I dropped 6 teams from my rankings this week. Two of them — Notre Dame and Michigan — are still ranked in the AP Top 25 for the new week, but in name only. Notre Dame has fatal flaws. Michigan has a broken offense. We’ll see how they bounce back going forward. Iowa, Kansas, Auburn, and SMU all lost as well. Those were easy decisions.
I moved Clemson and LSU back in after a 1-week hiatus. Other newcomers included Iowa State, Illinois, Nebraska, and, yes, Northern Illinois.
So, without further ado, here’s how I ranked the top 25 teams in the country for the ballot I submitted for Saturday Down South’s official preseason top 25.
1. Georgia
Last week: 1
The Bulldogs have done everything asked of them through the first 2 weeks. They have given up only 6 points and are yielding just 3.2 yards per play. They’re also 1 of only 12 teams thus far without a turnover.
2. Texas
Last week: 3
The Longhorns went on the road and manhandled a bad Michigan team. The Wolverines had 88 total yards of offense in the first half and were down 24-3. If Quinn Ewers maintains his current level, the Longhorns will truly rival Georgia.
3. Ohio State
Last week: 4
I was optimistic about the Chip Kelly move for Ohio State, and he’s been excellent through the first 2 weeks. Ohio State is averaging 8 yards a play and hasn’t turned the ball over. There are home-run-hitters everywhere and it doesn’t really feel like anyone has broken a sweat yet. Not that they’d need to against Akron and Western Michigan.
4. Alabama
Last week: 2
Alabama needs left tackle Kadyn Proctor to get healthy in the worst of ways. Don’t be misled by the 42-16 final score, the Crimson Tide didn’t move the football well against South Florida. Up until the 6:45 mark in the fourth quarter, Alabama had a 21-16 lead and was averaging just 3.7 yards a play. Over the last 6 minutes and 45 seconds, Alabama had 164 yards on 6 plays. We know Kalen DeBoer offenses can hit at any moment.
5. Ole Miss
Last week: 6
Ole Miss leads the country in scoring offense and offensive efficiency. Jaxson Dart has 34 pass plays of at least 10 yards in 2 games. He is more than halfway to Iowa’s entire total in 2023. Now, the Rebels have faced Furman and Middle Tennessee, but a 128-3 scoring margin is outrageous no matter the opponent.
6. Missouri
Last week: 8
Missouri has won games 51-0 and 38-0. Like Ole Miss, you’ll have folks slandering the start because Missouri ain’t played no one yet, but Missouri is also the first FBS team since 2019 to open its season with consecutive shutouts. A shutout is a shutout.
7. Tennessee
Last week: 11
I thought the Volunteers would be able to beat up on NC State. But quarterback Nico Iamaleava threw 2 interceptions away from home — one of which was returned for a score — and Tennessee still won 51-10. Iamaleava is awesome, but this is a complete team. The defense is nasty and Dylan Sampson looks like a real breakout star.
8. Miami
Last week: 10
Miami followed up a huge rivalry victory by handling an FCS opponent. Exactly what you hoped to see. Quarterback Cam Ward hit chunk-play touchdown passes in the first quarter to set the tone in a game that saw Miami put at least 10 points on the board in each quarter.
9. Penn State
Last week: 5
Penn State flashed an improved offense in Week 1 and then Tom Allen made an entire fanbase hate him in Week 2. The Nittany Lions struggled with Bowling Green at home, going into halftime trailing 24-20. Nicholas Singleton was the difference in the second half. He’s off to a great start, averaging 9 yards a carry through 2 games.
10. USC
Last week: 15
A 48-0 shutout win over Utah State gave the Trojans their first shutout since 2011. The defense has given up 20 combined points through the opening 2 weeks, the fewest over an opening 2-game stretch since 2015. USC might be right there with Penn State in the conversation for the second-best team in the Big Ten.
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11. Oregon
Last week: 7
It’s completely reasonable to be concerned about the Ducks. The offensive line is a major concern and the gap between Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel appears bigger than anyone thought it would be. The Ducks are 0-2 against the spread against an FCS team and a Mountain West team. We could talk about Idaho being a good FCS team or Boise being a CFP contender but Oregon was supposed to be a national championship contender. Georgia isn’t doing this. Ohio State isn’t doing this. Texas isn’t doing this.
12. Utah
Last week: 17
The Utes handled Southern Utah in their opener, jumped out to a 23-0 lead on Baylor, lost Cameron Rising to a hand injury, and got timely stops in the second half to survive Baylor.
13. Oklahoma State
Last week: 14
Oklahoma State probably doesn’t deserve to move up after what it did in Week 2, but enough happened in front of it that here we are. The Cowboys technically covered at home against Arkansas, but at no point did OSU have control of the game. Alan Bowman threw 48 passes. Ollie Gordon had 17 rushing attempts — 8 of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime. Neither team tried to win the football game, Arkansas just made more mistakes. But this is to be expected from Mike Gundy. Oklahoma State will look stupid in a random September game. The difference this time is OSU survived.
14. Louisville
Last week: 21
Quarterback Tyler Shough looks wonderful in Jeff Brohm’s offense and the Cardinals’ defense has given up 14 points in 2 games. That defense is legit — one of the nation’s best on third down early on.
15. Kansas State
Last week: 16
A 60-yard scoop-and-score in the fourth quarter gave Kansas State a 34-27 lead over Tulane. An interception in the endzone with 5 seconds to play secured the comeback win. The Wildcats trailed by 10 at halftime but outscored Tulane 24-7 in the second half to escape New Orleans with a win.
16. Oklahoma
Last week: 13
Quarterback Jackson Arnold struggled heavily as the Sooners were outgained on a per-play basis throughout a 16-12 win over Houston. A safety and a second-half takeaway helped OU avoid disaster at home.
17. Arizona
Last week: 19
The Wildcats went into a halftime break at home trailing Northern Arizona 10-6. The defense then pitched a second-half shutout to spur a 22-10 win. Issues along the offensive line were a major storyline in Week 2.
18. Clemson
Last week: unranked
Clemson played maybe the best half of football it has ever played…? In a 66-20 (???) obliteration of Appalachian State, quarterback Cade Klubnik shrugged off his Week 1 woes and completed 24 of his 26 passes for 378 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also added 2 rushing scores to help the Tigers produce touchdowns on all 8 of their first-half possessions. It was 56-13 after 30 minutes.
19. LSU
Last week: unranked
LSU has a good one in Garrett Nussmeier. The starting quarterback for the Tigers completed 27 of his 37 passes for 302 yards and 6 scores in a 44-21 win.
20. Washington
Last week: 22
Washington officially assimilated itself into the Big Ten by smacking around a MAC school for 60 minutes. In a 30-9 win over Eastern Michigan, Washington was uber-efficient with its offense (8.8 yards per play) and aggressive with its defense (7 sacks). The defense has been the story through UW’s first 2 games, producing 8 sacks and 15 tackles for loss while allowing only 6 points on 3 red zone trips. Through 2 games, UW hasn’t given up a touchdown. That’s the first time that has happened at any point during a Washington season since 1991 and the first time that has happened to open a season since 1978.
21. Memphis
Last week: 24
Memphis beat up on Troy, 38-17, to set up a massive opportunity for the program in Tallahassee in Week 3. Running back Mario Anderson produced 148 yards and 2 scores on 21 touches as the star of the show in Week 2.
22. Iowa State
Last week: unranked
The Cyclones battled back from a 19-7 second-half deficit to beat Iowa. They kicked a 54-yard field goal at the end to win and picked off Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara twice.
23. Nebraska
Last week: unranked
I’m buying the Huskers in Matt Rhule’s second season. Last year, the defense under Tony White was a mauler, holding teams to 4.6 yards per play. So far this season, the Blackshirts are giving up 4.2 yards per play and already have 19 tackles for loss in 2 games. Freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola gives the offense some much-needed punch.
24. Illinois
Last week: unranked
The Illini outscored a ranked Kansas squad 10-0 in the fourth quarter to steal a 23-17 upset win in front of the home fans. They turned Kansas over 4 times in the game.
25. Northern Illinois
Last week: unranked
The Huskies closed as a 28.5-point underdog on the road. Antario Brown had 99 rushing and 126 receiving yards with a touchdown to help NIU deliver a program-defining moment. You love to see it.
Dropped out
Notre Dame (9), Michigan (12), Iowa (18), Kansas (20), Auburn (23), SMU (25)
Right on the cut line
Boston College, Syracuse, Notre Dame
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
