AP Top 25 Poll - Week 2

Welcome to Week 1 of college football. This weekly series starts with the preseason AP Top 25 Poll.

The AP voters released this poll on August 15, and the Week 0 games did not have any bearing on this week’s rankings.

1. Alabama - 1-0 (44)
2. Georgia - 1-0 (17)
3. Ohio State - 1-0 (2)
4. Michigan - 1-0
5. Clemson - 1-0
6. Texas A&M - 1-0
7. Oklahoma - 1-0
8. Notre Dame - 0-1
9. Baylor - 1-0
10. USC - 1-0
11. Oklahoma State - 1-0
12. Florida - 1-0
13. Utah - 0-1
14. Michigan State - 1-0
15. Miami (FL) - 1-0
16. Arkansas - 1-0
17. Pittsburgh - 1-0
18. NC State - 1-0
19. Wisconsin - 1-0
20. Kentucky - 1-0
21. BYU - 1-0
22. Ole Miss - 1-0
23. Wake Forest - 1-0
24. Tennessee - 1-0
25. Houston - 1-0

Where is UNC?

• Once again, the North Carolina Tar Heels received a couple of votes and ended up at no. 39 by voting totals.
• Carolina was ranked on two ballots, one at no. 24 and another at no. 25.

Biggest Losers

• Oregon was destroyed last week by Georgia, 49-3. The Ducks went from no. 11 to unranked in a hurry.
• Last Saturday, no. 23 Cincinnati was held scoreless in the first half by no. 19 Arkansas. Despite outscoring the Razorbacks in the second half, it was not enough to dig out of their first half hole and stay in the poll this week.

Biggest Winners

• Florida scored with 1:25 left in the game to take the upset over no. 7 Utah. Their victory in the Swamp moved the Gators from unranked to no. 12 in just a week.
• Tennessee’s 49-point win over Ball State was enough to move them off the bubble and into the poll.

On the Outside Looking In

• Oregon is not written off by the sportswriters. The Ducks finished 26th in voting, and one voter placed them at no. 12, just one spot less than their initial ranking.
• Penn State survived a thriller at Purdue on Thursday night, scoring the game-winning touchdown with just 57 seconds left in the game. The Nittany Lions are no. 27 by voting totals.

Top 25 Conference Breakdown

• ACC: 5 teams
• American: 1 team
• Big Ten: 4 teams
• Big 12: 3 teams
• Independent: 2 teams
• Pac-12: 2 teams
• SEC: 8 teams

Top 25 Games this Week

• No. 24 Tennessee travels to Pittsburgh to take on the no. 17 Panthers. The home team is the underdog in this game, so this should be a good one considering the difference in competition for each team in Week 1.
• Newly ranked Florida hosts no. 20 Kentucky on Saturday night. This game will show the true colors of each team.
• No. 9 Baylor heads to Provo to take on no. 21 BYU at 10:15 PM ET on Saturday. The Cougars come in favored by 3.5.

Upset Alert

• Once again this week, no. 25 is the top billing on the Upset Alert. These Cougars are underdogs against Texas Tech in Lubbock.
• No. 23 Wake Forest opened as just 6.5 point favorites over Vanderbilt. The news that quarterback Sam Hartman is cleared to play shifted the spread to 13 points. Wake may win, but can they cover?
• The primetime ABC game is no. 10 USC at Stanford. The Trojans under Lincoln Riley face their first PAC-12 opponent and open as nine-point favorites.