The very first game on Thursday brought the very first Top 25 upset of Week 1 of the new college football season. The South Florida Bulls stunned No. 25 Boise State, 34-7, reminding everyone that last year's success doesn't guarantee anything this go around.
The Broncos had to travel to Tampa, so they'll get just a little bit of grace on that front. It's not easy to go across the country and play your first game without the Heisman Trophy winner Ashton Jeanty. Having said that, the college football rankings won't be kind to Boise State, who were barely in the Top 25 to begin with.
It's simple enough to demote Boise State and promote the next team up — BYU, who edged out Utah for the most votes on the outside of the poll. The Cougars are taking on Portland State on Saturday, so I'm confident saying they'll win and secure their spot.
The bigger mystery is whether other Top 25 teams will fall. Will there be room for other Top 25 hopefuls like Utah, Baylor, Louisville, USC and Georgia Tech to get in?
Projected Top 25 after Boise State's upset loss
- Ohio State — Projected win over Texas
- Penn State — Projected win over Nevada
- Texas — Projected loss to Ohio State
- Clemson — Projected win over (9) LSU
- Georgia — Projected win over Marshall
- Notre Dame — Projected win over (10) Miami
- Oregon — Projected win over Montana State
- Alabama — Projected win over Florida State
- Arizona State — Projected win over Northern Arizona
- LSU — Projected loss to (4) Clemson
- Miami — Projected loss to (6) Notre Dame
- Illinois — Projected win over Western Illinois
- South Carolina — Projected win over Virginia Tech
- Michigan — Projected win over New Mexico
- Florida — Projected win over Long Island University
- SMU — Projected win over East Texas A&M
- Oklahoma — Projected win over Montana State
- Iowa State — Projected win over South Dakota
- Texas A&M — Projected win over UTSA
- Indiana — Projected win over Old Dominion
- Ole Miss — Projected win over Georgia State
- Kansas State — Projected win over North Dakota
- Texas Tech — Projected win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff
- Tennessee — Projected win over Syracuse
- BYU — Projected with over Portland State
Dropped out: (25) Boise State — Loss to USF
There will be a bit of a shake up in the Top 11 because of ranked matchups between Texas and Ohio State, Clemson and LSU and Notre Dame and Miami. But the result of those games won't change the membership of the Top 25. Instead, voters will have to decide how much to penalize Kansas State for their close loss to Iowa State in Week 0. And Tennessee will have to survive a tricky matchup with Syracuse while the rest of the teams in the 15-25 range look to avoid significant upsets.
For now, I only have Boise State dropping out, leaving Utah and others waiting their turn for a spot in the rankings. Though I won't rule out the possibility that life without Nico Iamaleava is just as difficult for Tennessee as life without Jeanty was for Boise State.
There's still a lot of football to be played in Week 1. The rankings remain as unpredictable as ever.