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Some early big-name drops out of the Power Rankings, for now!
1. Indiana (2-0) (Last Week #1) (Ranked #4 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Indiana’s Alabama-like schedule continued as they hosted FCS Howard. I applaud teams that schedule big games early but can’t fault the ones that don’t like the Hoosiers. Nick Saban didn’t like to either, and no one seriously questioned him. Indiana crushed Howard, 55-0. Josh Hoover had four touchdown passes, three of them to the ever-underrated Charlie Becker. Indiana has another layup game against Western Kentucky next week.
2. Notre Dame (2-0) (Last Week #3) (Ranked #3 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
This game was practically over before it began. Quarterback CJ Carr was done after the first Notre Dame possession of the third quarter. Carr would finish the day 16 of 20 for 253 yards and four touchdowns. Notre Dame would win, 52-0. Up next for the Fighting Irish is a home night game against rival Michigan State. Pat Fitzgerald’s Spartans are 2-0.
3. Texas (2-0) (Last Week #5) (Ranked #1 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Ohio State had a historic collapse, to be sure, but credit Texas for never quitting. In previous games, like last year against Georgia and in the regular season in 2024, such a deficit was too much for them. It would have been easy to chalk this up to being like those games and moving on, but Coach Sarkisian and Arch Manning just kept chipping away. Sometimes you do that, and you still come up short, but this time they got a huge win, their biggest as a program in the SEC and since 2023. They should have a layup against UTSA this week.
4. Georgia (2-0) (Last Week #6) (Ranked #2 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
The Bulldogs nuked the Hilltoppers, 70-20. Georgia has outscored their two opponents, 133 to 23. They’ll have their first road game up next. They’ll head to Fayetteville to take on Arkansas. The Razorbacks will just be returning from a 43-10 drubbing in Utah, so this should be pretty easy for Georgia.
5. Miami (2-0) (Last Week #7) (Ranked #5 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
The Hurricanes blasted Florida A&M so badly that the coaches shortened the fourth quarter by five minutes. Miami got the 77-7 victory and led 77-0 after three quarters. The Hurricanes will play again this Friday, this time against Wake Forest. Miami won’t play their first Saturday of college football this season until September 26th against Central Michigan.
6. BYU (2-0) (Last Week #8) (Ranked #11 and #13 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
It was an early back-and-forth battle between BYU and Arizona, but the Cougars showed why my faith in them as a top-ten team is justified. Noah Fifita played well for Arizona. The veteran quarterback gave BYU fits for three quarters of the game. BYU then did what top-ten teams do down the stretch, and they overpowered Arizona. The 28-17 win was their sixth straight over the Wildcats. BYU heads to Fort Collins to play the Pac-12’s Colorado State next week.
7. Texas Tech (2-0) (Last Week #9) (Ranked #13 and #12 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
It hasn’t been smooth sailing for the Red Raiders, but 2-0 is 2-0. Plenty of good teams who will be back in the rankings are out right now because they’re 1-1. Ohio State, Oregon, Oklahoma, and UM, to name a few. Still, the Red Raiders (along with Washington) are one of my top ten teams I need to see something out of pretty soon. Texas Tech hosts in-state and Big 12 rival #18 Houston on Saturday. Tech will either show why they’re thought to be this good or they’ll disappear for a while like other teams that have an early loss.
8. Texas A&M (2-0) (Last Week #10) (Ranked #9 and #8 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Arizona State gave Texas A&M a good test at home in Week 2. The Sun Devils battled hard and late into the game. It was 24-20 Aggies heading into the fourth quarter. That’s when Texas A&M pulled away. The Aggies would score as much in the final quarter as they did in the previous three to overpower ASU, 48-20. Next week, Kentucky visits College Station to start SEC play for Texas A&M.
9. Washington (2-0) (Last Week #11) (Unranked and #24 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
I came into this season a big believer in Demond Williams and the Huskies, but after seeing them struggle against a Utah State team that lost at home to FCS Idaho State, I’m not so sure. But they’re still 2-0. Next week I’ll need to see more out of them against Eastern Washington, and then their Big Ten opener versus Minnesota. I think Washington will show up and show out to end September.
10. Ole Miss (2-0) (Last Week #12) (Ranked #8 and #9 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
The second top-12 matchup in as many weeks, this one has much more bad blood than Ohio State and Texas did. The Magnolia Bowl is always a bitter contest but this may be an all-timer with Lane Kiffin having jumped from Ole Miss to LSU before the conclusion of last season. Ole Miss will be out to prove they had built themselves into the destination Kiffin thinks LSU is.
11. USC (3-0) (Last Week #13) (Ranked #12 and #11 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
With both Oregon and Ohio State choking, USC has a chance to be one of the top two teams in the Big Ten. I’m not sure they’ll live up to it, given how their early schedule has gone. However, the Trojans will have a chance to prove it on the field as they play all the top teams in the conference in Washington, Oregon, Ohio State, Indiana, and Penn State. First, they have to come get a win on the East Coast against a reeling Rutgers team.
12. LSU (2-0) (Last Week #15) (Ranked #7 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
It gets tough right away for LSU. Not only do they visit a top-ten team in Ole Miss, but they immediately follow that game with a visit from a top-ten team in Texas A&M. This may be the toughest part of their schedule and certainly is until they play Alabama and Texas in November. The King of Controversy Kiffin will have plenty of chances to justify LSU’s breaking the bank for him.
13. Penn State (2-0) (Last Week #16) (Ranked #14 and #15 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
It was a slower start and not quite as big as they would have liked it, but PSU got the victory. They beat in-state opponent Temple, 27-9. Rocco Becht was solid in his and head coach Matt Campbell’s second game. Beck was 21 of 27 for 268 yards and three touchdowns. Penn State plays Buffalo next week.
14. Utah (2-0) (Last Week #17) (Ranked #17 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Arkansas is near the basement of the SEC, but anytime you can crush a Power 4 school by over 30 points, it is a good thing. While the win is unlikely to age well, credit both teams for scheduling the game. The Utes will play in-state foe Utah State out of the Pac-12 in the Battle of the Brothers this week, before starting Big 12 play the following week at Iowa State.
15. SMU (2-0) (Last Week #18) (Ranked #16 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
The Mustangs are right back on the road this week. They head north to play Louisville in Kentucky. SMU’s Kevin Jennings and Louisville’s Lincoln Kienholz look to be an interesting quarterback matchup in this crucial game between ACC teams that are going to try to chase Miami into the College Football Playoff.
16. Iowa (2-0) (Last Week #19) (Ranked #18 and #20 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
The Hawkeyes needed that win over their in-state rival. It seems like that rivalry game is always decided by a three-point margin. They play another nearby team in Northern Iowa before they go to UM where time will not be on their side. Iowa will follow that up with a visit from Ohio State.
17. Alabama (2-0) (Last Week #20) (Ranked #10 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Scoring 32 unanswered second-half points is certainly the way to rip Kentucky’s hearts out on their home field in Lexington. It’s also a much-needed explosion from Alabama and Keelon Russell. Now the Tide has to clean up those turnovers and pay back Florida State for the upset they suffered in Tallahassee last year.
18. Houston (2-0) (Last Week #22) (Ranked #22 and #23 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
The Cougars are off to a good start, and Big 12 fans are taking notice. They have a chance to make lots of noise nationally and not just in the conference this week when they play at Texas Tech. They’ll learn much more from that game than they did from a 77-6 beatdown of Southern. Tech better be ready or Willie Fritz and Connor Wiegman will beat them.
19. UCLA (2-0) (Last Week #23) (Unranked in the AP and Coaches Polls)
UCLA followed up their Bear Bowl win with a victory over SDSU. These two SoCal teams clashed in the Rose Bowl, and Bob Chesney’s squad came away with a 28-10 victory. The Bruins will play another game in the California sunshine this week. They’ll battle Purdue before they begin playing Big Ten road games.
20. North Dakota State (3-0) (Last Week #25) (Unranked in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Anyone who has ever watched FCS football in the past couple of decades isn’t surprised that North Dakota State is 3-0 in three games in the FBS. They’re winning pretty well, too. Their 38-32 victory over Air Force in Colorado Springs was their first road game and test of the season, and they passed it. Next, they’ll head to Sacramento State in a Mountain West-MAC matchup.
21. Virginia (2-0) (Unranked Last Week) (Ranked #25 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Tony Elliott’s team is off to a good start, proving that last year’s team that won 11 games wasn’t a fluke. They started with a big conference win over NC State, then crushed Norfolk State 59-3 and will play West Virginia in North Carolina this weekend. It will be an important game for the teams and the ACC and Big 12.
22. Virginia Tech (2-0) (Unranked Last Week) (Unranked in the AP and Coaches Polls)
It’s early, but James Franklin and Virginia Tech are doing things that Tech has struggled to do in recent years. They boat-raced VIM 77-3 to open the season when they hadn’t always been the best against the FCS. More importantly, they beat Old Dominion, which has made its name by giving Virginia Tech trouble! The 23-point 44-21 victory over the Monarchs is a step in the right direction. This weekend, Franklin will be back in the Big Ten as he plays an opponent he had a habit of beating at Penn State when they battle Maryland.
23. Colorado (2-0) (Unranked Last Week) (Unranked in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Another team that looks to be doing things a little differently than they have recently, the Buffs beat an ACC team on the road to open the season and crushed an FCS team in their home opener. They have to keep it going this week, playing a Big Ten team at Northwestern.
24. Cincinnati (2-0) (Unranked Last Week) (Unranked in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Maybe it’s the do-or-die approach they’re having in this penultimate season of the Scott Satterfield Era at UC, but something does seem different in a good way for the Bearcats. They’ll play their third game in the Queen City against nearby rival Miami of Ohio this week.
25. Tennessee (2-0) (Unranked Last Week) (Ranked #15 and #14 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
I wasn’t a big believer in the Vols coming into this season. I’m still a little skeptical at the moment, but you have to credit them for playing a Power 4 team on the road and getting the win. They’ll have it a bit easier this weekend with Kennesaw State in Knoxville before they host Texas on the banks of the Tennessee River to end the month.
Playoff Projection
