As we survey the damage from an active and consequential opening weekend of games, let’s look ahead to the AP top 25 college football rankings heading into Week 2.
Having three different games with top 10 ranked teams facing off on the same field is bound to wreak some havoc in the rankings, leaving AP top 25 voters facing quite a dilemma on how to react, and not overreact, to what they saw over the weekend.
One thing we know? There’ll be a new No. 1 team in college football, after Texas, atop the preseason poll astonishingly for the first time ever, dropped a seven-point decision at third-ranked Ohio State that didn’t seem as close as the scoreboard said it was.
LSU made a statement in a key victory at Clemson in primetime, handing the ACC title favorites a black eye in their debut, showing off what looks like a tougher defense, and finally giving head coach Brian Kelly his first season opening victory at the school.
Who’s moving up? Who’s moving down?
Note: this isn’t our ranking of the best teams, but our prediction for how top 25 voters will slot them in the official Week 2 poll on Tuesday.
Dropping out: Boise State, Kansas State
25. Utah. The biggest mover in ESPN’s college football rankings this week, the Utes should break into the official top 25 after demolishing UCLA by a 43-10 count while rushing for almost 300 yards. Add another contender in the crowded Big 12 title race.
24. Florida State. Coming off a 2-10 disaster, the Seminoles needed to make a statement at home against Alabama, and they certainly did, pulling off the upset of the weekend as 13.5 point underdogs and holding the Tide to 87 rushing yards.
23. Tennessee. Joey Aguilar looked the part in his debut as the Vols’ new quarterback, leading an offense that stacked up nearly 500 total yards in a big win over Syracuse.
22. Texas Tech. What could be college football’s most-improved defense after an offseason spending spree, the Red Raiders looked good in a 60-point thrashing of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, but there are concerns around quarterback Behren Morton after he hyperextended his knee in the process.
21. Iowa State. Rocco Becht set a school record by completing 95 percent of his passes as the Cyclones returned from a Week 0 win in Farmageddon to destroy South Dakota.
20. Ole Miss. Austin Simmons looked efficient in his debut replacing Jaxson Dart at quarterback, covering over 300 yards with three touchdown passes in a big win against Georgia State, with a date at Kentucky up next in an early SEC opener.
19. Indiana. Curt Cignetti wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance in a win over Old Dominion, but the Hoosiers have two more games to tune up before the Big Ten opener against Illinois, followed by consecutive road dates at Iowa and Oregon.
18. Alabama. Nick Saban wasn’t there to save them, as Tommy Castellanos would say, and proved, as the Crimson Tide looked positively manhandled on both lines of scrimmage in a two-touchdown loss at Florida State, a result that has put Kalen DeBoer in the cross hairs of Bama’s severe fanbase.
17. Texas A&M. Marcel Reed threw a career-best four touchdown passes and new wideout KC Concepcion had a solid debut that included an 80-yard punt return touchdown.
16. Oklahoma. John Mateer gave the Sooners’ offense an upgrade, scoring four all-purpose touchdowns while passing for almost 400 yards to beat Illinois State with a big date at home against Michigan up next.
15. SMU. The ACC’s runner-up returned two interceptions for touchdowns to smash East Texas A&M, but saw linebacker Alexander Kilgore and wideout Jordan Hudson both get injured in the process.
14. Florida. The Gators rumbled for over 200 yards and their quarterbacks combined for five total touchdowns in a 55-0 result against Long Island, with a marquee date on the road against LSU in two weeks’ time.
13. Michigan. Bryce Underwood put up 251 yards passing with a touchdown in his first start and Justice Haynes rumbled for 3 scores on 159 yards rushing for the Wolverines, who get a major test at SEC hopeful Oklahoma next Saturday.
12. South Carolina. Beamerball is back, as the Gamecocks turned away Virginia Tech on the back of an 80-yard punt return touchdown and LaNorris Sellers ran for a touchdown.
11. Illinois. Luke Altmyer threw 3 touchdown passes and the Illini ran for 210 yards and 3 more scores to get past Western Illinois with a big game at Duke next week.
10. Arizona State. The Cam Skattebo-less Sun Devils ran for over 200 yards and 3 touchdowns, including 2 from quarterback Sam Leavitt to beat Northern Arizona and go on the road to projected SEC last-place finisher Mississippi State next.
9. Notre Dame. CJ Carr had some good moments in his first start for the Irish, passing for 221 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a game-tying score when he ran from 7 yards out, but there is definitely growing room for the young quarterback, and curiously for a very talented backfield that only had 93 combined yards.
8. Clemson. Billed as one of college football’s most dynamic offenses, this unit failed to generate anything on the ground and quarterback Cade Klubnik was held out of the end zone by LSU’s apparently vastly-improved defense in a 17-10 loss at home, an early blow to Clemson’s playoff bona fides.
7. Oregon. Dante Moore had 3 touchdowns and the Ducks ran for over 200 yards against Montana State heading into a notable non-conference matchup against Oklahoma State.
6. Miami. Carson Beck had 221 yards passing and 2 touchdowns, and the Hurricanes’ defense turned out a very impressive showing in a field goal win over Notre Dame, the team’s first victory against an AP top 10 opponent since 2017.
5. Texas. Arch Manning’s meager debut gets all the headlines after a loss at Ohio State as the No. 1 team, and there are questions around some of the Longhorns’ decision-making on offense, but the cause is nowhere near lost with a one-score loss to the reigning national champions.
4. Georgia. A dominating victory over Marshall in the opener combined with the Longhorns’ loss allows the Bulldogs to move up one spot from No. 5 this week.
3. LSU. Expect pollsters to give the Tigers one of the biggest jumps of any teams in the Week 2 rankings after a signature victory at Clemson that shows, at least for now, that this can be an SEC contender.
2. Penn State. Beating up on Nevada is expected for the Nittany Lions, but AP top 25 voters could be more swayed by the Buckeyes beating No. 1 Texas as the No. 3 team and jump them over Penn State, but it’ll be a close vote, as this team received 23 first-place votes in the preseason, two shy of Texas at the time.
1. Ohio State. There was plenty left to be desired on offense, perhaps expected in Julian Sayin’s first career start at quarterback, but in the meantime the Buckeyes’ stiff defense did the heavy lifting in a statement win over top-ranked Texas in the opener.
More… AP top 25 teams moving up, down in Week 2
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