College Football Rankings: B/R’s Top 25 After Week 1
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Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
It’s that time of year again, football fans.
After an appetizer of games last weekend, college football was in full swing this weekend. And while the slate was not littered with upsets, it was an opportunity for the nation’s title contenders to flex their muscles against lesser competition.
The upset of the day was Deion Sanders-led Colorado over No. 17 TCU in a game that will only fan the flames of the offseason-long storyline that has been Prime Time’s arrival at what was a 1-11 program just a year ago.
There is still a key game left to be played in Week 1, and these rankings will be updated as needed following the Clemson vs. Duke game on Monday.
For now, here’s how Bleacher Report’s college football writing staff—David Kenyon, Adam Kramer, Morgan Moriarty, Joel Reuter and Brad Shepard—lines up the top 25 teams in the nation:
1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Alabama
4. Florida State
5. Clemson
6. USC
7. Penn State
8. Washington
9. Oregon
10. Texas
11. Tennessee
12. Notre Dame
13. Ohio State
14. LSU
15. Utah
16. Oklahoma
17. North Carolina
18. Kansas State
19. Tulane
20. Oregon State
21. Ole Miss
22. Colorado
23. Wisconsin
24. Texas A&M
25. Arkansas
Editor’s Note: These rankings were updated from the original published version after Florida State’s win over LSU.
Who’s Hot: Heisman Favorites
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Caleb WilliamsKatelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images
As expected, the nation’s most high-profile quarterbacks and Heisman Trophy favorites shined on Saturday against lesser competition.
USC star and reigning Heisman winner Caleb Williams completed 18-of-24 passes for 319 yards with five touchdowns in a 66-14 shellacking of Nevada, and the Trojans are off to a quick 2-0 start after dismantling San Jose State last weekend.
Not to be outdone, fellow Pac-12 standout Michael Penix Jr. racked up 450 yards and five touchdown throws of his own in a 56-19 victory over Boise State, connecting on 29-of-40 attempts to help the Huskies get off to a convincing start.
Behind that duo, Oregon’s Bo Nix (23/27, 287 yards, 3 TD), Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel (19/22, 308 yards, 2 TD), Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman (14/17, 194 yards, 2 TD), Tennessee’s Joe Milton III (21/30, 201 yards, 2 TD) and Texas’ Quinn Ewers (19/30, 260 yards, 3 TD) all had efficiently productive games through the air in lopsided wins.
Who will start to separate themselves from the pack in the coming weeks as the quality of competition improves?
Who’s Not: The Big Ten
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AP Photo/Doug McSchooler
The Big Ten only lost one game on Saturday to an opponent outside of their own conference, but it was a less-than-stellar first full weekend of action for the conference as a whole.
The most notable loss of the day in the conference was Purdue falling at home against Fresno State, but several other teams debuted with a bit of a thud.
Conference favorites Michigan (+36) and Ohio State (+30) failed to cover the spread, and while both teams only allowed a single field goal on the defensive side of the ball to East Carolina and Indiana, respectively, it was a somewhat disappointing showing on a day when teams like Oregon (81 points), Oklahoma (73 points), USC (66 points), Alabama (56 points), Washington (56 points) and Notre Dame (56 points) put big numbers on the scoreboard.
A ranked Iowa team also stumbled through a 24-14 victory over Utah State in game where they were 24-point favorites, while Illinois needed a Hail Mary completion and a last-second field goal to survive at home against Toledo.
All in all, not the Week 1 flex the Big Ten Conference was looking for in a slate where most of the conference’s teams were heavily favored.