The first in-season AP Poll has been released and there is a bit of movement in the rankings. Ohio State stayed at No. 1, with 46 first place votes, following their victory over Ball State.
Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas and Indiana, all moved up one spot as Oregon dropped from No. 2 to No. 6 in the rankings. Although Georgia did not receive a first place vote — while Oregon retained three and No. 8 LSU had five — the Bulldogs outpaced the rest of the poll to finish in second place this week.
This leaves Ohio State vs. Texas in Austin with a No. 1 vs. No. 4 showdown looming, but the poll also leaves us with questions about some teams who are underrated.
Let’s look at a few of these teams who might feel disappointed with their placement.
Oregon Ducks
- AP Rank: 6
- Record: 1-0
Despite the close win for the Ducks against Boise State, this is a talented team with a top-five quarterback and three receivers who can all be the playmaker for any given game.
The game was not pretty, but Oregon won.Â
Not only did they win, but quarterback Dante Moore also found wide receiver Jeremiah McClellan for 6 receptions, 150 yards and 2 touchdowns and hit sophomore Dakorian Moore for the game-winning touchdown down the stretch.
It was clear that Oregon was playing their C game while Boise State needed their A+ game just to keep up.Â
After this tumble in the AP Poll, it will be challenging for Oregon to move back into the top two until much later in the season. The good thing for the Ducks is that they will have the ability to prove the doubters wrong in Stillwater this week against Oklahoma State, and in two weeks, when they travel to Los Angeles to take on another under-ranked team in USC.Â
Miami Hurricanes
- AP Rank: 7
- Record: 1-0
27-of-30 for 401 yards and 5 touchdowns.
12 receptions for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns.
These are the stat lines for Darian Mensah and Malachi Toney against the Stanford Cardinal on Friday night.
The Hurricanes came out ready to go on Friday in their first game of the season. This can be difficult at times for teams playing in Paulo Alto. It can also be difficult for teams as talented as Miami, who are looking past their first few games and into the meat of the regular schedule.
Oregon should not be behind Indiana, but neither should Miami.Â
When it comes to the top of the rankings, a matter of one or two spots might not feel like a lot. But it can make all the difference when it comes to playoff seedings and opponents. Where the voters decide to drop you now, can also affect where you end up after the season — which is far more important.
Miami will have time to move up. They should not face a challenge until they travel to South Bend for the Nov. 7 game against Notre Dame. All this ranking does is lessen the cushion they would have should a late season mishap occur again for them.Â
USC Trojans
- AP Rank: 15
- Record: 2-0
I never thought I would be the one to say this but, USC is ranked too low in the polls this week.
After a win against San Jose State in front of a crowd of somewhere between 5,000 and 51,277, the masses were still not completely sold on the Trojans.
In Week 2, a Fresno State team who is considered one of the favorites for the new Pac-12 came in and USC again ran the opposing team out of the stadium.
Quarterback Jayden Maiava has 635 yards and 5 passing touchdowns during the first two weeks of the season. He also has provided ball security with no interceptions on the season for Lincoln Riley’s offense.
This far, the biggest weapon for the Trojans has been freshman wide receiver Trent Mosley. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound receiver, a four-star in USC’s top ranked 2026 class, has already come down with 11 receptions for 222 yards and 3 touchdowns.Â
While Malachi Toney sees this and says, hold my protein drink, the rest of the country and the rest of the Big Ten has taken notice of what the USC offense is finally doing under Riley. What looked like a nice dream of USC defeating Oregon in Week 4, now looks like a true possibility as the maligned USC defense has also started strong.
Through two games in 2026, USC has given up a total of 141 yards rushing and 311 yards passing and have allowed only 226 yards a game and 4.5 yards per play. This has allowed the offense time on the field to get their rhythm, and this will benefit the team during their difficult late season schedule.
While USC may not be a top-15 team at the end of the season after contests against Oregon, Penn State, Ohio State and Indiana, they are now. This means they should be ranked ahead of both Alabama and Texas Tech heading into the Week 2 game against ULL.
Some weeks it is difficult to find many discrepancies in the rankings. While these are some minor quibbles, it can make the difference for these teams when it comes down to the end of the season.Â
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