Ranking the Three Worst Losses of College Football Week 7

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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College football week 7 is in the books. What three losses this week were the worst of the worst and potentially ruined seasons?

With week 7 in the books, each loss is becoming more devastating towards teams reaching their goals. Several teams suffered some debilitating losses this weekend. There is no room for error anymore.

The list could have been a lot harder to sort out if several teams didn’t hold on for close victories. Louisville sleep walked through a 24-14 win over Duke. Clemson needed overtime to beat NC State. Utah only beat Oregon State by five. Houston needed a goal line stand to beat Tulsa. Ohio State won in OT against Wisconsin.

Several other teams couldn’t pull off a win and just missed the cut for this list. Notre Dame suffered their fifth loss and it keeps getting uglier and uglier. Miami suffered their second straight loss and only mustered 13 points against North Carolina. Michigan State gave up 54 points to Northwestern in their fourth loss.

With the first college football playoff rankings just a few weeks away, we are getting down the critical point of the season with each loss mattering more and more.

Here were three worst of this past weekend.

Oct 15, 2016; Athens, GA, USA; (EDITORS NOTE: CAPTION CORRECTION) Vanderbilt Commodores cornerback Joejuan Williams (8) reacts at the end of the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium. Vanderbilt defeated Georgia 17-16. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

3. Georgia Loses to Vanderbilt

This loss making the list is more about who Georgia lost to more than it is about it impacting their season. At 4-2 heading into the week, the season was already nearly lost, but this third loss all but ruins it.

Vanderbilt has been struggling for years now and are one of the worst teams in the SEC. Georgia is a blue blood of the conference who continually gets high class recruits. However, the school has fallen short of reaching the status of Alabama, LSU or even Florida. They haven’t been able to get over the hump.

This loss continues that trend and really puts the beginning of the Kirby Smart coaching era on a downward spiral. Out gaining Vandy 421 to 171 but losing 17-16 is hard to do but the Bulldogs did it.

Losing at home to Vanderbilt for a team like Georgia is utterly embarrassing. It is not looking like a successful year is ahead.

Oct 15, 2016; Syracuse, NY, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies head coach Justin Fuente watches the play on the field during the fourth quarter of a game against the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse won 31-17. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

2. Virginia Tech Loses to Syracuse

This was your typical let down game. Virginia Tech was coming off of a huge win over North Carolina that sent them skyrocketing up to 17th in the polls. It had people thinking about and wondering if the “old days” of Hokie football were back.

Then they traveled up to Syracuse, New York and got beat by the 2-4 Orange. The Hokies gave up a whopping 561 yards and 405 of which were in the air. The loss now drops them in the ACC Coastal standings with more tough games to come against Miami, Pittsburgh and the rivalry game against Virginia.

The loss is devastating after all the momentum the program gained last week. It didn’t even last a week. It just continues to go to prove that college football is such a week to week sport and how great a team looks the week before could mean nothing,

They still have a chance in the division but their margin of error just got even thinner.

Oct 15, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Butch Jones looks on during the first half against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

1. Tennessee Loses to Alabama

There is certainly no shame in losing to Alabama these days but if your team and your fan base consider your team “back” and one of the best in the conference, you can’t lose by 39 points at home.

It’s the way that they lost that puts the Vols on this list. They were straight up dominated and came away with their tails between their legs. The injury excuses (even though they have lost several key players) don’t carry any weight either. We are in week 7 and every team has injuries. They were outgained 594 to 163 in the 49-10 loss.

QB Josh Dobbs was atrocious as he threw for just 92 yards on 16 completions with one interception. Jalen Hurd only was able to run for 28 yards on 13 carries too. Meanwhile Alabama imposed their will on them with 438 rushing yards of their own.

It was a classic case of men vs boys out there on that field. It was an eye opener loss that potentially could really damage a teams psyche. They thought they could compete with the best and now they may think otherwise. Luckily for them they have South Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt left in conference while Florida has a much tougher schedule so a SEC East title is still in reach.

Sadly though, that will probably be a rematch vs Alabama.