The Ohio State Buckeyes received 55 of 66 first-place votes to move into the top spot in the new Associated Press college football poll on Tuesday. The move comes after their week one win over preseason No. 1 Texas.
A shakeup in the rankings was inevitable after three top 10 matchups in the first week. The Buckeyes are at the top of a regular-season poll for the first time since November 2015.
The fallout from the same game continued on the other side as the Arch Manning era at Texas opened with a thud. The Longhorns quarterback struggled in just his third official start. He completed 17 of 30 passes for 170 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. The loss knocked the Longhorns down to seventh in this week’s rankings.
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Which teams are at the top of the new poll?
The Buckeye defense under new coordinator Matt Patricia chased and confused the much-hyped Manning all afternoon in Columbus, Ohio. The defending national champions are feeling confident, head coach Ryan Day said.
“There’s a lot we can build on here, a lot we have to improve on,” Day said. “The team you see right now will not even be close to the team you see halfway through the season, or at the end of the year, but it certainly makes the corrections a lot easier to make after a win against a top-five opponent like this.”
Following the Buckeyes at No. 2 is fellow Big Ten member Penn State. The Nittany Lions and fourth-ranked Georgia had easy blowout wins against Nevada and Marshall, respectively. The LSU Tigers upset Clemson, moving up six spots to No. 3, and the Miami Hurricanes outlasted Notre Dame Sunday to move up five spots to No. 5. Former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck said he was expecting a win against the Irish.
“Nobody really knew going into tonight, but now they know,” Beck said. “So, I tried to tell people, but you know, they don’t tend to believe what I say, but that’s fine. Actions speak louder than words.”
Who else received a number-one vote?
Oregon moved up one spot and is now ranked sixth after a 59-13 win over Montana State. The Ducks received a first-place vote as well. The three teams that lost in week one —Texas, Clemson, and Notre Dame —now sit in spots 7-9. Another loss on the resume from one of those teams could put their playoff hopes in jeopardy, though Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney said it’s a long season.
“I really believe this is going to be one heck of a football team when it’s all said and done,” Swinney said. “I really do. I think this is going to be a really good team. Disappointed in the outcome tonight, but the focus will be to just learn and grow from it.”
Rounding out the top ten is South Carolina, which took care of business in their opener Sunday against Virginia Tech, winning 24-11. An 80-yard punt return touchdown from Vicari Swain broke open a close game.
Which teams made moves outside the top ten?
The biggest jump outside the top ten came from unranked Florida State. The Seminoles are now at No. 14 and looked like a true playoff contender as they dismantled Alabama 31-17. In a true sign of the times, quarterback Tommy Castellanos has “Nick Can’t Save Them” T-shirts for sale on his NIL merchandise website. It’s a reference to his offseason prediction that his team would beat Alabama because former Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban was no longer there.
The Crimson Tide plummeted from No. 8 to No. 21 in the poll. The loss was Alabama’s first in a season opener since 2001. It also snapped Alabama’s 54-game winning streak against unranked nonconference opponents.
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