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College football rankings: Projected AP Top 25 after Week 1 – Notre Dame up, Michigan down

By Connor Muldowney

ORLANDO, FL - SEPTEMBER 01: Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Jerry Jeudy (4) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the football game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Louisville Cardinals on September 1, 2018 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando FL. (Photo by Joe Petro/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - SEPTEMBER 01: Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Jerry Jeudy (4) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the football game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Louisville Cardinals on September 1, 2018 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando FL. (Photo by Joe Petro/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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SOUTH BEND, IN – SEPTEMBER 01: Zach Gentry #83 and Khalid Kareem #53 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrate a 24-17 win over the Michigan Wolverines at Notre Dame Stadium on September 1, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN – SEPTEMBER 01: Zach Gentry #83 and Khalid Kareem #53 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrate a 24-17 win over the Michigan Wolverines at Notre Dame Stadium on September 1, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

The overrated talk was muttered around the nation as Notre Dame began the season ranked No. 14, but the Fighting Irish silenced doubters immediately, beating Michigan in the season opener in South Bend. The Wolverines’ defense shut Notre Dame’s offense down in the second half, but luckily Brandon Wimbush led the Irish to a 24-10 lead which was insurmountable by that Michigan offense. The Irish will sneak into the top 10 with the win.

It’s hard to even drop the Huskies, but a loss is a loss. Washington played well enough to beat Auburn and the game went down to the wire, but in the end, the Huskies just didn’t make enough plays on the offensive side of the ball. Still, Chris Petersen and Co. should feel good about the way they played and a five-point loss to the No. 9 team in the country is a good stepping stone and learning experience. Washington will stay in the top 10.

Beating a ranked team yet remaining at No. 8 in the rankings? Well, it hasn’t quite happened yet, but the Hurricanes should take care of Ed Orgeron and the No. 25-ranked LSU Tigers in Arlington on Sunday evening. It’ll be a tight game, but the Miami offense will be the difference. Joe Burrow has the arm talent to make this one close, but he’ll turn the ball over late in the game — go figure — to give the Hurricanes a nice opening win.

Believe me, after watching the Oklahoma Sooners, I think this team should be ranked somewhere in the top-five. Yes, it’s early in the year and a blowout win over FAU may not mean much, but the Owls were expected to put up a fight and the Sooners looked like they could do no wrong. Kyler Murray did what fans were hoping for and looked the part of a perfect replacement for a Heisman winner. The Sooners are going to be extremely tough to beat moving forward, but voters won’t move them up in Week 2.

One of the reasons we won’t see Oklahoma jump into the top-five or move up at all? The Auburn Tigers. Gus Malzahn’s team took care of business in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff event, putting the Huskies behind in the early race for the playoff. Heck, that could have been a preview for the playoff later on in the season as both teams looked great, but Jarrett Stidham made the necessary plays late to give the Tigers a huge top-10 win and nice boost up three spots.

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