AP top 25 poll: Colorado jumps, Clemson dumps in college football rankings for Week 2
Opening weekend of the 2023 college football season was another barn-burner as we saw three teams in the AP top 25 rankings lose in their first time out, including a pair of top-10 teams taking the L in statement games that could have an effect on what the playoff ultimately looks like down the road.
Where we left off: AP top 25 preseason poll
Colorado is the wild card coming out of Week 1. After opening up as three touchdown underdogs, Deion Sanders debuted his Buffaloes team against title runner-up TCU and came out with a statement upset victory behind some historic QB play, completing overturning any expectations the analysts had about this team.
Teams that entered the season in the top 25 rankings went 21-2 (.913) against unranked teams in Week 1, and 17 of those games were decided by 21 or more points. What does the latest poll look like after all the votes have been counted?
AP top 25 rankings
First-place votes in parentheses
- Georgia (58)
- Michigan (2)
- Alabama
- Florida State (3)
- Ohio State
- USC
- Penn State
- Washington
- Tennessee
- Notre Dame
- Texas
- Utah
- Oregon
- LSU
- Kansas State
- Oregon State
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Wisconsin
- Ole Miss
- Duke
- Colorado
- Texas A&M
- Tulane
- Clemson
Others receiving votes
Iowa 73, UCLA 55, Arkansas 28, TCU 27, Kentucky 15, Pittsburgh 8, Mississippi State 5, Miami 4, NC State 4, Auburn 3, Troy 3, Fresno State 3, Minnesota 3, Wyoming 3, Iowa St. 2, Texas State 2, Texas Tech 1, Louisville 1, Washington St. 1, Illinois 1, Houston 1, UCF 1, James Madison 1.
Related: How the AP top 25 is made | CFP rankings schedule
AP top 25 biggest movers
Clemson (Down 16). That loss at Duke was quite costly for the defending ACC champs, who dropped from the lofty No. 9 spot to the bottom of the rankings.
LSU (Down 9). Likewise for the defending SEC West champs, who played Florida State close in the first half of the opener, but didn't have any answers on the back end for the Seminoles' skill threats.
Florida State (Up 4). Watch out for the Seminoles, who look like the new favorites in the ACC title race after handling LSU in the opener.
College football's top 25 losers
No. 5 LSU. A solid early start had the Tigers within reach in the first half against Florida State, but the Noles went into overdrive after the break, picking apart the LSU secondary in what Brian Kelly deemed a "total failure".
No. 9 Clemson. The early returns on that new offense are in and it's not good news after watching the unit stumble and make a ton of mistakes in a stunning loss to Duke on the road, the team's first L in this series since 2004.
No. 17 TCU. The shocker of the week as the national title runner-up lost at home to unranked Colorado in Deion Sanders' debut outing despite being three-touchdown favorites, as the defense had few answers for Buffs playmakers Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter, or Dylan Edwards.
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