Week 3 of the college football season is finished, and the updated Associated Press top 25 poll will be out shortly.
As an AP voter this season, I’ll be sharing my top-25 week by week and giving you a peek behind the curtain as to my thought process.
(My rankings from last week are in parentheses.)
1. Alabama (1)
2. Georgia (2)
3. Oregon (4)
4. Iowa (5)
5. Oklahoma (3)
Bryce Young won in The Swamp, which is no small feat. Georgia throttled South Carolina by four touchdowns. Oklahoma edged Nebraska as Spencer Rattler and the offense failed to pop. Though, the Sooners’ defensive resilience (10 tackles for loss, five sacks, red-zone INT) was a positive sign. Oregon and Iowa, meanwhile, rolled against Stony Brook and Kent State, respectively.
6. Penn State (8)
7. Cincinnati (6)
8. Texas A&M (9)
9. Florida (10)
10. Ole Miss (14)
Dating back to last year, Penn State has won seven straight. The seventh was a White Out win over Auburn on a night where quarterback Sean Clifford completed 28 of 32 passes and the defense stood tall. Penn State and Iowa’s meeting in a few weeks should be interesting. Cincinnati survived Indiana, and Texas A&M beat New Mexico comfortably. Florida moves up in my rankings despite losing. The Gators were a missed PAT away from overtime against Alabama. That carries a lot of weight. And Ole Miss could have scored 80 if it wanted to in a 61-21 drubbing of Tulane.
11. Clemson (7)
12. Ohio State (11)
13. Notre Dame (12)
14. Iowa State (15)
15. Coastal Carolina (16)
What has happened to Clemson? Getting bodied by Georgia is one thing. But managing only 14 points against Georgia Tech — the same team that lost to Northern Illinois — is something else entirely. Ohio State led by only seven at halftime against Tulsa before pulling away. Notre Dame continues to skate by, this week against Purdue. Iowa State smoked UNLV. And Coastal Carolina avoided an upset at Buffalo.
16. North Carolina (18)
17. BYU (23)
18. Wisconsin (17)
19. Arkansas (22)
20. Michigan (24)
With back-to-back 59-point showings, it seems Sam Howell and North Carolina have put the season-opening loss to Virginia Tech behind them. BYU, an independent, ought to be crowned Pac-12 South champions after starting the season 3-0 against the division. Kalani Sitake’s defense proved in a ranked win over Arizona State that it’s legit. Wisconsin had an off week. Arkansas and Michigan basically did, too, breezing by Georgia Southern and Northern Illinois.
21. Michigan State (NR)
22. Fresno State (NR)
23. UCLA (13)
24. Auburn (25)
25. Kansas State (NR)
Bookmakers set Michigan State’s over/under win total at 4.5, and the Spartans are already 3-0 after a dominant win at Miami. Fresno State enters the rankings after knocking off UCLA. Guess we should have taken the Bulldogs seriously when they nearly upset Oregon. UCLA is still the Pac-12 South favorite. Auburn deserves credit for performing the way it did in Happy Valley. I’m more sold on the Tigers as a top-25 team now than I was last week. And Chris Klieman’s Kansas State keeps stacking wins.
Dropped: Arizona State (19), Miami (20), Virginia Tech (21)
Last week, I ranked Virginia Tech six spots lower than where the actual poll had the Hokies. To me, the win against North Carolina felt more like a Week One aberration than the sign of a top team. And even though West Virginia was slightly favored, Saturday’s loss in Morgantown helped confirm that.
Pitt perspective
I wrote last week that, after its win at Tennessee, if Pitt blew the doors off Western Michigan it would garner consideration for a top-25 spot. Instead, the Panthers lost as two-touchdown favorites.
They won’t be sniffing the rankings any time soon.
Johnny McGonigal: jmcgonigal@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jmcgonigal9
First Published: September 19, 2021, 1:22 p.m.
