Tomorrow’s Top 25 Today: Texas jumps Ohio State as Michigan, Notre Dame tumble in college football rankings
Sunday will get us again into the conventional rhythm of the AP High 25 ballot launch after the prolonged Week 1 motion over Labor Day. As we put a bow on Week 2 and start to advance the dialog to Week 3, we’re as soon as once more seeing how fluid issues might be within the faculty soccer rankings early within the season.
Groups can look nice one week after which fall properly in need of expectations the next week, however once we’ve solely obtained a few video games to make use of for a rankings profile, it may be tough to determine a correct place within the prime 25. For instance: Is Notre Dame the group that received at Texas A&M on the highway or the group that misplaced at residence to Northern Illinois?
You do not even want an outright upset to see modifications within the rankings, as a result of the identical form of confusion might be utilized to Alabama or Penn State, who every acquired a stiff problem from Group of 5 opponents and can see an influence on their standing come Sunday.
However essentially the most predictable strikes within the rankings early within the season are reactions to wildly spectacular wins, and few victories will resonate greater than Texas’ assertion sport towards Michigan within the Massive Home. The Longhorns jumped throughout Michigan early and managed the sport all through, guided by Quinn Ewers’ regular hand and a confidence that comes with the latest successes of this Texas program. They appeared each bit the a part of a nationwide title contender, and that is going to make AP voters rethink their earlier views on how the highest groups within the nation stack up towards one another.
Here is how we predict the brand new AP High 25 will look on Sunday:
1. Georgia (Earlier rating — 1): No change for the highest canine after getting the house schedule began with a 45-point win towards FCS Tennessee Tech.
2. Texas (3): Solely 60 voting factors separated Texas from Ohio State final week (1,478-to-1,418), and that was with 12 voters placing Texas decrease than No. 3 with one as little as No. 6. We’re projecting that the win at Michigan — extra particularly, the dominant nature of the win — raises the ground for voters who had been decrease on the Longhorns and will even lead to a few stray first-place votes. That is the recipe for making up a voting hole of 60 factors and leaping into the dialog for No. 1.
3. Ohio State (2): This is able to not be a case of the Buckeyes getting punished for something — they had been thorough within the dispatching of Western Michigan — however when evaluating the groups on the very prime of the game, there’s a deficit of that one big-time win. Georgia appeared wonderful towards Clemson, and Texas introduced its title worthiness on the highway at Michigan. Till Ohio State has a chance to log a giant win, will probably be driving on preseason repute and uncooked expertise within the debate for No. 1.
4. Ole Miss (6): Jaxson Dart is shortly constructing his case as the highest quarterback within the nation by piling up extra spectacular statistics and accomplishments throughout third his senior season in Oxford. On Saturday, it was 24 straight completions to begin the sport in a 52-3 win towards Center Tennessee, marking the longest single-game streak in SEC historical past.
5. Oregon (7): The Geese are at present in motion towards Boise State.
6. Alabama (4): Count on a drop of some spots for Kalen DeBoer’s squad after trying shaky for many of a 42-16 win over South Florida. Alabama emerged unscathed and should not fall too far, however the Crimson Tide will seemingly fall out of the highest 5.
7. Penn State (8): The primary version in Week 2 of the MAC threatening to tug a top-10 upset ended with the favorites holding on — barely. Penn State’s protection allowed scoring drives on 4 of Bowling Inexperienced’s first 5 possessions of the sport earlier than locking the Falcons down after halftime. Then, within the second half, twin 100-yard speeding efforts from Nicholas Singleton (13 carries, 119 yards) and Kaytron Allen (14 carries, 101 yards) helped Penn State survive the upset scare.
8. Missouri (9): The Tigers haven’t got a giant assertion win like Georgia or Texas, however they’ve performed precisely what’s been anticipated of a top-10 group by way of two weeks of the season. After one other wire-to-wire win, this time towards Buffalo, Missouri is outscoring its competitors 89-0 on the 12 months.
9. Utah (11): Whereas the Utes had been in a position to begin Massive 12 play with a 23-12 win towards Baylor, all eyes will probably be on the standing of Cam Rising after the Utes star quarterback left the sport with a hand damage. Kyle Whittingham advised the published after the sport he believes the damage is “not critical,” however Utah’s offense didn’t rating as soon as within the second half when Rising was on the sideline.
10. Miami (12): No main modifications for the Hurricanes after a high-flying, 56-9 win towards Florida A&M that was highlighted by a four-touchdown efficiency (three passing, one speeding) for Cam Ward.
11. USC (13): The Trojans are at present in motion towards Utah State.
12. Tennessee (14): A show-stopping efficiency from Tennessee’s offense will definitely get the eye of voters who had been eyeing one of many few ranked-on-ranked video games of Week 2 as an opportunity to guage the Volunteers’ place as a top-15 group. Evidently, after the 51-10 victory there isn’t any doubt, and the purpose posts are being moved to judging Tennessee towards the very best groups within the SEC.
13. Oklahoma State (16): Some key turnovers and a pick-six allowed the Cowboys to hold round and ultimately survive a double-overtime thriller towards Arkansas. In a method, Oklahoma State needs to be inspired by how its veteran group discovered a solution to win on a day when issues weren’t clicking constantly, however there’s additionally loads to work on with large video games arising quickly on the schedule.
14. Kansas State (17): A difficult first half made it seem like Kansas State was on the verge of dropping an early nonconference sport for a 3rd straight season, however the Wildcats protection stepped up late with stops and even a scoop-and-score in a 34-27 highway win towards Tulane.
15. Notre Dame (5): An enormous mover after beating Texas A&M within the season opener, Notre Dame will definitely take a tumble after the house loss to Northern Illinois. The Combating Irish might need been at No. 5 however had been nonetheless getting positioned as little as the Nos. 8-10 vary by a dozen of voters final week. There won’t be a excessive ground for his or her fall.
16. Michigan (10): The shortcoming for Michigan to maneuver the soccer and end drives constantly is an alarming element that stands out to any faculty soccer fan and positively the AP voters. The Wolverines nonetheless have one of the proficient defenses within the nation, however with out an offense that contribute to complimentary soccer, it will be laborious to put Michigan inside the highest 10.
17. LSU (18): A brief turnaround from Sunday’s loss to USC in Las Vegas arrange a precarious circumstance with LSU solely main Nicholls 23-21 early within the third quarter. However the Tigers took management all through the second half and scored 21 unanswered factors to win by a snug 44-21 last margin.
18. Oklahoma (15): We’re on the lookout for the Sooners to surrender a pair spots after the offense struggled in a 16-12 win towards Houston. Oklahoma was a four-touchdown favourite within the sport and needed to sweat the end result all the way in which till the ultimate minutes when a game-sealing security from the protection saved the day.
19. Arizona (20): The Wildcats are at present in motion towards Northern Arizona.
20. Louisville (22): Quarterback Tyler Shough was nonetheless taking part in into the fourth quarter as Jeff Brohm needed to go away little question in a 49-14 win towards Jacksonville State. Shough led an offensive assault that piled up 610 yards of offense within the win, shifting the Cardinals to 2-0 as they head into an early season off week.
21. Clemson (25): No group that misplaced in Week 1 had a much bigger bounce-back assertion in Week 2 than Clemson. The Tigers jumped out to a 35-0 lead on Appalachian State within the first quarter and defended that benefit all the way in which to a 66-20 win.
22. Iowa State (NR): Trailing 13-0 at halftime, an injury-riddled Iowa State protection was in a position to lock in and step up its efficiency within the second half whereas Rocco Becht confirmed his resilience guiding the Cyclones to an epic comeback win. With a go-ahead subject purpose within the sport’s last minute, Iowa State will get to hold the boldness from this rivalry into Massive 12 play the place many video games will come right down to late-game execution.
23. Nebraska (NR): Early within the season, it may be laborious to separate assigning credit score for a win from blame for a loss, however the eye-popping rating on a giant stage goes to have AP voters way more more likely to enhance their opinion of the Cornhuskers. Nebraska not solely avenged final season’s loss to Colorado however confirmed its full vary of instruments to be nice in 2024 with Dylan Raiola and a protection that may punish opponents for errors.
24. Illinois (NR): In 2022, Bret Bielema obtained Illinois again into the AP High 25 ballot for the primary time in 11 years. We’re projecting that Saturday’s win towards Kansas will add one other rating to his tenure because the Illini discovered a solution to win a tricky nonconference battle after a sluggish and sloppy begin.
25. Syracuse (NR): Quarterback Kyle McCord has totaled 735 passing yards and eight touchdowns in two wins for Syracuse, following one in every of his best-ever performances within the opener with a fair higher one towards a ranked opponent in Georgia Tech. Like Illinois, we’re projecting the 2-0 Orange get a stumble upon the rankings because of Saturday’s ranked win.
Projected to drop out: No. 19 Kansas, No. 21 Iowa, No. 23 Georgia Tech, No. 24 NC State