After an opening weekend that saw most top teams take care of business, multiple teams ranked in the AP Top 25 poll took losses in Week 2, and that should produce some notable changes in the college football rankings. Clearly, the most notable change will be at the top, where Texas stormed back with 21 fourth-quarter points to take down No. 1 Ohio State. The dramatic conclusion to this top-five tilt made the showdown an instant classic on a day full of twists and turns, but it also reopens the debate for the top team in the country.
We are projecting Texas takes over that No. 1 spot on the back of the win, just like a boxer who has claimed the belt by beating the champ. The fall for Ohio State won't likely be too dramatic, but the same cannot be said for the likes of Oregon, Oklahoma and more who suffered setbacks in Week 2. In fact, this post-Week 2 might be one of the hardest weeks for voters as they try to figure out what to value with teams who have delivered inconsistent results through the opening weeks of the season.
How, for example, does an AP voter consider the case of Michigan? The Wolverines looked dreadful in the opener and got dropped from the top 25 entirely, only to roar back and take out an Oklahoma team ranked 11th in the country. Voters thought Kyle Whittingham's group was a top-20 team in the preseason, bailed on that notion entirely after Week 1, and now have to figure out what the Wolverines' 17-10 win means for both teams.
And what will the voters do with Oregon? More than a dozen voters entered the season considering the Ducks as the No. 1 team in the country, ahead of all of the other worthy contenders. Now Oregon is 1-1 after getting stunned by Oklahoma State in Stillwater, and those same voters are going to be the ones asking if the Ducks are worthy of another mulligan.
Oregon has been inside the top eight of the AP poll since Oct. 2023, and while that streak will break after the loss, it speaks to the consistency of voters' support for the Ducks over the last couple of years. Whether it's inconsistencies in the performance between the first two games or ways the teams have or have not lined up with voters' preseason expectations, there's a lot for voters to consider with these early season rankings. Voters are tasked with rewarding performance over reputation on their ballots, but typically there is a little bit more forgiveness for top teams to shake off an early season speed bump.
It usually only lasts a week, though, and is immediately challenged in their next game against a quality opponent. So how will voters balance what they have seen, and what might be excused as normal early season missteps? Here's how we think the new AP Top 25 poll will look after the scores and results of Week 2 in college football: 1.
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