Week 0 of the college football season featured a handful of games and delivered a handful of answers. The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame appear to have a quarterback. Jacksonville State fans did not have to wait long for the Gamecocks to earn a win at the Division 1 level. USC fans, however, still yearn for a defense. The Trojans’ offense again delivered, but the defense remains a work in progress at best.
With just a handful of games played in Week 0, fans may be surprised to see their school in a different spot in this week’s Top 25 courtesy of the firm of Dalzell, Thomas, and Froton.
1 Georgia
2 Michigan
3 Ohio State
4 Alabama
5 USC (tied)
LSU (tied)
Dalzell (@VmoneySports): The LSU Tigers tied USC for the No. 5 spot in our NBC Poll and if LSU beats Florida State in Week 1, like I think they will, then I will slide LSU into my No. 4 spot with USC at No. 5 and Alabama at No. 6. If LSU loses, then you never read this paragraph.
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Thomas (@MrBradThomas): My top five remain unchanged. Georgia is the class of the bunch with Michigan, Ohio State, and Alabama rounding out that group. LSU is narrowly fifth, but I am afraid they will fall after potentially losing to the Seminoles this weekend.
Froton (@CFFroton): While USC throttled San Jose State’s defense for 56 points in their Week 0 opener, they also allowed 28 points, an unsightly 7.3 yards per rush, and 196 rushing yards to SJSU’s air-raid attack that ran for just 96 YPG and cleared that 196 mark just once last year. As such, I had to drop the Trojans.
7 Penn State
8 Clemson
9 Florida State
10 Texas
11 Washington
12 Notre Dame
13 Tennessee
14 Utah (tied
Oregon (tied)
Dalzell: Literally, nothing changed from picks 7-15 and that kind of bothers me because of how good Sam Hartman and that Fighting Irish defense looked in Week Zero against Navy. Notre Dame climbed one spot to No. 11 for me ahead of Florida State (No. 12) and behind. Washington (No. 10). If Florida State loses to LSU this week or Utah loses to unranked Florida, then we better have Wisconsin in the Top 15 next week because I still don’t agree with NBC’s poll having Tennessee, Utah, and Oregon ranked ahead of Wisconsin.
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Thomas: Alex Grinch remains the issue for USC for me. Once again, the Trojans give me reasons to lower them in rankings or exclude them from the Top Five. A team with serious College Football Playoff aspirations should not give up 396 yards and 28 points to San Jose State at home. So, yes, I moved them behind Penn State, even with Penn State not playing.
Froton: With Notre Dame fielding their best quarterback since the halcyon days of Brady Quinn, I had to move the Irish up to the 8 spot. At their expense I moved down Florida State to #9 since I think LSU takes out the Seminoles after suffering a heartbreaking loss in last year’s opener. Number 15 Utah could bounce out of the poll entirely with QB Cam Rising out against Florida this week.
16 Wisconsin
17 Kansas State
18 Oregon State
19 Iowa
20 Texas A&M
21 TCU
22 Oklahoma (tied)
Mississippi (tied)
24 South Carolina
25 North Carolina
Honorable mentions: Tulane, UTSA and Texas Tech
Fell out of the Top 25: Texas Tech (25)
New to the Top 25: Oklahoma (T-22)
Dalzell: I am so intrigued by what Cade McNamara (Iowa) and DJ Uiagalelei (Oregon State) will look like in their 2023 debuts. Both signal-callers have chances to take their new teams into the Top 15 over the next week with dominant performances. The Iowa Hawkeyes are a contender in the Big Ten West with McNamara healthy and Oregon State avoids USC this season, plus hosts UCLA, Washington, Utah, and San Diego State. Don’t sleep on the Beavers in the Pac-12.
Thomas: I wanted Tulane in the Top 25 so bad I ranked them twice. Not kidding. Once I saw the error of my ways, I invited Texas A&M to the party. Lord knows they did not earn it on the field, but if they keep recruiting at such a high level, it will eventually come together for the Aggies.
Froton: North Carolina tussles with their Gamecock neighbors to the south in a game that will help determine whether or not the transfer portal onslaught employed by HC Mack Brown will help shore up a porous secondary that allowed a 66% completion rate and 271 passing yards per game last season. A loss could very well result in South Carolina taking over UNC’s number 24 rating in next week’s poll.
As mentioned, a few answers were supplied in Week 0 with more to follow this week.
Enjoy the games and enjoy the sweat.
