College football went through a Saturday of upsets and close calls in Week 2, creating some upheaval in the latest AP Top 25 poll.
Nebraska entered the poll at No. 23, its first time appearing in the Top 25 since Sept. 3, 2019. The Cornhuskers, who dominated Colorado on Saturday, haven’t finished ranked since 2012. Joining Nebraska as poll newcomers are No. 21 Iowa State, No. 24 Boston College (ranked for the first time since Nov. 11, 2018) and No. 25 Northern Illinois (ranked for the first time since Dec. 8, 2013).
NIU stunned then-No. 5 Notre Dame — the first-top-10 win in Huskies history — to move into the rankings, while Notre Dame plummeted 13 spots but still hung on at No. 18. Kansas, Iowa, Georgia Tech and NC State fell from the poll after losses.
Georgia remains the overwhelming choice for No. 1 with 54 first-place votes, but Texas (four first-place votes) jumped Ohio State (five) for No. 2 after its blowout win at Michigan. The Wolverines dropped seven spots to No. 17.
A staggering six of the top seven teams in the new poll are from the 16-team SEC, with eight ranked teams from the conference in total.
Others receiving votes: Illinois 101, Boise State 77, Texas A&M 68, Syracuse 63, Memphis 38, Washington 27, Iowa 24, Kansas 22, Vanderbilt 18, South Carolina 10, Liberty 9, Wisconsin 9, UNLV 7, North Carolina 7, California 3, BYU 2, UCF 1, TCU 1
How Week 2 impacted the rankings
Saturday featured six losses by ranked teams, including four to unranked opponents: No. 5 Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois, No. 19 Kansas lost to Illinois, No. 21 Iowa lost to Iowa State and No. 23 Georgia Tech lost to Syracuse. Additionally, numerous Top 25 teams sputtered through middling performances, from Penn State versus Bowling Green (34-27) top Alabama versus USF (despite the misleading 42-16 final score) to Oklahoma versus Houston (16-12).
With so many teams struggling but winning, it was hard to drop some, and thus No. 4 Alabama, No. 8 Penn State and No. 15 Oklahoma held steady.
Still, there was plenty of movement otherwise. The biggest surge came from No. 7 Tennessee, which vaulted seven spots after a dominant 51-10 win against NC State. Miami climbed into the top 10 for the first time since December 2020, and USC is right behind it at No. 11.
What’s next?
The college football season hits what could be a lull — on paper, at least — in Week 3, though there are still two matchups between Top 25 teams: No. 20 Arizona at No. 14 Kansas State on Friday night in a key early game in the new-look Big 12 and No. 24 Boston College at No. 6 Missouri on Saturday in a sneaky interesting nonconference showdown.
Saturday’s headliner is arguably No. 4 Alabama at Wisconsin in the first leg of a somewhat rare SEC/Big Ten home-and-home. It’s the first road test for Alabama under Kalen DeBoer against a Wisconsin team aiming for a signature win under Luke Fickell.
As for other top teams, No. 1 Georgia visits Kentucky, No. 2 Texas hosts UTSA and No. 3 Ohio State is idle.
Required reading
(Photo: Steven Branscombe / Getty Images)
