CFP rankings Week 2 Top 25: Ohio State & Cincinnati win big, Oklahoma & Michigan State hit hard

Ohio State and Cincinnati picked up massive wins in the Week 2 CFP rankings but Oklahoma and Michigan State can’t be happy with the Top 25.

With Michigan State losing to Purdue this past Saturday, it was obvious that the Week 2 CFP rankings were going to have a major shake-up at the top. The big question was how the College Football Playoff committee would shuffle those teams around.

On Tuesday night, we got our answers and the Spartans got a tough draw as they dropped four spots in the rankings, most notably falling behind the rival Michigan Wolverines, a team they beat head-to-head 10 days ago, which was in stark contrast to the committee valuing head-to-head matchups in the first CFP rankings.

So let’s take a look at the Top 25 College Football Playoff rankings for Week 2 before we hand out some winners and losers from the second week of the committee, even if unintentionally, stirring the pot.

CFP rankings: Top 25 for Week 2

1. Georgia Bulldogs
2. Alabama Crimson Tide
3. Oregon Ducks
4. Ohio State Buckeyes
5. Cincinnati Bearcats
6. Michigan Wolverines
7. Michigan State Spartans
8. Oklahoma Sooners
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
10. Oklahoma State Cowboys
11. Texas A&M Aggies
12. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
13. Baylor Bears
14. BYU Cougars
15. Ole Miss Rebels
16. NC State Wolfpack
17. Auburn Tigers
18. Wisconsin Badgers
19. Purdue Boilermakers
20. Iowa Hawkeyes
21. Pittsburgh Panthers
22. San Diego State Aztecs
23. UTSA Roadrunners
24. Utah Utes
25. Arkansas Razorbacks

Purdue won’t be mentioned in the winners and losers but they got a huge bump by going from unranked to being inside the Top 25. Meanwhile, Baylor didn’t drop far at all after their loss this past week while there were some other newcomers, including Arkansas, Utah and UTSA.

CFP rankings Week 2 Top 25: Winners

Ohio State Buckeyes

There were some people wondering if the fact that Ohio State narrowly beat Nebraska this past week would see the Buckeyes get penalized and, instead of moving into the top four, if they would get jumped by another team.

Obviously, that wasn’t the case and, if the season ended today, Ohio State would be in the College Football Playoff. There’s still a tough schedule ahead, most notably, facing the giant-killing Boilermakers in their next game.

Cincinnati Bearcats

Yes, I understand that Cincinnati is still left out of the top four despite remaining undefeated and with a handsome win over a team ranked in the top 10. However, there was a legitimate conversation that, after barely getting by Tulsa on Saturday, if the committee would drop the Bearcats down even further.

Instead, Luke Fickell’s team is just one spot out of the top four now with tough games ahead for three of the four teams in that group. If they take care of business and don’t trip up fully moving forward, their chances of breaking the Group of 5 absence from the College Football Playoff are very much alive.

UTSA Roadrunners

The committee justified their biggest wrong from the first CFP rankings by actually putting the undefeated Roadrunners into the Top 25. Honestly, even though they play in C-USA, you could make the argument that they should easily be in the top 20 given how handily they’ve run through a lesser schedule.

Still, it feels like justice for UTSA to crack the top 25.

CFP rankings Week 2 Top 25: Losers

Michigan State Spartans

The fact that the Michigan State Spartans beat rival Michigan just 10 days ago and are now ranked behind them is absolutely wild. Yes, they lost to Purdue and they got beat convincingly. However, the committee continues to not follow its own mantras (or at least the apparent ones) as they clearly favored head-to-head wins in the first rankings.

If there’s a silver lining for Michigan State, their finishing schedule offers plenty of opportunities to garner more quality wins and jump back ahead of the Wolverines once again. We shall see if the Spartans do the work necessary to make that possible.

Oklahoma Sooners

Sure, Oklahoma didn’t play this week and that’s probably the justification for not moving them up from their No. 8 spot. But that spot was too low to begin with for one of the four remaining undefeated teams in college football and, with many of the teams ahead of them not exactly impressing in wins, it was a bit tough to see that the committee didn’t reconsider their positioning.

Having said that, the Sooners have a loaded end of the schedule and wins in those games will certainly boost their stock as far as the CFP rankings are concerned.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.