Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.
It took just two weeks for college football to descend into chaos.
We’ve had two top-10 teams lose to unranked opponents. Notre Dame appeared to have a clear path to the College Football Playoff, then lost to Northern Illinois. Oregon needed a last-second field goal to beat Boise State. Alabama battled USF deep into the fourth quarter for the second consecutive year.
But after a week full of thrillers, the headliner is Texas moving up to No. 2 — and having a case for No. 1 — after a 31-12 win at reigning national champion Michigan. The Longhorns look like a team that could win it all, and they host No. 1 Georgia in a little more than a month.
A reminder: The rankings will be volatile early. Wins against quality and competent teams are rewarded and skewed. Teams can make big jumps quickly with good wins. Teams that beat up on inferior competition won’t move much or might even “drop,” but that’s simply because someone else jumped with a notable win. Several people in last week’s comments didn’t get this.
A lot of teams happened to “drop” this week after a win because of surprising results. Don’t worry. Relax. It’s all in a limited context. It will take a few weeks for everything to sort out once everyone has played at least one game of note. I try to emphasize results, and it takes time for everyone to have one.
Here is the Week 3 edition of The Athletic 134.
1-10
Georgia stays No. 1, and the win over Clemson last week looks even better a week later. Texas moves up to No. 2 after its domination at Michigan. Ohio State has been a machine for two weeks, but the Buckeyes lack a good win like the other two, and unfortunately won’t have one for several weeks. They’ll be fine. This top three feels like it’s ahead of everyone else.
Alabama drops to No. 7 after needing a four-touchdown fourth quarter to pull away from USF, and Penn State drops to No. 8 after holding on 34-27 against Bowling Green. Oregon moves up a spot but needed a last-second field goal to beat Boise State, and the Ducks have shown concerning issues for two weeks after being my preseason No. 3.
As a result of those Alabama and Penn State issues, plus Notre Dame’s and Michigan’s losses, Miami slides up to No. 5. Tennessee also rises to No. 6 after a 51-10 win against NC State.
11-25
Iowa State moves up to No. 13 after a last-second win at Iowa, and the Hawkeyes drop to No. 24. Oklahoma looked shockingly poor against Houston but stays at No. 14 as a result of the teams behind it. No. 16 Kansas State escaped Tulane, No. 17 Oklahoma State allowed 648 yards but somehow won a bizarre game against Arkansas, and No. 18 Clemson has a loss.
Welcome to the top 25, Nebraska, after a 28-10 win against Colorado that was never close. Also welcome, Northern Illinois! The Huskies beat a Notre Dame team that won at Texas A&M and make one of the biggest one-week jumps in the history of these rankings, from No. 106 to No. 21. Why shouldn’t NIU be ahead of the Fighting Irish?
Michigan stays in the top 25 at No. 23 because I think Texas is really good, but the Wolverines are trending down. Arizona drops a few spots to No. 25 after trailing Northern Arizona at halftime.
26-50
There are a lot of new teams at the top of this group. Illinois makes a huge jump to No. 27 after beating a ranked Kansas team. No. 28 Syracuse similarly has a big rise after beating Georgia Tech 31-28. No. 30 Arizona State and No. 31 Cal jump here after wins against the SEC’s Mississippi State and at Auburn, respectively.
I know Louisville is ranked in the AP and Coaches Poll. The simple explanation for the Cards’ position here at No. 35 is that they’ve beaten up on Austin Peay and Jacksonville State, so they haven’t moved much from their preseason No. 32 ranking. Like Ohio State, they need to play notable opponents, which begins next week with Georgia Tech. Other teams won and “dropped” in here as well, like No. 33 Texas A&M and No. 34 Memphis. This is because the loss to Notre Dame looks worse for A&M now, and other teams got better wins to leap over various teams that haven’t played a game of note yet.
I have no idea what to do with South Carolina. The Gamecocks barely escaped Old Dominion at home in Week 1 and then rocked Kentucky 31-6 on the road. They’re back up to No. 41, around their original preseason ranking. Tulane slips only one spot to No. 45 after taking Kansas State to the limit, but the Green Wave look like a team that should contend for the AAC again. Liberty tumbles to No. 46 after needing a fourth-quarter comeback to beat New Mexico State.
After struggling to get past Western Michigan in Week 1, Wisconsin followed up with another concerning performance against South Dakota, dropping to No. 49. Next up? Alabama.
51-75
This group also sees several teams “drop” after a loss, but again, that’s just because of notable wins by other teams.
Arkansas put almost 650 yards of offense on Oklahoma State and still somehow lost, as the Hogs stay put at No. 52. Kentucky’s lopsided loss to South Carolina sees the Wildcats drop to No. 54. Texas State put it on UTSA 49-10 in a statement win to move up to No. 57 with Arizona State coming to town on Thursday.
BYU beat SMU 18-15 in an ugly affair but picked up a valuable road win to move up to No. 58. Oregon State and Washington State are 2-0 and ranked No. 62 and No. 63 with Civil War and Apple Cup rivalries coming this weekend. Michigan State’s last-second field goal against Maryland sees the Spartans move up to No. 64, and the Terrapins slide 10 spots to No. 66. Texas Tech drops to No. 72 after a 37-16 loss at Washington State, while Pitt moves into the top 75 after a fourth-quarter comeback at Cincinnati.
76-100
The top part of this group includes several teams that lost and dropped out of the top 75. But No. 81 Virginia is 2-0 after squeaking out a win against Wake Forest. No. 84 Georgia Southern beat Nevada in a matchup of teams that may be better than we expected.
No. 90 Houston is another team I have no idea where to rank. The Cougars were blown out by UNLV in Week 1 and then stayed close with Oklahoma 16-12 this week. Old Dominion followed up its close loss to South Carolina with a 20-14 loss to East Carolina, so the Monarchs move down to No. 97 as ECU moves up to No. 95.
Shoutout to ULM. The Warhawks beat UAB 32-6 and move into the top 100 of these rankings for the first time in a very long time.
101-134
Ohio moves up to No. 103 after beating South Alabama, and I’m wondering if the Bobcats are going to make a lot of noise in the MAC race. Troy dropped to No. 104 after an 0-2 start following a 38-17 loss to Memphis. Pitbull Stadium was rocking as FIU beat Central Michigan 52-16 to move up to No. 106. Wyoming drops all the way to No. 118 after an alarming 0-2 start. The Cowboys have a 48-7 loss to Arizona State and a 17-13 loss to FCS Idaho, though it’s the same Idaho team that battled Oregon in Week 1. UTEP also lost to Southern Utah for another FBS-FCS loss, as the Miners drop to No. 133.
Lastly, we already have our third No. 134 of the season. Kent State takes over the bottom spot after losing to FCS St. Francis (Pa.), which was a below-.500 team last year. Next up for the Golden Flashes: Tennessee and Penn State.
The Athletic 134 series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Photo: Aaron J. Thornton / Getty Images)
