AP Poll Week 2 winners and losers: Auburn, Boise State rise; Oregon, Florida drop

With one week of college football in the books, it’s time to take a look at the winners and losers of the Week 1 AP Poll.

Outside of a few prestige games like the Advocare Classic (“classic”), Week 1’s slate has more cupcakes than a kindergarten birthday party. It shouldn’t be surprising that with low power match-ups, there aren’t too many opportunities for big-time winners in the AP Poll. In fact, the only game featuring top 25 squads facing off was the thriller between Oregon (then No. 11) and Auburn (then No. 16).

Even with early-season games trending toward blowouts, it is uncommon for the top 25 to escape a weekend without falling to a team on the outside. There is just so much that we don’t know about teams going into a season. Will the new pieces fit into their schemes? Will under-performing coaches put it all together? Every week is like shaking a snow globe, especially in Week 1. Last year, Miami entered the season as a top 10 team. That changed quickly courtesy of LSU.

Losses by ranked favorites isn’t a rarity. As the AP’s Ralph Russo points out, the top 25 went 23-0 to start the season. This is the first time no ranked team lost to an unranked team in a full slate since October of 2017. It’s also the first time only one ranked team (Oregon) lost since Sept. 2013. This also is the 56th straight AP Poll with Alabama ranked in the top five, which breaks a tie they held with Miami (2000-2003).

AP Top 25 for Week 2

1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Georgia
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
6. LSU
7. Michigan
8. Notre Dame
9. Texas
10. Auburn
11. Florida
12. Texas A&M
13. Utah
14. Washington
15. Penn State
16. Oregon
17. Wisconsin
18. UCF
19. Michigan State
20. Iowa
21. Syracuse
22. Washington State
23. Stanford
24. Boise State
T-25. Nebraska, Iowa State

Winners

No. 10 Auburn (previously No. 16) — BO FREAKING NIX. What a way to start your college career. There were stretches of Saturday’s game where Auburn’s offense looked like they were being led by a rookie quarterback. The fourth quarter was not one of those stretches. The Tigers will have two weeks to get their offense rolling before venturing to Texas A&M. Bo Nix should be able to build on his late-game heroics and iron out the kinks that led to turnovers against Oregon.

No. 23 Stanford (previously No. 25) — In their pillow fight with Northwestern, Stanford’s lack of depth on the offensive side of the ball is starting to show. When starter K.J. Costello went down with a head injury, the offense sputtered. A last-minute touchdown allowed the Cardinal to cover the 6.5-point spread against a team without a definite starting quarterback. If Northwestern had been able to assemble anything resembling a coherent offensive strategy, Stanford would have been on the losing end of this game. And still, Stanford managed to climb two spots.

No. 24 Boise State (previously unranked) — Somehow coming back against a Florida State team in complete disarray (and suffering the worst case of dehydration in recorded human history) is good enough to catapult you into the top 25. Beating a household name means something to voters, even if that household name isn’t living up to its reputation. Boise State’s schedule looks pretty clear from here on, meaning this leap will be invaluable as the Broncos make a push to be the best Group of 5 team at the end of the year. This will ratchet up the pressure on UCF to win and to win convincingly. Boise State is only 7 spots back.

Losers

No. 11 Florida (previously No. 8) — Dropping out of the top 10 is always a bummer. Dropping out after a win means you should be ashamed of yourself. Florida let a Miami team lead a game they had no business being in. This is truly unbecoming of a top 10 team, especially one with the talent and coaching that Florida has. Dan Mullen and company should have lapped the U, which is entering what feels like year 50 of its rebuild. Feleipe Franks will have one more game to get it together before the Gators start their SEC slate. Turning the ball over three times again will put him on the fast-track to the bench.

No. 16 Oregon (previously No. 11) — We knew they would drop, but the question was how much. Despite losing a heart breaker, the Ducks looked impressive for most of their game against Auburn. The team played with great defensive speed and showed flashes of potential at times on offense. If this receiving corps can get healthy and up to speed, Oregon could punch its ticket to Pasadena. If not, it could be another disappointing year for Justin Herbert.

T-No. 25 Iowa State (previously No. 21) — Yikes. Iowa State is lucky to escape Week 1 with a win and its spot in the top 25. Scheduling a smaller, in-state school as your tune-up game is a time-honored tradition in big-time college football. Having that school sneak up on you is a nightmare scenario. You just hate to see it. Unless you love chaos and anarchy. This is college football! Who doesn’t love shaking the snow globe?