It’s not even the second week of the season, and we’re already splitting hairs about the nation’s top three teams and what order they should be in.
At least, my opinion — which shockingly is my opinion and maybe not yours — is that Alabama remains No. 1, followed by No. 2 Georgia and No. 3 Ohio State. On my preseason ballot, I had Bama, Ohio State and Georgia.
However, Georgia deserved to jump up a spot after blasting ranked (or is it rank?) Oregon, 49-3, and one could make an argument maybe the Bulldogs deserve to be No. 1.
I kept Alabama at No. 1 because the Tide dominated Utah State, 55-0. Alabama led, 41-0, at the half and Nick Saban could have scored 80 points if he desired.
Ohio State had the toughest opponent last week in No. 5 Notre Dame. The Buckeyes trailed at half, 10-7, before rallying for a 21-10 victory. I don’t have Notre Dame ranked in my top 10, so I dropped Ohio State down to No. 3.
There are three new schools on my ballot compared to my preseason ballot. Florida rockets inside the top 10 after upsetting No. 7 Utah, while Kentucky and BYU moved into the bottom of my ballot.
Here's the remainder of my AP preseason ballot, along with Action Network senior writer Collin Wilson’s power ratings.
Brett McMurphy's Week 2 AP Top 25 Ballot
AP denotes Brett McMurphy's Associated Press Top 25 ballot.
PR denotes Collin Wilson's College Football Betting Power Ratings.
1
Alabama
1
2
Georgia
3
3
Ohio State
2
4
Miami
6
5
Michigan
7
6
Texas A&M
8
7
Baylor
57
8
Florida
33
9
Oklahoma State
38
10
Oklahoma
13
My top three agree with Collin’s top three — although in a different order. We’re also somewhat in the same ballpark with three more top-10 teams: Miami, Michigan and Texas A&M.
Three of my top-10 teams — No. 7 Baylor, No. 8 Florida and No. 9 Oklahoma — State aren't even ranked among Collin’s top-30 power-rated teams.
11
Arkansas
12
12
Clemson
5
13
Wisconsin
28
14
Utah
10
15
NC State
14
16
Notre Dame
4
17
USC
30
18
Wake Forest
59
19
Pitt
22
20
Tennessee
20
Wake Forest is our biggest disagreement for teams I ranked between Nos. 11 and 20. Even without quarterback Sam Hartman, who is out indefinitely, I still have the Demon Deacons at No. 18, while Collin rates Wake at No. 59.
Collin also rates Notre Dame and Clemson at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively. I ranked the Irish at No. 16 and Clemson, after a lackluster win over Georgia Tech, at No. 12.
21
Houston
39
22
Air Force
52
23
Penn State
17
24
Kentucky
27
25
BYU
9
Three of the final five teams in my top 25 — Penn State, Kentucky and BYU — also are in Collin’s top 27 teams. I have Houston at No. 21 and Air Force at No. 22 — vastly different than Collin’s ratings (Houston No. 39, Air Force No. 52).
Collin also had nine teams in his top 25 power ratings that I did not rank on my Top 25 ballot this week: No. 11 Mississippi State, No. 15 TCU, No. 16 Texas, No. 18 Florida State, No. 19 LSU, No. 21 Oregon, No. 23 Cincinnati, No. 24 Michigan State and No. 25 Iowa.
