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Even without marquee matchups, college football always delivers.
With multiple overtime games, upsets and close calls, Week 2 provided a lot of reasons to shake up this week’s edition of The Athletic 136, just not at the top.
Welcome to the top 15, South Florida. The Bulls jumped into my top 25 after a season-opening romp against Boise State in Week 1, but most of the rest of the country was cautious. After beating Florida in The Swamp, USF is the clear frontrunner for the Group of 5’s College Football Playoff spot right now. I feel comfortable saying if USF wins the American, the Bulls will make the CFP, though there is obviously a long way to go (and no Tulane on the regular season schedule).
Reminder: These rankings are volatile early in the season, rewarding what appear to be impressive wins. My preseason rankings reflect how I think things will look at the end of the season, but once games start, I’m not going to rely heavily on my preseason feelings. I’m going to rely on results, stacking and adjusting as games come in and the season goes on.
At the same time, wins that suddenly don’t look so good get devalued. You’re going to see South Carolina and Utah “drop” in this week’s rankings despite wins, but it takes a few weeks for everyone to play an opponent of note and provide enough data. If your team hasn’t played anyone notable, it will float around. Penn State, once you play Oregon, then I’ll feel comfortable putting you somewhere.
Here is this week’s edition of The Athletic 136.
No changes in the top five after everyone handled inferior competition. Oregon rises after beating Oklahoma State by 66, while Clemson falls after trailing Troy at halftime before a 27-16 win. Does Clemson’s performance hurt the value of LSU’s Week 1 win? A bit. But Ohio State’s and Texas’ easy wins against Grambling and San Jose State weren’t enough to change anything.
Georgia travels to Tennessee this week, so we’ll see what the Bulldogs really look like soon. Penn State has Villanova and an off week before Oregon.
Illinois climbs after a 45-19 win at Duke, and Iowa State is right behind the Illini after beating Iowa. Oklahoma jumps after a comfortable win against Michigan.
After a 44-20 win at Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt moves ahead of South Carolina because the Gamecocks played Virginia Tech closer and at a neutral site — a simple head-to-head comparison we lean on early in the year (and the Commodores head to Columbia on Saturday). Utah slips down to No. 18 because its impressive demolition of UCLA in Week 1 lost some luster after UCLA lost to UNLV. Again, don’t fret about “dropping” after a win early in the season. It’ll sort itself out.
Missouri also enters the top 25 at No. 20 after beating Kansas by multiple scores.
Mississippi State takes this week’s biggest jump after taking down Arizona State. Baylor’s win at SMU brings the Bears back into the top 30. Texas A&M is another team floating here still waiting to play an opponent of note; a trip to Notre Dame awaits in Week 3. Florida drops almost 20 spots to No. 37 after the loss to USF, while Tulane slides to No. 39 after holding on against South Alabama.
Michigan State’s double-overtime win against Boston College sees the Spartans climb up to No. 43, while NC State’s win against Virginia has the Wolfpack reach No. 44. Texas State enters the top 50 after beating UTSA.
UNLV, now 3-0 and up to No. 52 after beating UCLA, seems to have figured things out since getting a Week 0 scare from Idaho State. Duke slides after the loss to Illinois, while James Madison’s loss to Louisville drops the Dukes to No. 54.
Toledo moves up after an impressive 45-21 win against Western Kentucky in which the Rockets rushed for more than 300 yards, but they have to stay behind Kentucky because of the teams’ Week 1 meeting. That’s why the Wildcats move “up” despite a loss to Ole Miss. Close teams will remain sticky for a few weeks. Ohio climbs after a home win against West Virginia and now has put together two solid performances against Power 4 opponents.
Army followed up a loss to Football Championship Subdivision program Tarleton State with a win at Kansas State, jumping up to No. 68. Kansas State’s trying season continues, and Army may become a very difficult team to place in these rankings.
Oklahoma State tumbles after its blowout loss in Eugene, and I debated sending the Cowboys even further down. Jacksonville State’s win against Liberty upends the Conference USA race and lifts the Gamecocks up to No. 85. UCLA had better hope it finds a win in the next two games against New Mexico and Northwestern … while No. 97 Stanford remains the lowest Power 4 team in the rankings.
No. 102 Temple is intriguing, now 2-0 with blowout wins against UMass and Howard. The competition hasn’t been great, obviously, but new coach KC Keeler has the Owls taking care of business in a way they haven’t in almost a decade. New Mexico State jumps after a late score to beat Tulsa. Missouri State picked up its first FBS win with a 21-20 victory over Marshall. Northern Illinois climbs a few places after a hard-fought effort against Maryland.
Eastern Michigan drops to No. 132 after losing to FCS Long Island. The competition for the bottom is strong(?), as Akron lost 68-0 to Nebraska and Ball State lost 42-3 to Auburn. But Middle Tennessee played Wisconsin close for a half, and UMass lost to an FCS Bryant team that went 2-10 last year, so the Minutemen now take over the bottom spot.
(Photo: Justin Ford / Getty Images)
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