. Purdue

Others receiving votes: Clemson 64, Utah 43, Arkansas 29, BYU 21, Air Force 19, Iowa State 14, Louisiana 13, Florida 7, Arizona State 7, Texas 5, UCLA 4, Houston 2, LSU 2, Virginia 1

Dropped from rankings: Arkansas 17, Arizona State 18, BYU 19, Florida 20, Texas 25

AFCA Coaches Poll – Week 8

1. Georgia (65)
2. Oklahoma
3. Cincinnati
4. Alabama
5. Ohio State
6. Michigan
7. Michigan State
8. Penn State
9. Oklahoma State
10. Oregon
11. Iowa
12. Ole Miss
13. Notre Dame
14. Kentucky
15. Wake Forest
16. Coastal Carolina
17. Texas A&M
18. NC State
19. SMU
20. Baylor
21. San Diego State
22. Auburn
23. Pitt
24. Clemson
25. UTSA

Others receiving votes: Iowa State 38, Utah 35, Arkansas 31, BYU 23, Florida 23, Air Force 20, Louisiana 18, Arizona State 18, Purdue 16, Houston 11, Virginia 6, Texas 4, LSU 2, Fresno State 1

Dropped from rankings: Florida 17, Arkansas 19, BYU 20, Arizona State 22

STATS Perform FCS Top 25 – Week 8

1. Sam Houston (35)
2. Eastern Washington (14)
3. North Dakota State (1)
4. Southern Illinois
5. Villanova
6. South Dakota State
7. James Madison
8. Montana State
9. Southeastern Louisiana
10. UC Davis
11. Montana. 4-2
12. Kennesaw State
13. UT Martin
14. ETSU
15. South Dakota
16. UIW
17. Missouri State
18. Rhode Island
19. Sacramento State
20. Northern Iowa
21. VMI
22. Princeton
23. Delaware
24. Jackson State
25. Dartmouth

Others receiving votes: Jacksonville State 104, Harvard 101, Eastern Kentucky 85, Weber State 73, Duquesne 44, North Dakota 27, Prairie View A&M 16, Youngstown State 11, Chattanooga 8, William & Mary 7, Stephen F. Austin 5, Mercer 4

Dropped from rankings: Weber State 19, North Dakota 22, New Hampshire 23, Jacksonville State 24

FCS Coaches Poll – Week 8

1. Sam Houston (26)
2. Eastern Washington (2)
3. North Dakota State
4. Southern Illinois
5. Villanova
6. James Madison
7. South Dakota State
8. Montana State
9. Southeastern Louisiana
10. UC Davis
11. Kennesaw State
12. Montana
13. UT Martin
14. ETSU
15. South Dakota
16. Harvard
17. Princeton
18. Missouri State
19. Rhode Island
20. Jackson State
21. Jacksonville State
22. Eastern Kentucky
23. VMI
24. Northern Iowa
25. Delaware

Others receiving votes: UIW 70, Dartmouth 67, North Dakota 34, Chattanooga 33, Weber St. 28, Monmouth (N.J.) 19, Florida A&M 15, Duquesne 13, Sacramento St. 10, Holy Cross 9, Furman 8, Mercer 6, New Hampshire 6, Stephen F. Austin 6, Yale 6, Prairie View A&M 2, Towson 2, Elon 1

Dropped from rankings: Weber St. 18 North Dakota 24

Comments (2)

Time to start routing for the worst possible Playoff matchups ever, so we get an expanded playoff sooner.

First Alabama needs to win out and win the SEC West, then beat undefeated Georgia in a close game. #1 vs #4?
Second Oklahoma needs to lose, on the road maybe to Baylor or OK St.
Third Iowa needs to keep winning and go into the Big 10 Championship with 1 loss and probably ranked in top 7.
Michigan or Michigan St or win the East undefeated and ranked #2 but Iowa beats them in the Championship.
Cincinnati remains undefeated so the outrage will be higher.
#1 Alabama plays #4 GA in one layoff game, #2 Iowa lays #3 Michigan in the other. All have one loss
#5 Cincinnati is suppose to be happy playing #6 Oklahoma in a New Years day bowl.

@Kevin Kelley,

Dan-ke for the Stats Perform 1AA Top 25.
No One has a lock on the Top 4 Spots in the 32 Team Playoff yet. 12 Teams in addition to the top 4 will be ranked 5-16 which gives many Teams the Opportunity to win consistently their next 5 Games leading to “The Real CFP”. The other 16 Spots are unranked but give Teams who are late developers their Opportunity to pass the lost Teams.