AP Poll Week 3 winners and losers: SEC owns half of the top-10
The Week 3 AP Poll sees half of the top 10 represented by the SEC.
This week featured another marquee prime-time matchup between an SEC school and a team that purports to be “back.” This time it was LSU (then No. 6), featuring their first good quarterback since the forward pass was invented, visiting the Longhorns of Texas (then No. 9) in a top 10 battle. Two top 10’s enter, one leaves.
Elsewhere, No. 1 Clemson hosted No. 12 Texas A&M and handled its business. The same could not be said for the rest of the Top 25. While last week was the exceedingly rare case where the top 25 teams don’t lose to teams outside the top 25, this week was… not.
Besides LSU and Texas A&M, the top of the SEC continued its cupcake binge. Week 2 featured upsets galore, especially on the back half of the top 25. There were, however, many more entertaining slate of games than Week 1. Let’s see how the new Top 25 shakes out.
AP Top 25 for Week 3
- Clemson
- Alabama
- Georgia
- LSU
- Oklahoma
- Ohio State
- Notre Dame
- Auburn
- Florida
- Michigan
- Utah
- Texas
- Penn State
- Wisconsin
- Oregon
- Texas A&M
- UCF
- Michigan State
- Iowa
- Washington State
- Maryland
- Boise State
- Washington
- USC
- Virginia
Winners
No. 4 LSU (previously No. 6) – Mr. Joseph Golden Arm Burrow put on a clinic in Austin, throwing for 471 yards in the win at Texas.
No. 11 Utah (previously No. 13) – Utah might just be the class of the Pac 12 this year. Kyle Wittingham’s squad looked solid but far from unbeatable in their two games against BYU and Northern Illinois. We will have to wait until Week 4 to know if the Utes are legit when they play a suddenly frisky USC in the Coliseum.
No. 14 Wisconsin (previously No. 17) – The Badgers once again look like the class of the Big Ten West. Granted, they’ve blown out two mid-majors (if we’re feeling generous). But as Michigan showed us this weekend, taking care of business isn’t always as easy as it should be. Next week is the first real test of the Badgers when Michigan comes to town. It’s weasel versus weasel, baby!
No. 23 USC (previously unranked) – The Trojans looked as good as they have in years behind true freshman Kedon Slovis making his first career start. Slovis had the best debut for a freshman with three touchdowns and topping 300 yards. Can the Trojans keep this up?
No. 25 Virginia (previously unranked) – The ACC is pretty weak outside Clemson but the Cavs look like the best team that will be the sacrificial lamb to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game.
Losers
No. 10 Michigan (previously No. 7) – With all due respect to the players at West Point, Michigan should not have let Army into that game, let alone let the game go to overtime. It is still early in the season, but c’mon Harbaugh. This can’t be another letdown season. The Big Ten is better when Ohio State and Michigan are elite. This won’t be the year the rivalry is back if the Wolverines keep this up.
No. 12 Texas (previously No. 9) – It is really hard to call Texas a loser here. They are very talented, as they tend to be. They went toe-to-toe with LSU, who looked absolutely impressive. Ehlinger looks like he’s going to live up to the hype. But can we pump the brakes on Texas being “back?” We know exactly how this season will play out. Texas will win the rest of their games, except to Oklahoma, earn a Big 12 Championship spot and lose to Oklahoma again. Then next year, we will talk about Texas being back.
No. 16 Texas A&M (previously No. 12) – Winning in Death Valley is tough and Texas A&M looked outmatched from the second quarter on. Not many, if any teams are going to beat Clemson this year, but given that this was supposed to be the toughest game, the Aggies have to feel like they should have played better. Especially since certain players guaranteed a win…
No. 23 Washington (previously No. 14) – Nasty weather derailed the Jacob Eason hype train, at least for now. This is a game the Huskies needed, though. A conference loss is bad, a division loss is worse, and a division loss to an unranked Cal is about as bad as it’s going to get. The season is long and bananas, but that might be the death knell to Washington’s playoff hopes.
Syracuse (previously No. 21) – U-G-L-Y. Maryland is not exactly a Big Ten power, which makes Syracuse’s blowout loss all the worse for the ACC’s second-best squad. Who will step up now? UVA? It has to UVA, right? The Orange will need to bounce back quickly because Clemson is coming to town.
Stanford (previously No. 23) – Stanford was in a tough spot with backup quarterback Davis Mills making his first start on the road vs. USC. That’s brutal. It doesn’t matter that the starter was out. USC turns away starters at other conferences. They probably won’t win their division this year, but they can still earn a solid bowl if K.J. Costello gets healthy.
Nebraska (previously No. 25) – Welp that was fun while it lasted. After an underwhelming performance in Week 1, Nebraska removed all doubt: they need more time. It isn’t that Scott Frost doesn’t have it. He just needs more time to get it rolling. Turnarounds like the one needed in Nebraska don’t happen overnight.
Week 2 had some chaos, but predictable chaos. Let’s hope we see some more next week.
Next. Week 2 CFB superlatives: Joe Burrow arrives, Heisman chase, Playoff picture. dark