AP Top 25 poll reactions: Why Texas jumped Ohio State for No. 2 spot in college football rankings

Sunday’s AP High 25 introduced a slight shock when it was revealed that Texas, following an enormous 31-12 street win towards Michigan, jumped Ohio State for the No. 2 spot behind top-ranked Georgia. It is the Longhorns’ highest AP rating since 2009 and additional legitimizes their standing as a nationwide title contender. 

Even when Ohio State followers could really feel slightly slighted, the motion is not essentially reflective of the Buckeyes. Ryan Day’s squad has accomplished every thing it must do via the primary two weeks by beating Akron and Western Michigan by a mixed rating of 108-6. 

However AP voters are usually reactive earlier within the season when there are much less information factors to separate groups which are worthy of a top-25 spot. And it doesn’t matter what Ohio State has accomplished to this point, Texas coming into some of the commemorated stadiums in school soccer and handing a former top-10 Michigan group its worst loss at house since 2020 leaves a big impression — particularly since Michigan’s 15-0, nationwide title-winning 2023 season remains to be contemporary on everybody’s minds. 

To place it merely, Texas left Week 2 with one of many largest wins we’ll see all season, whereas Ohio State has spent its time beating up on two groups that completed with a mixed file of 6-18 in 2023. 

It is not like an enormous hole separated the Buckeyes and Longhorns earlier than the mud settled from Week 2 anyway. Texas was simply 60 factors behind Ohio State in final week’s AP ballot. A big portion of that hole was created by 12 voters that positioned Texas outdoors of the highest three. 

There was a radical shift following the Michigan win. Texas held a top-three spot on each poll however one. Although Ohio State boasts a slight edge in first-place votes — 5 to Texas’ 4 — the Longhorns accrued an awesome 37 second-place votes — 20 greater than Ohio State. 

That razor-thin margin that separated the 2 groups following Week 1 grew even smaller. Texas had 16 extra factors than Ohio State (1,492-to-1,476) within the newest AP launch. Ohio State goes to have loads of alternatives to make an impression with a back-loaded schedule. 4 of the Buckeyes’ final seven video games come towards groups that earned a spot within the Week 3 AP ballot, together with two top-10 groups in Oregon and Penn State. 

Texas, in the meantime, cleared its largest hurdle to this point. The Longhorns do not play one other ranked group till Oct. 12’s Purple River conflict towards No. 15 Oklahoma. No. 1 Georgia is the one present top-10 group that Texas has to play for the remainder of the common season. 

We’re simply two full weeks into the season. Whereas early polls are a enjoyable device to measure the present school soccer energy construction and a flashy quantity to point out potential recruits, the preliminary Faculty Soccer Playoff Rankings will not come out till November. That is the metric that Texas and Ohio State actually have their eyes on as two early favorites to go the space.