College Football Rankings Week 2: CFN Top 25 After a Strange Opening Weekend
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For a Week 1 without a slew of scintillating matchups, it sure was memorable – and weird.
The season just started, so it’s not time to overreact. Even so, despite all the blowouts, our top 25 rankings have several twists, changes, and turns.
Where does Michigan belong after needing an all-time ending to get by Western Michigan? How much credit should LSU get for destroying Clemson, and where does Oregon belong after surviving Boise State?
As always, we’ll adapt and adjust as we go, but for now, here are the 25 best teams in college football.
CFN Week 2 Top 25 Teams: What to Do With Michigan, LSU, and Oregon?
25. Michigan Wolverines
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 13
Week 1: Michigan 13, Western Michigan 12
Up Next: Oklahoma
You get one free pass, Michigan. Yes, it was an awful way to end the game, but yes, the Wolverines did actually get out 1-0. All will be forgiven and forgotten with a great performance against Oklahoma.
– CFN Week 2 Teams 26 to 138
24. Louisville Cardinals
Record: (0-1)
Last Week Rank: 18
Week 1: Ole Miss 41, Louisville 38
Up Next: Villanova
It stinks that the defense couldn’t hold up late, but the offense was brilliant. New quarterback Lincoln Kienholz is going to be fantastic in the ACC.
23. Florida Gators
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 26
Week 1: Florida 66, Florida Atlantic 21
Up Next: Campbell
We bought into the Jon Sumrall era from jump, and nothing about the 66 points and well over 600 yards of total offense against a dangerous Florida Atlantic team, at least offensively, changed that.
22. Utah Utes
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 25
Week 1: Utah 66, Idaho 14
Up Next: Arkansas
The Utes wanted to set a tone right away in the Morgan Scalley era, and 364 rushing yards and five touchdown passes did just that.
21. Ole Miss Rebels
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 24
Week 1: Ole Miss 41, Louisville 38
Up Next: Charlotte
We already knew Trinidad Chambliss and the offense would be fantastic, but the Rebels have one game to fix the horrific secondary before LSU comes to town.
20. Kansas State Wildcats
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 23
Week 1: Kansas State 71, Nicholls 3
Up Next: Washington State
Yes, it was a paycheck game against an overmatched team, but for a Wildcat fan base that was looking for some fun after a blah start to last season, this was everything it could’ve asked for out of new head coach Collin Klein.
19. Penn State Nittany Lions
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 22
Week 1: Penn State 45, Marshall 0
Up Next: at Temple
Marshall is decent, and Penn State didn’t have any issues in the first game under Matt Campbell. Quarterback Rocco Becht is going to be a problem for the Big Ten.
18. South Carolina Gamecocks
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 21
Week 1: South Carolina 57, Kent State 0
Up Next: Towson
Fantastic. If you want to get the bad vibes of a lousy season out of the building, you come out and play like that.
17. Iowa Hawkeyes
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 20
Week 1: Iowa 40, Northern Illinois 0
Up Next: Iowa State
Iowa actually threw a few downfield passes. For the Hawkeyes, that was about as much fun as the offense has been in a while. Northern Illinois is awful, though, so let’s see what happens against Iowa State.
16. Washington Huskies
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 19
Week 1: Washington 24, Washington State 10
Up Next: Utah State
This is more about projection than production. The Huskies looked like it was Week 1 in the Apple Cup win over Washington State. The explosion and big plays were there, and they’ll be far, far sharper over the next few games – at least that’s the assumption.
15. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 12
Week 1: Texas Tech 33, Abilene Christian 10
Up Next: at Oregon State
There’s a little bit of a wait-and-see attitude here. Texas Tech was just fine against an FCS team, but it knows it’s good. It’s getting up to speed, and we’ll give the credit when it’s due.
14. Tennessee Volunteers
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 16
Week 1: Tennessee 56, Furman 9
Up Next: at Georgia Tech
It was just a paycheck game against Furman, but … Faizon Brandon completed 13-of-17 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns.
13. BYU Cougars
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 17
Week 1: BYU 63, Utah Tech 7
Up Next: Arizona
BYU could’ve put up 90 on Utah Tech, but even though it held back in the second half, it appeared to get the work in needed to be ready for Arizona.
12. Alabama Crimson Tide
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 14
Week 1: Alabama 48, East Carolina 10
Up Next: at Kentucky
Alabama didn’t receive enough credit for looking fast and dangerous against an East Carolina team that will contend for the American Conference title. The offense wasn’t always perfect, but it still cranked up 38 points in the first half.
11. Texas A&M Aggies
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 9
Week 1: Texas A&M 50, Missouri State 0
Up Next: Arizona State
Missouri State is starting over, and Texas A&M took advantage. Don’t read anything into the Aggies moving out of our top ten – there’s a bit of a reshuffling going on. Let’s see what happens against a dangerous Arizona State.
10. Miami Hurricanes
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 10
Week 1: Miami 45, Stanford 6
Up Next: Florida A&M
Miami was tremendous considering it was a very, very long road trip. However, Stanford is undergoing a total rebuild, and it was missing a slew of key offensive linemen.
9. USC Trojans
Record: (2-0)
Last Week Rank: 11
Week 1: USC 39, Fresno State 0
Up Next: Louisiana
Almost flawless. Fresno State is a good team with a great coaching staff, and USC walked through this game like it was going to get a latte. Jayden Maiava is in total control of the attack.
8. Oregon Ducks
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 3
Week 1: Oregon 34, Boise State 27
Up Next: at Oklahoma State
RELAX – there’s no need to go into a panic quite yet. This still might be the best team in college football despite the strangely lifeless effort against Boise State. For now, we’ll go by what we saw, but there will be real worries if it doesn’t rip Oklahoma State to shreds.
7. Oklahoma Sooners
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 7
Week 1: Oklahoma 51, UTEP 0
Up Next: at Michigan
This got tossed aside because there wasn’t much of a storyline compared to everything else that happened with the top teams, but for a tune-up game, quarterback John Mateer and the offense looked in midseason form.
6. Texas Longhorns
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 6
Week 1: Texas 59, Texas State 7
Up Next: Ohio State
Texas State was more than just a speed bump of an opponent, and Arch Manning and Texas ripped through it with ease. Arch has some serious wide receiver weapons to show off against Ohio State.
5. Georgia Bulldogs
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 5
Week 1: Georgia 63, Tennessee State 3
Up Next: Western Kentucky
Georgia isn’t playing around. It toyed with Tennessee State and used the game as a true warm-up, and there’s more coming with Western Kentucky up next. The offense will keep spreading it around.
4. Indiana Hoosiers
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 4
Week 1: Indiana 52, North Texas 16
Up Next: Howard
Remember, Indiana looked lousy in last year’s opener against Old Dominion, and it did just fine. If anything, this team might be even more talented. The focus and fight were there from the start.
3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 2
Week 1: Notre Dame 41, Wisconsin 13
Up Next: Rice
It took a half to get up to speed against the Badgers, and then the Irish rolled at will. The offensive line was devastating, and the defense held up just fine.
2. LSU Tigers
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 8
Week 1: LSU 51, Clemson 10
Up Next: Louisiana Tech
We believe. It wasn’t just that LSU took out a solid Clemson team by 41; it’s that it looked and played so much faster than a team that could still contend for the ACC title. This game confirmed what we all suspected going into the season – Lane Kiffin has a team with superior talent now. Look out.
1. Ohio State Buckeyes
Record: (1-0)
Last Week Rank: 1
Week 1: Ohio State 52, Ball State 16
Up Next: at Texas
The Buckeye offense was frighteningly good for the first game of the season, and then it took its foot off the gas. The offensive line could’ve been tighter, and the defense got a little loose by Ohio State standards, but everything looked just fine going into the showdown in Austin.
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