What to make of LSU and Ohio State? Last year's national title game participants have been strewn up and down the polls in these first few weeks.
Take LSU for instance. The Tigers are clinging to their No. 4 ranking despite having two first place votes. Several voters have them out of the Top 5 and even as far down as No. 11 (Will Hoenike has his reasons). Ohio State is even less appreciated, slipping two spots from Week One and falling out of the Top 10 in more than one person's mind.
Note: many polls were received prior to the UCLA-Tennessee game, which is very good news for Phil Fulmer's confidence.
For all things related to the Top 26 Poll, visit the poll's homepage, and to see a breakdown of the rankings, download the Top 26 pdf. Without further ado, your Week Two Top 26 Poll.
- Georgia (6)
- USC (5)
- Florida
- LSU (2)
- Missouri
- Oklahoma
- Ohio State
- West Virginia
- Texas
- Auburn
- Wisconsin
- Kansas
- Texas Tech
- Arizona State
- Oregon
- BYU
- Alabama
- Tennessee
- Penn State
- South Florida
- Wake Forest
- East Carolina
- Fresno State
- Utah
- Boston College
- South Carolina
Say good-bye to: Clemson, Virginia Tech, Illinois
Also receiving votes: Clemson, Illinois, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Boise State, California, Virginia Tech, UCLA, Nebraska, Oklahoma State
This week, OBNUG contributor Nick is on the hot seat to stand behind his picks. Here is his poll:
- LSU
- USC
- Missouri
- Georgia
- West Virginia
- Florida
- Texas
- Kansas
- Oklahoma
- Arizona State
- Auburn
- Ohio State
- Wisconsin
- Alabama
- Texas Tech
- East Carolina
- Oregon
- Penn State
- South Florida
- Wake Forrest
- Utah
- Bowling Green
- Fresno State
- BYU
- Illinois
Now wasn't that a fun first weekend of college football? We learned a few things -- East Carolina's got something going, either Utah is good or Michigan is really bad, the second year of the Nick Saban era in Alabama looks to be a whole lot better than the first year. We still have some unanswered questions -- just how bad will USC beat Ohio State? What will Georgia look like when they aren't playing a directional school? Is BYU the best team in the Mountain West?
Basically, I don't have a much better idea of this year's crop of college football teams. Here are a couple of my gut feelings as reflected in my poll:
- I don't think Georgia is the top team in the nation, let alone the best team in the SEC. This is pretty much the same team that got killed by Tennessee last year and should have lost to Vanderbilt. They had one emotional win over Florida, but really have failed to show me any reason to believe they can do it again this year. Alas, until they do, I have them ranked above Florida.
- I think Missouri and West Virginia are for real. Both return experience QB's who showed up strong in their first games.
- I do not believe in Ohio State.
- Fresno had an impressive outing in a hostile environment across the country. Unfortunately, this Rutgers team is not nearly as good without Ray Rice.
- I don't trust a Phillip Fulmer coached team, especially one without David Cutcliffe.
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