Biggest Risers
Texas A&M rose six places on the AP Poll this week, after beating #8 Notre Dame on the road in a thrilling game. The shootout came down to a 4th & Goal from the 11-yard line, which Texas A&M converted for a touchdown to take the lead 41-40 with just 13 seconds left in the game. A statement win on the road is exactly what Texas A&M needed after being overrated in the preseason poll in almost every year over the past half-decade. Their new ranking is #10.
Georgia Tech went from unranked to #18 after it beat #12 Clemson by three points at home. Georgia Tech also has an upset win in Colorado. Georgia Tech may be a team to watch out for in the ACC, but they will need to dominate their ACC schedule, which features no ranked teams, and compete against Georgia on the Thanksgiving weekend.
Vanderbilt moved into the top 25 after beating #11 South Carolina on the road. They will need all the help they can get from Senior QB Diego Pavia to survive their gauntlet SEC schedule, which kicks off on October 4th against Alabama, after which, they face LSU, Missouri, Texas, Auburn, and Tennessee to finish off the season.
Biggest Fallers
Notre Dame nearly fell out of the Top 25 this week, dropping from #8 to #24 after losing at home to Texas A&M. After losing to Miami (FL) week 1, they start 0-2 and face an uphill battle to the playoffs. With a front-loaded strength of schedule, they will need to be rooting for teams like USC to be good to have a strong win on their schedule and make a playoff bid as an independent.
Clemson started the season as the #4-ranked team in the preseason poll and had a claim for the #1 spot due to returning so many starters from an ACC championship team last year. They have now lost to LSU at home, needed a comeback against Troy to win after being down 16-3 at halftime, and just lost to Georgia Tech. Such a slide resembles that of FSU last year, which also lost to Georgia Tech. Being 1-2 and unranked, it will be really difficult to make the playoffs from this spot.
South Carolina is now out of the Top 25, after getting blown out by Vanderbilt 31-7. This is less of a reflection of South Carolina being bad, but more of them likely being overrated in the preseason. They will have plenty of chances to disprove that, though, as they play 5 top 15 teams in a row from October through mid-November.
South Florida started hot, with a win over last year’s Group of 5 champion, Boise State, then a win on the road against Florida. However, the high must come to an end, as they got stomped on by Miami (FL). However, if no other team can pull off an upset win like USF against a top team like Florida, they might be able to make the playoffs if they win out.
UCLA is on fire, and not in a good way. The program is practically burning itself down after firing its coach just three games into the season. Those three games were losses to Utah by 33, UNLV by seven, and the University of New Mexico by 25. They got whalloped by the team that was picked to finish last by multiple experts this year. UCLA will need to change a lot of things to make a bowl game this year after last year’s 5-7 finish.
What To Look Forward To
Three out of the top 5-ranked teams in the AP Poll are on bye this week, so there aren’t many major matchups. However, we still have some top 25 matchups that can decide playoff races as most conference play kicks off.
#9 Illinois @ #19 Indiana
Illinois started this year in the preseason poll ranked #12, just outside the Top 10, but has managed to sneak its way in due to falls from lots of major teams ahead of them in the ranking. This is their first real test, as they return 16 starters from a 10-3 team. Indiana scraped by a schedule that featured only one ranked team in Ohio State, which they lost 38-15. This is the first significant Big 10 game this season.
#17 Texas Tech @ #16 Utah
Texas Tech used the oil wealth of its deep-pocketed boosters to bring home one of the top transfer classes in the nation, while Utah snatched former New Mexico QB Devon Dampier. Both teams have looked strong in their opening games, but this is the first major test for each team, and the Big 12 is a wide-open conference, where only one team made it into the playoffs last year. A win here for either team would go a long way toward making the playoffs.
#22 Auburn @ #11 Oklahoma
Oklahoma is riding the high of its home victory against Michigan two weeks ago, while Auburn is looking for a major win on the road. Can anybody in the SEC stop Oklahoma’s powerful offense, or is John Mateer really the best QB in the nation?
#21 Michigan @ Nebraska
Even though Nebraska is unranked, this team comes into this season with a lot of hope around sophomore and second-year starter Dylan Raiola. Michigan dominated Central Michigan last week, 63-3, with head coach Sherrone Moore suspended. He will be ineligible to coach this week as well. Michigan changed its game plan last week to allow highly touted freshman QB Bryce Underwood to run the ball more, and maybe that is the change they need to dominate the rest of the year and win the Big 10.
Happy college football Saturday!
