Takeaways from Week 3 Associated Press Top 25
And then there were 4.
We knew that the Associated Press Top 25 was going to lose at least 2 SEC teams. Florida and South Carolina were inevitably going to be left out of the poll following home losses. That wasn’t news.
And with Alabama, Auburn and LSU all playing Group of 5 teams, there wasn’t much suspense about the SEC teams at the top of the poll.
Still, there were a few takeaways from the Week 3 poll:
1. Alabama makes history
Alabama as the No. 1 team in America is like a LeBron James triple double. It’s more newsworthy when it doesn’t happen than when it does. But the Tide accomplished a feat that’s impressive even for their high standards.
With the No. 1 spot — Alabama got 54 of 61 first-place votes — the program earned its 106th such ranking in the 82-year history of the poll. That passed Ohio State for the all-time record.
The Tide earned that spot after a 57-7 victory against Arkansas State on Saturday. Clemson earned 6 of the other first-place votes following its down-to-the-wire win at Texas A&M and Wisconsin still got a vote.
Alabama will try and build off its record-setting mark on Saturday against Ole Miss, which is the only SEC team that has multiple victories against the Tide in the last 4 years.
2. Texas A&M actually moved up…but it should’ve been higher
If I had a vote, I would’ve put Texas A&M in my poll. That’s how well the Aggies played Clemson on Saturday night. It wasn’t like the Aggies got lucky with some random chunk plays or some unforced errors. Texas A&M went toe-to-toe with the best non-SEC team in America.
Last week, the Aggies were at No. 29. This week, they unofficially earned the No. 27 spot with 90 points. That was 14 behind No. 25 Michigan State, which lost at Arizona State.
Credit: John Glaser-USA TODAY Sports
I thought the Aggies were more deserving of a top-25 spot than USC, which didn’t score a touchdown against Stanford. Sure, A&M lost, but it showed more against a quality opponent than USC did.
Does it really matter? Not really. Lord knows A&M will have another big-time opportunity against Alabama in a couple weeks. I still thought that would’ve been a fair way to reward a team that clearly looked top-25 worthy on Saturday night.
3. Should be top-5 spot on the line with LSU-Auburn
LSU at No. 12 and Auburn at No. 7 should mean 1 thing. The winner of next Saturday’s showdown should be worthy of at least a top-5 spot and maybe even a top-4 spot.
Why? Either way, the winner will have multiple wins against top-12 teams in the first 3 weeks of the season. They’ll actually have the best résumé in the country through 3 weeks of the season. Both of them already have arguably the top 2 wins of anyone. Adding another premier victory should at least move them ahead of a team like Oklahoma or Wisconsin, which will have yet to face a ranked team.
If the LSU-Auburn winner doesn’t crack the top 5 next week, it’ll be a sign that clearly, voters are hanging on to preseason perceptions way too much.
By the way, was it a little strange to see LSU drop a spot after a 31-point win? Yeah, but that was perhaps a sign that voters admittedly got a bit too excited after last Sunday’s drubbing of Miami (FL), which was seen by everyone. I wouldn’t look too far into that.
But if LSU beats Auburn on the road and still doesn’t get enough love, complain away.
And yesterday Georgia looked like a better team than Clemson and should have swapped places with them. A&M wins that game with refs who know the rules.
You’re exactly right. If Texas A&M is the #27 or #29 team, then beating them by only two shouldn’t enhance the resume. Clemson’s defense was exposed last night, as was the fact that they still don’t have an offense anywhere near the level of Alabama or Georgia. Those still voting them #1 in the poll ought to be particularly ashamed.
Couldn’t agree more with your last sentence.
Exactly. It just doesn’t make sense to leave Clemson at #2 and not move A&M up. You can’t have it both ways, you either think Clemson was not as good as believed and move them down, or you believe they are that good in which case A&M clearly should get a boost up. These voters are voting like grade school kids.
Thinking that 26 or 28 teams are better than A&M is a mistake.
Fisher oven roasted nuts taste disgusting. They make you want to throw up.
Did anyone hear Rece Davis on college gameday say Clemsons schedule was legit? I miss the days where Fowler was the host he did a great job and kept his opinions to himself and let Kirk, Lee and unfortuntaley Desmond have their takes on the world of college football. Rece has zero football IQ. He didn’t play,coach, nothing! He just hates the Bama dynasty and thinks it is bad for college football. What’s bad for college football are people who plant ideas into voters minds saying Clemsons schedule isn’t weak, I know what he is doing and yes I am big about psychology and no I am not psychotic just interested in what other folks think about my hypothesis. Which is that some folks like Danny kandel, Joey Galloway, rece Davis, Desmond Howard use their position to distribute information they want people to believe almost like sabotage. I know Rece is already wiggling his ideas in folks mind. He wants Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia anybody to beat and put an end to Alabamas run. I hate that people with that kind of position use it for such ways
Rece Davis attended the University of Alabama..
Shhhhh. Don’t tell him. Maybe he’ll say this out loud to a,person who knows what they are talking about lol
So Ga goes on the road to a ranked SC team, and destroys them. Game was never in doubt, especially after 5 minutes into the 3rd quarter.
Clemson goes on the road to un-ranked A&M and gets out played for the entire second half, and if not for one very lucky break -starting QB cramps up while in the red zone leading to a fumble by the second string QB. And an atrociously bad call that gave Clemson the ball back, when A&m should have had a 1st down inside the 1 and with all the momentum.
And they still keep Clemson over Georgia? I would love to hear the logic behind that. It looks like these voters don’t even watch the games involving the top 5-10 teams. Amazing!
I agree. Georgia should be ranked second. Clemson should drop behind OU, Ohio State, Auburn and be sitting at number 6. Why isn’t everybody calling out Clemson? They played a team that was far less talented with a QB who up until that point was a big question mark. I understand Kyle Field and the difficult stadium but dang Jordan Hare is tough, Sanford is tough, the Swamp, Bryant denny, the real death valley LSU…shoot I am tired of folks giving Clemson the biggest kudos for going and beating a unranked A&M on the road. Pretty sure we all have to go the Kyle Field at some point and I dont hear everyone saying much about it then. Its damn special when Clemson does cause their out of conference? But when Bama goes there who says wow that was an amazing win…NO they say well bama took care of business as they should. I am tired of all the bias sh!+ in college football. Be fair, stop favoring all the other power 5 conferences at every opportunity…Fact: Clemson underplayed, was out coached which happens alot people. Dabo lost to Syracuse! He has nearly lost to Troy and should have lost alot of other games but somehow he summons the refs luck…like the pick play they run with that little white boy Renfrow. Pretty sure that is an illegal play too
Cheerleaders or sports-writers ? They can’t be both.
Shamefully blatant promotion vs. unbiased reporting of the college football world
I know rankings sell and gives everyone something to argue about, but I just can’t help to think that reserving rankings until later on in the season would give those rankings more credence and integrity. It would allow for a truly clean slate from the previous season, better analysis of each team, and real, far less glorified conversations of football amongst fans. Just my opinion, not that anyone asked for it.
exactly right
These rankings are for entertainment purposes only, they mean nothing.The REAL ranking ARE reserved until mid October…
I’m not feeling LSU over the barn this week. So far in total offense after 2 weeks they are ranked 14th out of 14 SEC teams. Doesn’t sound promising, even with the amazing Aranda doing his thing.
The rankings this time of year are strictly for fun and debate. If you don’t think A&M has a good chance to beat half the teams in the top 25 with the way they just played Clemson, you don’t know squat about football. I think these voters keep looking ahead to how they think the Aggie record will end due to their grueling schedule. Just looking at two games? Aggies should be in the top 20.
I really hate to be that guy, but there are just so many indicators this week it’s hard not to be. A #2 ranked ACC team ends up in a battle against the 5th team in the SEC West, and arguably gets outplayed in that game. The results? Refs make extremely blatant bad calls that likely cost the Aggies the game, or at least a fighting chance in it. I hate when bad calls are brought into a post game discussion, but it really can’t be helped this time. The next result is a truly mind bending rankings that not only leaves Clemson at #2 but pretty much ignores the team that just outplayed them. You can throw out all the tin foil allegations you like, but I’m finding it really hard to deny the fact they are badly needing to have any team other than another SEC team they can keep at the top with Bama and will do just about anything to accomplish that.