Week 2 Top 25- Movers and Shakers

 

RK	AP Poll	USA Today Poll	Jeremy	Nick
1	Florida State	Florida State	Florida State	Florida State
2	Alabama	Alabama	Alabama	Alabama
3	Oregon	Oklahoma	Oregon	Oregon
4	Oklahoma	Oregon	Auburn	Georgia
5	Auburn	Auburn	Georgia	Oklahoma
6	Georgia	Michigan State	Baylor	Auburn
7	Michigan State	Ohio State	Michigan State	Michigan State
8	Ohio State	Georgia	Oklahoma	Baylor
9	Texas A&M	Baylor	Ohio State	LSU
10	Baylor	Stanford	Stanford	Ohio State
11	UCLA	UCLA	LSU	Texas A&M
12	LSU	LSU	Texas A&M	UCLA
13	Stanford	Texas A&M	USC	Stanford
14	USC	USC	UCLA	Notre Dame
15	Ole Miss	Notre Dame	Notre Dame	Ole Miss
16	Notre Dame	Arizona State	South Carolina	USC
17	Arizona State	Ole Miss	Ole Miss	Wisconsin
18	Wisconsin	Nebraska	Wisconsin	Nebraska
19	Nebraska	Wisconsin	Kansas State	Arizona State
20	Kansas State	Kansas State	North Carolina	Kansas State
21	South Carolina*	South Carolina	Nebraska	North Carolina
22	North Carolina (21)*	Missouri	Clemson	Missouri
23	Clemson	North Carolina	Arizona State	Louisville
24	Missouri	Clemson	Texas	South Carolina
25	Louisville	Texas	Missouri	Clemson

 

 

 

Movers and Shakers

Ok, so we may have only had one week of college football but let’s keep in mind that this is college football- a sport with perhaps the most volatile ranking system in America.  Though we may not have seen too many major swings in the rankings, there are a few teams to watch. 

 

Texas A&M saw the biggest jump moving from No. 21 to No. 9, while South Carolina saw the largest drop, going from No. 21 to No. 9.  UCLA and Ohio State both saw their rankings drop slightly from No. 5 to No. 8 for OSU and No. 7 to No. 11 for UCLA.  Georgia saw a solid jump, from No. 12 to No. 6, while the team they beat, Clemson, dropped from No. 16 to No. 23.  The Washington Huskies dropped out of the AP Poll.  Their spot is taken by Louisville after a win over Miami on Monday. 

 

Surprisingly, of the six top 25 teams that dropped in the rankings, OSU, UCLA and Washington all won.

 

Going Up 

 

Texas A&M

It’s clear after their win over South Carolina that we all likely underestimated this team.  Combine that with the fact that their next real challenge won’t come until an October, 4^th trip to Mississippi State and there’s a good chance the Aggies will crack the top five before the end of September.

 

Baylor

Like A&M, the Bears upcoming schedule is pretty easy and they won’t play a quality opponent until a road trip to Texas on October, 4^th.  The Bears are No. 10 now and we’ll see their rank go up before it goes down.

 

Louisville

The Cardinals had a solid win over Miami on Monday, kicking off life in the ACC with a bang.  They just break in at No. 25 this week and a road trip to Virginia will be their only real test until they travel to Clemson on October, 11^th.

 

Washington

I know, I know, but their next three games are at home against Eastern Washington, Illinois and Georgia State.  The Huskies have time to move up, or back into the polls and get us all buzzing about them again before Stanford comes to town on September, 27^th.

 

Going Down 

 

South Carolina

The Gamecocks got drilled by A&M and looked terrible in the process.  Couple that with the fact that their next four games are against East Carolina, Georgia, @ Vandy and Missouri.  Not necessarily a murderer’s row (except UGA) but all teams that will compete hard against SC and have the potential to make life miserable.  South Carolina could surprise and pull off wins against all these teams but unless we see some serious improvement, that doesn’t seem likely.

 

Wisconsin

The Badgers next few games are winnable, so this isn’t as much an issue about whether or not they’ll lose in the next few weeks but more about their long-term ability to climb in the rankings.  Melvin Gordon is a monster and the rushing attack is top notch.  However, Tanner McEvoy was an issue last week and without the threat, or presence of a passing game Gordon and the other backs are going to run into eight and nine man fronts.

 

Clemson

The Tigers loss to Georgia certainly hurts but the Bulldogs are a really good football team and don’t think anyone was really surprised by the loss.  The challenge for Clemson will be turning things around in the next few weeks.  In our ACC Preview, we highlighted the early schedule for Clemson and noted that there was a good chance they’d get off to a slow start with the ability to finish strong.  After a tune-up game against South Carolina State this week, three of their next four games are against top 25 teams- @FSU, vs. UNC and vs. Louisville (NC State is between UNC and L’ville and the Tigers have struggled at time against the ‘Pack).  With this early schedule it’s reasonable to think that things could get worse for the Tigers before they get better.   

 

 

Bubble Watch

 

Texas

The Longhorns show up in the Coaches Poll this week and I think this team has some staying power.  I don’t know that they’ll climb too high at any point in the season but Charlie Strong is a good coach and this team has talent. 

 

Oklahoma State

I listed them in the WINNERS category for week 1 despite their loss to Florida State.  JW Walsh is a great fit in that offense and Tyreek Hill is a dynamic playmaker.  This team will crack the top 25 sooner than later and might end up making some real noise in the Big 12.

 

Florida

Will Muschamp wanted nothing more than to start the season with a bang and crush Idaho, putting some of this offseason frustration to bed.  He’s going to have to wait another week, but I like what they’ve done this offseason with the addition of Kurt Roper as OC.  This team has talent and they’ll be in the top 25 again before you know it.