AP Top 25 Poll – Week 2

Welcome to Week 1 of College Football. This weekly series begins with the AP Top 25 preseason poll.

AP voters released this poll on Aug. 15, and Week 0 games had no bearing on that week’s standings.

1. Alabama – 1-0 (44)
2. Georgia – 1-0 (17)
3. Ohio State – 1-0 (2)
4. Michigan- 1-0
5. Clemson – 1-0
6. Texas A&M – 1-0
7. Oklahoma – 1-0
8. Notre Dame – 0-1
9. Baylor – 1-0
10. USC – 1-0
11. Oklahoma State – 1-0
12. Florida – 1-0
13. Utah – 0-1
14. Michigan State – 1-0
15. Miami (FL) – 1-0
16. Arkansas – 1-0
17. Pittsburgh – 1-0
18. State NC – 1-0
19. Wisconsin- 1-0
20. Kentucky – 1-0
21. BYU – 1-0
22. Ole Miss – 1-0
23. Wake Forest – 1-0
24. Tennessee – 1-0
25. Houston – 1-0

Where is the UNC?

• Again, the North Carolina Tar Heels received a few votes and ended up no. 39 by total votes.
• Carolina was ranked on two ballots, one in the no. 24 and another at no. 25.

The biggest losers

• Oregon was destroyed last week by Georgia, 49-3. The Ducks went from no. 11 to unranked in a hurry.
• Last Saturday, no. 23 Cincinnati was held scoreless in the first half by the no. 19 Arkansas. Although they beat the Razorbacks in the second half, it wasn’t enough to get out of their hole in the first half and stay in the poll this week.

The biggest winners

• Florida scored with 1:25 left in the game to get the better of the no. 7 Utah. Their win in the swamp took the Gators from unranked to no. 12 in just one week.
• Tennessee’s 49-point victory over Ball State was enough to knock them out of the bubble and into the poll.

Outside, look

• Oregon is not written off by sportswriters. The Ducks finished 26th in the vote and a voter placed them in the no. 12, just one spot lower than their initial ranking.
• Penn State survived a thriller at Purdue on Thursday night, scoring the game-winning touchdown with just 57 seconds left in the game. The Nittany Lions are not. 27 by total votes.

Breakdown of the top 25 conferences

• ACC: 5 teams
• American: 1 team
• Big Ten: 4 teams
• Big 12: 3 teams
• Independent: 2 teams
• Pac-12: 2 teams
• SEC: 8 teams

Top 25 games this week

• Tennessee’s No. 24 travels to Pittsburgh to face the no. 17 Panthers. The home team is the underdog in this game, so it should be good considering the difference in competition for each team in Week 1.
• Newly ranked Florida hosts no. 20 Kentucky Saturday night. This game will show the true colors of each team.
• No. 9 Baylor heads to Provo to face No. 9. 21 BYU at 10:15 p.m. ET on Saturday. The Cougars are favored by 3.5.

upset alert

• This week again, no. 25 is the highest rating on the upset alert. These Cougars are the underdog against Texas Tech in Lubbock.
• No. 23 Wake Forest opened just 6.5 points favorite over Vanderbilt. The news that quarterback Sam Hartman is cleared to play widened the gap to 13 points. Wake can win, but can they cover?
• The primetime ABC game is no. 10 USC at Stanford. The Trojans under Lincoln Riley face their first PAC-12 opponent and open as nine-point favorites.