Imagine a week where nationally-ranked Texas A&M and Notre Dame lose at home. As double-digit favorites. To Sun Belt teams.
Of course that happened, plus a lot, lot more in one of college football’s craziest weekends. Seven teams I ranked on my Associated Press Top 25 ballot last week lost on Saturday: Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Florida, Baylor, Wisconsin, Houston and Pitt.
With so many upsets, there are a lot of new teams on my Top 25 ballot this week: specifically Marshall and Appalachian State.
I also have a new No. 1. I moved Georgia past Alabama into the No. 1 spot. The Crimson Tide were fortunate to escape with a one-point win at Texas. I rate Georgia’s body of work (albeit only two games) better than Bama at this point. Don’t worry, it could change next week.
Here's my Top 25 ballot compared to Action Network senior writer Collin Wilson’s betting power ratings.
Brett McMurphy's Week 3 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
Georgia
3
2
Alabama
1
3
Ohio State
2
4
Michigan
5
5
Miami
6
6
Kentucky
26
7
Arkansas
11
8
USC
29
9
Oklahoma State
13
10
Oklahoma
9
My top five is very similar to Collin’s power ratings. Or I should say, his power ratings are similar to my rankings.
I’ve had Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State and Miami in my top five all season. Michigan’s complete domination of lesser opponents (Colorado State and Hawaii) have moved the Wolverines up to No. 4.
The biggest discrepancies in my top 10 and his power ratings are Kentucky and USC. I ranked the Wildcats No. 6 (Collin No. 26) and Trojans No. 8 (Collin No. 29).
11
Tennessee
20
12
Clemson
4
13
Marshall
50
14
BYU
25
15
NC State
15
16
Florida
31
17
Utah
10
18
Michigan State
18
19
Wake Forest
43
20
Appalachian State
55
There are very few agreements with Collin’s ratings on the teams I ranked between 11 and 20.
We’re in the same ballpark on Tennessee, NC State, Utah and Michigan State. Collin rates Clemson No. 4, but I have the Tigers ranked just No. 12. I ranked Clemson outside my top 10 in the preseason, and wins over Georgia Tech and Furman aren’t enough to move them any higher just yet.
The biggest differences are Marshall and Appalachian State from the Sun Belt.
Both teams pulled off massive road upsets at teams ranked in the AP’s Top 10 last week, and I rewarded them by putting Marshall at No. 13 and Appalachian State at No. 20. Collin’s ratings have them at No. 50 and 55, respectively.
21
Baylor
24
22
Air Force
38
23
Penn State
23
24
Texas
7
25
Oregon State
57
My final five teams include two newcomers from last week: No. 24 Texas and No. 25 Oregon State. Collin rates the Beavers outside his top 50.
Collin also had eight teams in his top 25 power ratings that I did not rank on my Top 25 ballot this week: No. 8 Mississippi State, No. 12 Florida State, No. 14 Texas A&M, No. 16 Notre Dame, No. 17 TCU, No. 19 Oregon, No. 21 Cincinnati and No. 22 Pitt.
