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We’ve got college football games in the books, and it’s time for some overreactions.
Let’s start off the Week 2 edition of The Athletic 136 with some reminders. This list will be volatile early in the season, with big risers and fallers as data starts to come in. These rankings are my best attempt to rank a combination of resume and performance. Teams that beat what I think is a good team will see a big jump; teams that lose to a team I don’t think is good will drop significantly.
For teams that just beat up on an inferior Group of 5 or Football Championship Subdivision opponent in Week 1, this ranking does not matter. Your team might “fall” despite winning, but that’s only because it got jumped by someone who actually played an opponent of note. It will take a few weeks for everyone to play a quality opponent. This is your disclaimer to not get mad about that.
The good news is Week 1 was loaded. We got a real look at so many teams, especially near the very top.
Welcome to the No. 1 spot, LSU, after a 17-10 win at Clemson. I originally had Ohio State here when the Buckeyes beat Texas 14-7 in Columbus. I flipped to LSU on Saturday night because the (LSU) Tigers dominated the second half and the box score to beat a veteran team on the road, while Ohio State beat a younger team at home. I also had Clemson ranked ahead of Texas to start the year.
Does this mean I think LSU is the best team in the country? I do know LSU has the most impressive win right now, and these rankings are about rewarding wins and close losses. It’s going to look funky early in the season. It will adjust as the weeks go on.
That is your warning. Now let’s get into this week’s Athletic 136.
In most weeks, Florida State would have its own case for No. 1 after its 31-17 win against Alabama. The Seminoles will have to settle for a jump from No. 49 to No. 3. Is it possible Alabama is just not very good? Yes. And if the season plays out that way, this win will carry less value when evaluating the Noles. Miami’s 27-24 win against Notre Dame slides the Hurricanes up to No. 4.
Texas, Clemson and Notre Dame don’t fall far, landing at Nos. 5-7 because they all lost to fellow top-10 teams and had the ball with a chance to tie at the end. Two of those losses also came on the road. I’m not going to penalize them very much for what were otherwise solid performances. Is playing Ohio State within one score on the road more impressive than beating up a weaker Group of 5 team? I think so.
So yes, Penn State “drops” from No. 1 to No. 8 because it played Nevada, while everyone above the Nittany Lions played or beat preseason top-10 teams. You’re rewarded in these rankings for big wins and close losses against top teams. Penn State has FIU and Villanova up next, before a visit from Oregon after an off week, so the Nittany Lions are going to be floating around for a while until they play that first game of note. The same goes for Georgia and Oregon. Relax, and just give it some time.
Utah jumps up from No. 18 to No. 11 after a 43-10 demolition of UCLA. The Utes converted 14 of their 16 third downs in a complete beatdown. Do we know what UCLA is? No, but a dominant road win over a Big Ten team counts for something right now.
South Carolina beat Virginia Tech 24-11, but it was a mostly sloppy game full of Virginia Tech mistakes, so the Gamecocks stay at No. 12 but jump Arizona State and Illinois. It’s good to have freakish talents who can pull you to wins.
Auburn’s 38-24 win at Baylor jumps the Tigers up from No. 30 to No. 15. Iowa State also moves into this group after a 2-0 start, though its Week 0 win against Kansas State took a hit when the Wildcats barely escaped FCS North Dakota this past weekend. South Florida is the new highest-ranked Group of 5 team at No. 20 after a 34-7 destruction of Boise State. The Bulls don’t get any breaks, with Florida and Miami (Fla.) up next.
TCU moves up into the top 25 after a demolition of North Carolina. Alabama falls all the way down to No. 23 after its loss in Tallahassee. Coach Kalen DeBoer now has four losses to unranked teams as at least a 14-point favorite, and he has only been the head coach for 14 games. The Tide look like a normal program now.
Not much movement in this group because it didn’t have many notable Week 1 games. Georgia Tech escaped with an ugly win against Colorado, but the Yellow Jackets’ position is more about the teams that jumped them. Tulane manhandled Northwestern 23-3 and slides up to No. 33, giving the American Conference the top two G5 teams.
Nebraska needed a late interception to hold off Cincinnati, as the Huskers bump up a few spots to No. 37. Kansas State falls to No. 39 after the loss to Iowa State, followed by the narrow win against North Dakota.
Colorado stands pat after its close loss to Georgia Tech. NC State also stayed where it was after needing a late fourth-down stop to beat East Carolina. Boise State falls all the way down to No. 54 for losing at USF. I haven’t seen a Broncos team play that poorly in all facets in a long time. UTSA actually rises two spots to No. 56 for playing well in a loss at Texas A&M, rushing for more than 200 yards.
UNLV is 2-0 but drops from No. 48 to No. 59 after needing a fourth-quarter comeback against FCS Idaho State in Week 0. Virginia Tech slides up a spot to No. 60 because despite the Hokies’ self-inflicted mistakes against South Carolina, their defense played very well. Cal jumps to No. 63 after handling Oregon State, and true freshman QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele looks like a future star.
Fresno State is up to No. 69 after following up an ugly Week 0 loss to Kansas with a 42-14 blowout win against Georgia Southern. Rice makes a big jump from No. 127 to No. 71 thanks to a 14-12 win against Louisiana, a Sun Belt favorite. East Carolina gains a couple of spots for taking NC State to the end.
North Carolina plummets to No. 76 after that loss to TCU. We’ll see if it was a first-game learning experience, but the Tar Heels looked completely outmatched. Ohio slides up from No. 94 to 81 for a close loss at Rutgers. Northwestern slides down 10 spots to No. 89 for its lopsided loss at Tulane, and Wake Forest is down to No. 94 after beating Kennesaw State by just one point. Stanford remains the lowest-ranked Power 4 school, down to No. 95 after the loss at Hawaii.
Central Michigan’s 16-14 win at San Jose State moves the Chippewas up to No. 91 and the Spartans down more than 30 spots to No. 96. Georgia Southern’s blowout loss at Fresno State drops the Eagles down to No. 98.
Army tumbles more than 30 spots to No. 105 after an overtime loss to Tarleton State, a top-10 FCS team. Utah State moves up to No. 109 after beating UTEP. UAB falls to No. 128 after a second-half comeback helped the Blazers escape FCS Alabama State. Northern Illinois drops down to No. 126 for needing a fourth-quarter comeback to beat FCS Holy Cross.
Congratulations to Kent State. The Golden Flashes, the Football Bowl Subdivision’s only winless team last year, ended a 21-game losing streak with a 21-17 win against FCS Merrimack. It’s never fun watching how long some teams on these rankings go without a win. They’d sat at the bottom of these rankings since early 2024. New at the bottom is Middle Tennessee, which lost 34-14 to FCS program Austin Peay, a team that went 4-8 last year.
(Photo: Ken Ruinard / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
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