One-game samples never tell the full tale, but college football fans have been staring at the same pecking order all offseason. We deserve a little shake-up.
Week 1 is officially in the books, which means it’s time to adjust accordingly. Collin Wilson has already made his week-over-week adjustments to his college betting power ratings, which have been updated following Week 1 action.
Wilson's college football betting power ratings take into account advanced metrics, coaching changes, year-over-year roster continuity (TARP) — and a host of other underlying components — to assess the true strength of every college football team.
So, without further ado, let's evaluate how those power ratings stack up against Brett McMurphy’s AP Top 25 ballot entering Week 2.
Brett McMurphy's AP Top 25 Ballot Entering Week 2
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
Texas A&M
6
5
Oklahoma
5
6
Clemson
4
7
Penn State
7
8
Iowa
15
9
UCLA
14
10
Notre Dame
36
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame gets a bump up one spot from the preseason and officially lands inside McMurphy’s top 10 after Sunday night's win over pesky Florida State.
The Action Network, however, remains bearish on the Fighting Irish, sliding them back one spot from No. 35 to No. 36 despite the win.
Notre Dame’s defense was a regression candidate after losing star coordinator Clark Lea to Vanderbilt. We’ve already seen cracks in the armor one game into the season, after the Fighting Irish coughed up 264 yards on the ground and 38 points to the Seminoles.
11
Iowa State
10
12
Texas
11
13
Cincinnati
9
14
Virginia Tech
27
Virginia Tech Hokies
Virginia Tech was the first team to legitimately bungle the College Football Playoff race this season.
The Hokies — cheered on by the geeked-up Blacksburg faithful — triggered North Carolina quarterback and Heisman-hopeful Sam Howell into throwing three interceptions in a seemingly effortless 17-10 victory.
However, one win wasn’t enough to jam the Hokies into The Action Network’s Top 25. Despite their victory over the Tar Heels, the Hokies were still out-gained by 0.4 yards per play and posted just 3.0 yards per carry.
15
Oregon
20
16
Utah
12
17
USC
22
18
Florida
13
19
Arizona State
24
20
Wisconsin
8
Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin fell flat in a loss to Penn State as a 5.5-point favorite. Quarterback Graham Mertz was a shell of the player who threw five touchdown passes in last year’s opener, and the offense turned the ball over three times inside the Nittany Lions’ 35-yard line.
The Badgers slunk back in McMurphy’s ratings from No. 12 to 20 but only dropped one spot in The Action Network’s pecking order.
This is an optimal window for Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst and his club to rip off several victories in the coming weeks. The Badgers only play one team inside the top-30 of The Action Network's Power Ratings (No. 29 Michigan) during their next five contests.
Chryst owns the third-best winning percentage among active head coaches with six or more years at their respective post.
21
Ole Miss
17
22
UCF
25
23
Oklahoma State
26
24
Liberty
41
Liberty Flames
Liberty made an appearance in McMurphy's preseason AP Top 25 poll in the No. 21 spot and opened the season ranked 45th in The Action Network's power ratings. That 24-rank order difference was the biggest discrepancy between McMurphy and Collin Wilson entering Week 1 action.
The Flames, who greased the wheels with a 48-7 shellacking over Campbell in the opener, should be laying chalk all the way up until their signature tilt against high-flying Ole Miss in November.
Wilson noted before the season that there should be complete agreement in Liberty's push through the first two months of the season from both the Action Network power ratings and McMurphy’s AP ballot. Considering they're only 17 spots apart now, the stance on Liberty appears to be right on schedule.
25
Miami
19
