College Football Week 3 AP Top 25 poll: How far did Ohio State, Texas fall?
It’s time for a look at the Week 3 AP Top 25 poll, and where the chips fell for the likes of Ohio State, Texas, Oregon and others.
If Week 2 is any indication of the season to come, we know nothing other than Alabama is head and shoulders above the fray.
Week 3 will deliver another Top 15 matchup when Alabama travels to Florida. That game aside, this should be a relatively tame week. But that could have been said about Week 2. Ask Notre Dame, Texas, USC, and Utah how that worked out.
But before we go too deep into that, let’s take a look at the AP Top 25 Poll for Week 3.
College Football Rankings: AP Top 25 poll, Week 3
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Iowa
- Clemson
- Texas A&M
- Cincinnati
- Ohio State
- Penn State
- Florida
- Notre Dame
- UCLA
- Iowa State
- Virginia Tech
- Coast Carolina
- Ole Miss
- Wisconsin
- Arizona State
- Arkansas
- North Carolina
- Auburn
- BYU
- Miami
- Michigan
After beating Ohio State, Oregon soars into fourth place, notably leapfrogging Clemson, Cincinnati, and Texas A&M. Interestingly, but all too predictably, Iowa finds themselves rounding out the Top 5 after handling an overrated Iowa State in Ames.
Teams feeling the voters’ wrath after failing to perform up to expectations are Texas A&M (fell two spots to No. 7) and Notre Dame (fell four spots to No. 12). It’s nice to know that the pollsters, despite curiously rewarding Arkansas for beating a Texas team that is not back, still believe that bad wins say something.
Generally, the Top 4 looks right. Oregon really showed out in Columbus, despite missing two key defenders. Oklahoma beat up on their tune-up squad. Georgia made its case against Clemson, and Alabama is just Alabama. Next up for the Tide is No. 11 Florida, who need to make a statement to have a shot at the Playoff if their current standing among SEC teams is any indication.
At this point, Cincinnati has to be screaming. They play as well as Oklahoma, better than Texas A&M, and how are they rewarded? By dropping one spot after Iowa jumps them by beating Iowa State. When the Bearcats beat Indiana next week (which was apparently a huge win for Iowa), will they be dropped to 10? They just can’t win.
Finally, there are some notable newcomers to the Top 25. The aforementioned Arkansas Razorbacks (No. 20), 2020’s sweethearts BYU (No. 23), and blue-bloods are destined to break your heart Michigan (No. 25). Falling from the promised land were USC, Texas, and Utah.
Go ahead and refill your beta-blockers and blood pressure meds. 2021 is not going to go the way we thought it would.