The dust has settled on a wild Week 1, and the AP Poll has delivered its first brutal judgment of the season. Surprise winners rose, struggling contenders paid the price, and expectations were quickly rewritten.
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But no team was hit harder than Kyle Whittingham’s Michigan, whose narrow escape turned into one of the most shocking developments of the new rankings.
Ohio State remained at the top of the nation after retaining the No. 1 spot in the first regular-season AP Poll. The Buckeyes received 46 first-place votes, 38 more than No. 5 Indiana, which had the second-most with eight. Georgia (No. 2), Notre Dame (No. 3), Texas (No. 4), and Indiana completed the top five, while Oregon fell four places to No. 6.
Virginia made a surprising leap into the AP Poll, climbing from unranked to No. 25 after a dominant 34-8 Week Zero victory over NC State. Although the Cavaliers had a bye during the first full weekend of college football, their impressive opening performance proved enough to earn them a spot in this week’s rankings.
While Virginia debuted in the rankings, Kyle Whittingham’s Michigan got a major shocker, falling from No. 16 in the Top 25 last week to being completely ousted from the rankings. It marked the first time since at least 2008 that a team ranked so highly was bounced from the poll after a win.
The alarm bells are already ringing for Michigan’s new head coach, whose Wolverines debut nearly turned into a nightmare. Michigan narrowly escaped a massive Week 1 upset, beating Western Michigan 13-12 only after a highly controversial, last-second Hail Mary. Despite entering as 27.5-point favorites, the Wolverines delivered a deeply flawed performance that exposed serious concerns.
“I’m going to tell you right now, there was not a lot of hooting and hollering in that locker room,” Kyle Whittingham said in his conversation with the media. “In fact, there was none, because we understand that we’ve got a lot of work to do, and that we’ve got to be much, much better than we were.”
Apart from Ohio State, Virginia, and Michigan, LSU may have impressed the pollsters the most. Lane Kiffin’s team is now ranked No. 8 in the Week 1 AP Poll after cruising to a statement 51-10 victory over Clemson, controlling the game for the most part. Previously, LSU was just outside the top 10, sitting at No. 11 in the preseason rankings.
LSU returned to the top 10 at No. 8. Last season, the Tigers climbed as high as No. 3 during a 4-0 start but finished 7-6 and unranked. The Tigers’ rise bumped Oklahoma out of the top 10, even after the Sooners recorded a dominant 51-0 shutout of UTEP.
Oregon also took a massive hit after Week 1. Despite securing a close 34–27 win against Boise State, the Oregon Ducks fell four spots from their program-best preseason ranking of No. 2 to No. 6 in both the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 and the US LBM Coaches Poll. Their narrow performance made pollsters a bit cautious.
Just outside the rankings, Boise State led the teams receiving votes with 86, followed by Florida (83), Michigan (69), Arizona (33), Memphis (23), South Carolina (19), and Western Michigan (12). Pittsburgh earned 11 votes, Navy 10, UCLA 7, Virginia Tech and Illinois 6 each, James Madison and Minnesota 4, Colorado 3, and Auburn, Arizona State, and Vanderbilt 2 apiece.
As Week 2 approaches, the rankings could see even more inclusions and exclusions. But the big question remains: Will the top teams be able to maintain their dominance in the top-five spots? What do you think?