College football rankings: Projected AP Top 25 after Texas rolls, Notre Dame upset, Oregon survives in Week 2

Just when you think you have a grasp on something in the college football world and what AP Top 25 ranked teams look like, you get something like Saturday in Week 2 that is going to completely start shaking up the college football rankings.

It was a bit of vindication early with what the Texas Longhorns were able to do to the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines in the Big House but then we saw Notre Dame completely fall on its face after their big victory against Texas A&M in College Station last week. And let's not forget teams like Alabama, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and many more getting into shocking dogfights throughout Saturday.

We saw plenty of chaos and plenty that's going to cause the Week 3 college football AP Top 25 rankings to get shuffled around. What will the poll look like when it's released on Sunday, though? Here are our latest projections.

Projected AP Top 25 rankings after Week 2: No. 25-21

25. Illinois Fighting Illini

Last season, Bret Bielema and Illinois were blown out by Kansas. So as they welcomed the Jayhawks to Champaign this week, there had to be some revenge on their minds. But the truth is, Illinois is just a better team than they were a year ago. Luke Altmyer has progressed, the defense is no longer a saloon door and they put the clamps on Jalon Daniels in this matchup to vault into the Top 25 with a big win. 

24. Nebraska Cornhuskers

This isn’t necessarily about Colorado being a quality win for Nebraska. On the contrary, the Buffaloes simply don’t look that much different than they did a year ago when they won just four games. But this is about how dominant Dylan Raiola and the Huskers were in this matchup, terrorizing Shedeur Sanders with a ferocious defense and moving the ball consistently however they saw fit. Nebraska might’ve arrived quicker than expected under Matt Rhule. 

23. Iowa State Cyclones

If you just looked at the first half of the Cy-Hawk rivalry game, you would’ve thought Kinnick Stadium was the same-old house of horrors for Iowa State that it’s long been. But they turned that narrative around in the second half with a monster Rocco Becht effort, a huge defensive stand, and a game-winning field goal. The Cyclones are going to be a tough out every single week. 

22. Boston College Eagles

Fresh off effectively ending Florida State’s season, Boston College didn’t welcome Duquesne to Chestnut Hill with the intention of letting off the gas pedal. Granted, the Dukes aren’t exactly a powerhouse but the Eagles were able to throttle them early and then turn on cruise control behind another big game from Thomas Castellanos to pick up the 56-0 win and climb into the Top 25. 

21. Clemson Tigers

Given how disheartening of a performance Cade Klubnik and Clemson delivered last week against Georgia, I’m not sure anyone was all that confident with the Tigers hosting Appalachian State this week. But hats off to Dabo Swinney for asserting their will and building Klubnik’s confidence as they blew the doors off the Mountaineers right away, including seven first-half scores from the QB.

Projected AP Top 25 rankings after Week 2: No. 20-16

20. Louisville Cardinals

Louisville might be slipping a little under the radar but big shouts to Jeff Brohm. I had no reason to believe in Tyler Shough coming into this season but the Cardinals head coach has him slinging it around and helping lead an impressive win over a spirited Jacksonville State team in Week 2. The level of competition hasn’t been great to this point, admittedly, but back to back games against Georgia Tech and Notre Dame should provide a lot of insight into this team. 

19. Arizona Wildcats

With the way Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan went off last week, one would reasonably expect them to do the same against Northern Arizona in Week 2. Instead, Arizona proper found itself in a hairy position with an eventual 22-10 win. The fact that the Wildcats, a team whose defense I still have plenty of reasonable doubts about, saw their elite offensive duo get stonewalled a bit by an FCS team does sound the alarms at least somewhat.

18. LSU Tigers

You would think that, after the heartbreaking and emotional loss to USC last week, Brian Kelly’s team would’ve come out with some fire against an opponent like Nicholls this week. Instead, the Tigers defense was not on its game and neither was the rushing offense without John Emery Jr. LSU ultimately made it comfortable late but it wasn’t the good-feeling win that this team was looking for, without question. 

17. Michigan Wolverines

Matching up with Texas showed us every fear we could possibly have about Michigan. It turns out, even one of the best defenses in the country isn’t enough against truly elite competition when the offense is essentially impotent. Until Sherrone Moore figures out a way to consistently move the ball against upper-tier competition, it could be a long season for the Wolverines, especially with some of the high-profile matchups still looming. 

16. Kansas State Wildcats

Avery Johnson didn’t bounce back with a big week after his lackluster opener for K-State last week. Tulane gave the Wildcats all that they could handle, though Johnson and Chris Klieman’s team deserve credit for weathering that and getting the job done. One thing that’s for certain, though, Kansas State will have to be cleaner and better prepared on a short week as they welcome an explosive Arizona team to town next week. 

Projected AP Top 25 rankings after Week 2: No. 15-11

15. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Is there anything more emblematic of Notre Dame under Marcus Freeman’s watch than picking up a massive win at Kyle Field last week and basically paving a golden road to the College Football Playoff only to then lose to Northern Illinois? To me, this loss is on Mike Denbrock more than Freeman, who tried to make Riley Leonard into a pure passer and failed horribly. Now, the Irish’s margin for error just shrunk dramatically. 

14. Oklahoma State Cowboys

Mike Gundy’s Cowboys took care of South Dakota State handily last week but got more of a test than they probably bargained for on Saturday with Arkansas coming to Stillwater. This game got ugly late with plenty of mistakes but the Pokes ultimately prevailed in double-overtime to move to 2-0. Oklahoma State has, at times, struggled to stay focused in non-conference, and it’s hard to say that’s what this was or if the Hogs are better than we expected. 

13. Oklahoma Sooners

It honestly feels dirty even putting Oklahoma inside the Top 15 after seeing the Sooners truly struggle for 60 minutes against a Houston team many projected to finish at or near the bottom of the new Big 12. It was a sloppy game top-to-bottom for Brent Venables’ team but hats off to them for weathering that and surviving to pick up the win. To avoid dropping next week, though, they’ll have to be much better than they were on Saturday night. 

12. Tennessee Volunteers

Statement made! Even though there were plenty of college football fans who wondered if NC State was playing possum and what to make of Tennessee’s beatdown of Chattanooga, we got our answer in Charlotte. Nico Iamaleava indeed looks like the real deal and they put a hurting  on the Wolfpack in this game. What may stand out most, though, is how forceful the Vols defense looks, which could be lethal complementing this offense. 

11. USC Trojans

As dominant as you could want against a team like Utah State if you're a USC Trojans fan. Miller Moss had a nice game but not nearly as big of one as in the win over LSU but it was the ground game behind Woody Marks and Quinten Joyner that really shined for Lincoln Riley's team. And yes, the Aggies are no great test, but the Trojans defense continued to look much improved, allowing just 190 total yards on the night. Things continue to look up for USC.

Projected AP Top 25 rankings after Week 2: No. 10-9

10. Miami Hurricanes

After the dominant win against rival Florida in The Swamp last week, Miami was certainly in a letdown spot that would scare most programs and fan bases. The good news for the Hurricanes, however, is that they weren’t up against necessarily a letdown type of opponent as they welcomed the Florida A&M Rattlers on Saturday. 

It was admittedly a bit sleepy early for The U early on in this game, taking just a 25-6 lead into halftime. But Cam Ward and Damien Martinez came out even better in the second half to pull away handily, ending up with a Miami win by a 56-9 count. With how the ACC has looked so far this year, it’s hard to find anyone who looks to be in a better spot to win their conference than Miami right now. 

9. Utah Utes

For the majority of the first half, Utah looked as if they were going to completely steamroll Baylor in a strange matchup that’s labeled officially as a non-conference game even though both teams are in the Big 12 (thanks, advanced scheduling and realignment!). But that was brought to a halt when veteran quarterback Cam Rising suffered a hand injury that took him out of the game. From thereafter, the Utes offense was largely lifeless and Kyle Whittingham leaned on his defense to ride out the 23-12 win. 

Rising’s X-rays on his hand came back negative, which is a good sign. However, this is a Utah program that spent all of last season without their star and veteran under center and it showed. That’s not at all what they want to do as potential favorites in the Big 12 this season, their first year in the league, so Rising’s health now and moving forward with how uninspiring the Utes looked without him on Saturday is worth monitoring closely. 

Projected AP Top 25 rankings after Week 2: No. 8-7

8. Missouri Tigers

Given how much trouble we saw a handful of other Top 25 teams have against MAC teams on Saturday, I suppose we should give quite a bit of credit to Eli Drinkwitz and the Missouri Tigers on Saturday evening for welcoming the Buffalo Bulls to town and not really sweating that one all too much at all. Having said that, perhaps you would’ve liked to see a bit more of an emphatic result from the Tigers in this one. 

Even still, the offense was cooking with this one and, perhaps more importantly, the defense looked disciplined and stout against Buffalo, possibly showing that Blake Baker isn’t desperately missed in Columbia after all. Mizzou may have looked at their schedule coming into the year, however, as four easy games. But after seeing Boston College and Vanderbilt both come out swinging this season, those next two games no longer look like pushovers for the Tigers. 

7. Penn State Nittany Lions

Maybe Penn State was reading its press clippings all week, maybe they just weren’t going to get up for Bowling Green no matter what, but James Franklin’s Nittany Lions found themselves with a little bit of lemon booty on Saturday afternoon because the Falcons had them legitimately on the ropes throughout this one. Drew Allar and Co. pulled out the win, 34-27. 

Allar and the offense weren’t the big concern coming out of this game, however. The quarterback wasn’t perfect but still threw for 204 yards with two passing scores, a rushing score and an interception while Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen both cleared the century-mark. But Tom Allen’s defense was rightly under fire after allowing 375 total yards of offense and looking lost at times. It didn’t bit them in this situation but, at the end of the day, we know that Penn State has to be better than this for this team and program to get over the hump. 

Projected AP Top 25 rankings after Week 2: No. 6-5

6. Oregon Ducks

When we watched Oregon go out last week against Idaho and, by their standards, lay an egg, there didn't seem to be a ton of long-term concern about what the Ducks would be this season. After all, this is a team projected as one of the national championship favorites. But when Boise State came to town in Week 2, we saw Dan Lanning's group get pushed to the limit by the Broncos.

Make no mistake, Boise has a legitimate chance to be the Group of 5 berth into the CFP. But Oregon needed a last-second field goal to secure the 37-34 win in this game. That's not totally what you want. The Ducks already dropped a bit in the rankings last week and, while they don't here as they moved to 2-0 against a good team, the fact remains that we have far more questions about this team than we ever expected to coming into the season.

5. Alabama Crimson Tide

Who could forget last year when Nick Saban effectively shut up Jalen Milroe critics by starting Ty Simpson and Ty Buchner (in some order) against USF and Alabama was struggling. But hey, with Milroe being the no-doubt starter and this game being in Tuscaloosa for Week 2, no problem for the Crimson Tide, right? Well, not so much. 

Byrum Brown and the Bulls rushing attack was a nightmare for the Tide on Saturday night while the South Florida defense was highly effective, particularly when it comes to capitalizing on mistakes and turnovers. Ultimately, Bama was able to survive that and pull away but there are now some legitimate questions when it comes to this team moving forward, especially with a trip to Wisconsin, a bye week, then a date with Georgia looming in the next three weeks. 

Projected AP Top 25 rankings after Week 2: No. 4-3

4. Ole Miss Rebels

Perhaps all you need to know about this game and how outmatched Middle Tennessee was against Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels is the fact that Jaxson Dart – whose head coach has already admitted is out there trying to get his stats against lower-level competition to boost his Heisman Trophy stock – didn’t throw an incompletion until the fourth quarter of this game. Dart set an SEC record by completing his first 24 passes of the game, finishing 25-of-27 for 377 yards with one passing and one rushing touchdown. 

Henry Parrish Jr., who transferred back to Oxford this season from Miami, had a four-touchdown day and, while MTSU did move the ball some, the Rebels defense came up big in the key areas of the field. Again, there’s not much to learn here but it does very much affirm that Ole Miss is not a team to be trifled with this season, though we might not see how serious that is until Oct. 12 when they visit Baton Rouge to face LSU. 

3. Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State isn’t dropping from No. 2 to No. 3 for anything that they necessarily did. However, while teams around them have been going out and making statements against Top 25 teams, the Buckeyes don’t exactly have the most opportunities to prove themselves when it comes to their early-season schedule. After destroying Akron (albeit with a slow first half) in Week 1, they went out and did the same to Western Michigan. 

The Buckeyes went into halftime already with a 35-0 lead and didn’t look back from there. Will Howard looked far more comfortable than he did in his first game for OSU while Quinshon Judkins also got loose, which we didn’t totally see in the opener either. In all actuality, however, we know that Ryan Day is simply trying to get everything clicking right for this team before the start of October when the schedule ramps up in a major way for this team. 

Projected AP Top 25 rankings after Week 2: No. 2-1

2. Texas Longhorns

On multiple platforms throughout the week, I was adamant that Texas was just a cut above Michigan. However, there remained hesitancy to say that it was going to be a blowout in Ann Arbor because of the strength of Michigan’s defense and the raucous road environment the Longhorns would have to weather when it comes to the Big House. As it turns out, neither of those things mattered and Steve Sarkisian’s team made a monster statement on Saturday. 

Quinn Ewers played a pristine game, picking apart Michigan (and avoiding Will Johnson) while the Texas O-line held up quite well throughout. The defense, meanwhile, made life hell for Davis Warren and the Wolverines rushing attack to deliver a 31-12 statement win in Week 2. And that’s enough of a signature win for me – even if it did say quite a lot about Michigan – to vault the Longhorns ahead of Ohio State and up to No. 2. 

1. Georgia Bulldogs

This might shock you to your core but Georgia had precisely zero trouble handling Tennessee Tech on Saturday. Carson Beck looked like he just rolled out of bed ready to lead the Dawgs offense to a big day on that side of the ball and he did just that before getting a nice rest for the back-end of the second half in what ultimately ended as a 48-3 victory for the Bulldogs. 

Honestly, there’s not much you’re going to take away from a game like this, especially in comparison to what we saw a week ago when Kirby Smart’s team put the boa constrictor grip on Clemson for 60 minutes to force a blowout win. But it was good to see Trevor Etienne make his debut for the Bulldogs, going for 78 yards on just five carries, and for UGA to simply have no trouble at all getting through clearly inferior competition.