College Football Rankings - 11 Sep

Week 2 has now passed, and another week with minimal upsets is in the books. Even without many upsets, we learned a lot about some teams, some of which struggled against supposedly inferior competition, and others who wiped out foes who were supposed to be strong. Here are the fresh new rankings, with current ranking followed by previous ranking, team name, record, and AP rank.

TW - LW - Team - Record - AP

1. (1) Stanford (2-0) (6)

2. (4) LSU (2-0) (3)

3. (2) Boise State (1-0) (4)

4. (5) Oklahoma (1-0) (1)

5. (15) Oregon (1-1) (12)

6. (9) Arkansas (2-0) (14)

7. (6) Alabama (2-0) (2)

8. (10) Texas A&M (1-0) (9)

9. (11) South Florida (2-0) (20)

10. (8) South Carolina (2-0) (11)

11. (12) Florida State (2-0) (5)

12. (3) Mississippi State (1-1) (25)

13. (14) Florida (2-0) (16)

14. (NR) Oklahoma State (2-0) (7)

15. (NR) Ohio (2-0) (NR)

16. (7) Arizona State (2-0) (22)

17. (19) Virginia Tech (2-0) (13)

18. (18) Wisconsin (2-0) (7)

19. (22) TCU (1-1) (23)

20. (NR) Utah State (1-1) (NR)

21. (24) Clemson (2-0) (NR)

22. (23) Northwestern (2-0) (32)

23. (20) Nebraska (2-0) (10)

24. (NR) Navy (2-0) (NR)

25. (NR) Michigan State (2-0) (15)

Dropping Out

(16) Arizona (1-1) (NR)

(17) Ohio State (2-0) (17)

(13) North Carolina State (1-1) (NR)

(21) Minnesota (0-2) (NR)

(25) Miami (0-1) (NR)

Ranked Teams by Conference

SEC - 6

Big 10 - 4

Pac 12 - 3

Big 12 - 3

ACC - 3

MWC - 2

Big East - 1

MAC - 1

WAC - 1

Ind - 1

Stanford and LSU each recorded large victories in week 2, outscoring their opponents by at least 30 points, but Stanford played an FBS school, while LSU played an FCS opponent. Stanford also went on the road, while LSU played on their familiar home field. LSU was still able to move ahead of idle Boise State, who should get a boost later in the season if TCU can remain ranked.

Oregon's huge victory over Nevada showed that last week's loss was probably a combination of a very good opponent (LSU) and very slippery fingers (3 fumbles lost). They looked like the Ducks that played for the title last season again, and that means Stanford won't be able to relax at all this season.

Mississippi State should have taken care of Auburn, but it took them a while to get it going, and they ended up losing by one yard on the final play and taking a tumble back down the rankings that they climbed so quickly last week. I'm still not sure if Auburn is really that good this year, but they've found a way to start 2-0.

Oklahoma State reappeared in the rankings after basically winning their game against Arizona in the first quarter. Their departure last week for a subpar performance may have been a little hasty, and they showed that they still have a high-powered offense that has to be taken seriously.

#15 is not a misprint. Ohio University is in the top 25, replacing their more famous in-state rivals, the Ohio State Buckeyes, who were lucky to survive a home game against Toledo on Saturday. Ohio's opening win over New Mexico State looked a little more impressive after the Aggies beat Minnesota, and Ohio nearly shut out Gardner-Webb this week. The MAC is looking stronger than ever this year, with Toledo and Northern Illinois also looking like contenders.

Arizona State pulled off their first win over a top 25 team in several years, but fell several spots in my rankings because of the way they won. I predicted a big win for the Sun Devils, and for a while it looked like it was headed that way, but they did everything they could to lose in regulation before pulling it out in overtime. They are still a good team and the favorite to win the Pac-12 South, but they need to play better from now on.

Prediction Results (8-10 Sep)

College Football: 19-5 (.792) 43-8 overall (.843)

Upsets: 1-2 (.333)