College Football Week 2 Top 25

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One full week of college football is down, and it’ll be hard to top how entertaining and chaotic that first week was throughout the rest of the season. From three top-10 matchups, to upsets, to wild games, it couldn’t have been much better. But with chaos, comes difficulty ranking a top 25. I’m sure none of you will have any disagreements whatsoever on my top 25 because it’s perfect…ok, ok, fine, I guess not, but whose is at this point in the season? Anyways, here’s my Week 2 top 25. 

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In Consideration: Auburn, Tennessee, TCU, Indiana, BYU, USF, Texas A&M

25. SMU Mustangs

Last Week: W 42-13 vs East Texas A&M

This Week: vs Baylor (Noon ET, CW Network)

Not much to say about SMU after Week 1, besides they did what they were supposed to do and blew out an inferior opponent. I dropped them a few spots just because of other teams I thought deserved to move ahead of them, I’m not knocking them for anything. A real test against Baylor on Saturday will show the level of this team.

24. Alabama Crimson Tide

Last Week: L 17-31 at Florida State

This Week: vs UL-Monroe (7:45 ET, SEC Network)

I debated dropping Bama completely out of my rankings after that abysmal performance against Florida State on Saturday, but I kept them in just because I think they’re talented enough to beat anyone in the country if they play their A-game. The biggest problem that I, and a lot of people have, was the complete lack of effort at times by many players for the Tide.

23. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Last Week: W 27-20 at Colorado

This Week: vs Gardner-Webb (3:30 ET, ESPN+)

After turning it over on its first three possessions of the season against Colorado, I actually thought Georgia Tech played pretty well the rest of the way, especially running the football. I’m not sure if Haynes King can stay healthy all year with his playstyle, though.

22. Florida State Seminoles

Last Week: W 31-17 vs Alabama

This Week: vs East Texas A&M (Noon ET, ACC Network)

Florida State put on a great, and also shocking performance in its upset win over Alabama on Saturday. The program looks to have corrected its problems from a year ago, and Thomas Castellanos looks like a bonafide Heisman contender after the first week.

24. Alabama Crimson Tide

Last Week: L 17-31 at Florida State

This Week: vs UL-Monroe (7:45 ET, SEC Network)

I debated dropping Bama completely out of my rankings after that abysmal performance against Florida State on Saturday, but I kept them in just because I think they’re talented enough to beat anyone in the country if they play their A-game. The biggest problem that I, and a lot of people have, was the complete lack of effort at times by many players for the Tide.

23. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Last Week: W 27-20 at Colorado

This Week: vs Gardner-Webb (3:30 ET, ESPN+)

After turning it over on its first three possessions of the season against Colorado, I actually thought Georgia Tech played pretty well the rest of the way, especially running the football. I’m not sure if Haynes King can stay healthy all year with his playstyle, though.

22. Florida State Seminoles

Last Week: W 31-17 vs Alabama

This Week: vs East Texas A&M (Noon ET, ACC Network)

Florida State put on a great, and also shocking performance in its upset win over Alabama on Saturday. The program looks to have corrected its problems from a year ago, and Thomas Castellanos looks like a bonafide Heisman contender after the first week.

21. Illinois Fighting Illini

Last Week: W 52-3 vs Western Illinois

This Week: at Duke (Noon ET, ESPN)

Another team that we can’t really take too much away from after Week 1, as they blew out a pretty bad FCS team. A big road test against Duke looms on Saturday though, and we’ll get to see what the Illini are made of heading forward.

20. Arizona State Sun Devils

Last Week: W 38-19 vs Northern Arizona

This Week: at Mississippi State (7:30 ET, ESPN2)

I dropped Arizona State down seven spots in my rankings, partially because of teams who I thought deserved to move ahead of them, and partially because I wasn’t super impressed with its performance in Week 1. While they beat Northern Arizona somewhat handily, they did show some vulnerabilities that a better team could capitalize on.

19. Louisville Cardinals

Last Week: W 51-17 vs Eastern Kentucky

This Week: vs James Madison (Fri, 7 ET, ESPN2)

Another team that didn’t play much competition, but through one week, this looks like another Jeff Brohm-coached Louisville team that should be very good. They’ll be tested  more against James Madison this Friday.

18. Utah Utes

Last Week: W 43-10 at UCLA

This Week: vs Cal Poly (6 ET, ESPN+)

If you’re going purely off Week 1 eye-test and nothing else, Utah may be your No. 1 team in the country. The Utes absolutely dismantled UCLA as only 6-point favorites. The defense was great as usual, but the biggest difference and great sight to see for Utah fans was that the offense was humming in QB Devon Dampier’s Ute debut.

17. USC Trojans

Last Week: W 73-13 vs Missouri State

This Week: vs Georgia Southern (7:30 ET, FS1)

Now while USC also played a vastly inferior opponent, I moved the Trojans from one of my first teams out all the way up to 17th because of how they looked. If you’ve been following my content this offseason, I’ve harped on how USC was one of my most underrated teams heading into the season multiple times, so I was kind of waiting for a performance like this to vault them into the top 25.

16. Ole Miss Rebels

Last Week: W 63-7 vs Georgia State

This Week: at Kentucky (3:30 ET, ABC)

Similar to USC, I vaulted Ole Miss up a few spots because of its absolutely dominant performance over another FBS team. The Rebels first real test will come on the road against Kentucky this Saturday.

15. Michigan Wolverines

Last Week: W 34-17 vs New Mexico

This Week: at Oklahoma (7:30 ET, ABC)

While Michigan looked fine against New Mexico, I moved them down two spots, as I don’t think it looked as crisp as a lot of teams above them as 35-point favorites against a below-average FBS team. That won’t matter if they can knock off Oklahoma on the road in a game between two borderline playoff teams, though. 

14. Iowa State Cyclones

Last Week: W 55-7 vs South Dakota

This Week: vs Iowa (Noon ET, FOX)

I moved the Cyclones up a few spots in my rankings, as they picked up a ranked win over Kansas State across the pond, and followed it up with a slaughter of the preseason No. 5 FCS team in its home-opener. If they can beat in-state rival Iowa this Saturday, the schedule sets up to where they’ll likely crack the top 10 within a few weeks.

13. Oklahoma Sooners

Last Week: W 35-3 vs Illinois State

This Week: vs Michigan (7:30 ET, ABC)

Oklahoma was another team to dismantle one of the top preseason FCS teams in Week 1, and QB John Mateer looked elite in doing so. The Sooners will play host to Michigan on Saturday night in a must-see-game.

12. Texas Tech Red Raiders

Last Week: W 68-7 vs Arkansas Pine-Bluff

This Week: vs Kent State (Noon ET, TNT/TruTV)

Texas Tech is one of the most interesting teams to monitor this season, as they may have the highest variance of how the season could go across the country. While they won’t get tested until conference play, they certainly looked the part against Arkansas Pine-Bluff in Week 1.

11. South Carolina Gamecocks

Last Week: W 24-11 vs Virginia Tech (Atlanta)

This Week: vs SC State (7 ET, ESPN+)

I’m still higher on South Carolina than most heading into Week 2, but I did have some concerns about the Gamecock offense while watching them in Week 1. They were playing a pretty good defense in Virginia Tech, but they’re going to have to play better against better defenses than that if they’re going to contend for a playoff spot. The defense looked elite, however.

10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Last Week: L 24-27 at Miami

This Week: Bye Week

Although Notre Dame lost to Miami on Sunday, I’m not knocking them too much for its performance. Going on the road to an (unusually) tough environment in Coral Gables with a brand new starting QB and defensive coordinator would make most teams stumble. CJ Carr looked uncomfortable for the first few Irish series, but then seemed to settle down after that and almost led them to an impressive comeback. They have a week to get things right before Texas A&M comes to town Week 3.

9. Clemson Tigers

Last Week: L 10-17 vs LSU

This Week: vs Troy (3:30 ET, ACC Network)

Similar to Notre Dame, I’m not punishing Clemson too much for its loss. However, the Tigers’ loss was at home and the offense did not look great, which is a little concerning, but I still have confidence that they’ll make a run in the relatively weak ACC. I am completely out on Dabo Swinney’s team being any sort of a national title contender now though.

8. Oregon Ducks

Last Week: W 59-13 vs Montana State

This Week: vs Oklahoma State (3:30 ET, CBS)

Oregon looked the part against an FCS powerhouse on Saturday, putting a beatdown on Montana State. Though they play a power conference team this week, it’s at home against maybe the worst one in Oklahoma State.

7. Florida Gators

Last Week: W 55-0 vs Long Island

This Week: vs South Florida (4:15 ET, SEC Network)

My preseason rankings had Florida at No. 7 in the country, and they’re staying there until they deserve to drop or move up despite criticism I’ve gotten for the ranking. I’m just much higher on the Gators than most this season, and they have a chance to prove that against maybe the best group of five team in South Florida this weekend.

6. Miami Hurricanes

Last Week: W 27-24 vs Notre Dame

This Week: vs Bethune-Cookman (7 ET, ESPN+)

I was lower on Miami than most heading into the season, but I did predict them to beat Notre Dame Week 1, given the circumstances of the game, and I was correct. Even though I don’t think the Canes will be here by the end of the season, you have to give credit where credit is due and this is where I think they belong for the time being.

5. Georgia Bulldogs

Last Week: W 45-7 vs Marshall

This Week: vs Austin Peay (3:30 ET, ESPN+)

We’re not going to really find out much about Georgia until next weekend when they travel to Knoxville to take on Tennessee. They looked pretty good against inferior competition on Saturday and will probably yield a similar result this Saturday against Austin Peay.

4. Texas Longhorns

Last Week: L 7-14 at Ohio Stater

This Week: vs San Jose State (Noon ET, ABC)

I’m not really sure what to do with Texas after its performance on Saturday. On one hand, the defense looked elite on the road against the defending national champs, but on the other hand, the offense did not look good whatsoever in Arch Manning’s first game as the full-time starter. While I do think the offense will improve throughout the season, I am a little concerned about how bad it looked on Saturday.

3. Penn State Nittany Lions

Last Week: W 46-11 vs Nevada

This Week: vs FIU (Noon ET, Big Ten Network)

Similar to about half the teams in this top 25, Penn State looked great against bad competition. The frustrating part about the Nittany Lions, however, is that they don’t play anything close to decent competition until Oregon comes to town in late September.

2. LSU Tigers

Last Week: W 17-10 at Clemson

This Week: vs Louisiana Tech (7:30 ET, ESPN+)

I was lower on LSU than most heading into the season, mainly because the SNAP Model was so low on them to end last season because of its bad losses. The Tigers proved it’s a whole-new year, though, as they beat Clemson on the road in a defensive battle to open the year. After seeing that performance, I’m all-in on the Tigers, as I was much more concerned about the defense before Week 1, and the defense looked elite.

1. Ohio State Buckeyes

Last Week: W 14-7 vs Texas

This Week: vs Grambling State (3:30 ET, Big Ten Network)

How could I not put Ohio State as my No. 1 team in the country after convincingly beating my preseason No. 1? Was it perfect? No, especially on the offensive side of the ball. But it was enough to get the job done, and Ryan Day’s hire of Matt Patricia as defensive coordinator might have been the move of the offseason.

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