Josh’s College Football Rankings 2023–Week 2

This year I promised myself that I would trust my gut more with my rankings. Like if a team is ranked fifth and just keeps playing meh, then instead of keeping them at #5, I need to drop them where I think they belong. So the rankings could see some shakeups even if teams won (last year, I had the belief that if a team won, they should not drop in the rankings). 

1. Georgia (2-0)–#1–W 45-3 Ball State. Georgia is at the top until I see anything that says otherwise.
2. Michigan (2-0)–#2–W 35-7 UNLV
3. USC (3-0)–#4–W 56-10 Stanford. I had this game as a test for the Trojans. They have a habit of losing to someone like Stanford, and they passed that test easily.
4. Florida State (2-0)–#5–W 66-13 Southern Miss.
5. Penn State (2-0)–#6–W 63-7. The Nittany Lions checked all the boxes for me against an easy opponent. After watching Texas/Alabama, I think PSU is better.
6. Texas (2-0)–#8–W 34-24 #3 Alabama. I had the Longhorns higher than most, so it was not nearly as much of an upset in my opinion. Still, a nice win against Alabama.
7. Ohio State (2-0)–#7–W 35-7. The Buckeyes win, but keep dropping. I think this may be a better ranking for them.
8. Notre Dame (3-0)–#9–W 45-24 NC State
9. Washington (2-0)–#12–W 43-10 Tulsa
10. Alabama (1-1)–#3–L 34-24 #8 Texas. ‘Bama has a bunch of question marks. I feel like they will figure it out quickly.
11. Tennessee (2-0)–#10–W 30-13 Austin Peay. Did not see any of this game, did the Vols struggle with Austin Peay?
12. Oregon (2-0)–#11–W 38-30 Texas Tech. The Ducks did not look great, or maybe the Red Raiders played well.
13. Oklahoma (2-0)–#14–W 28-11 SMU. I think this game will look better at the end of the year. Like, SMU is probably a good G5 team, who will compete for the AAC title.
14. Ole Miss (2-0)–#18–W 37-20 Tulane. I was low on Tulane, but after the first half, I was prepared to put them in my Honorable Mention column. But then Ole Miss took control in the second half, and either I was right about Tulane, or Ole Miss is a little better than I thought.
15. Kansas State (2-0)–#15–W 42-13 Troy. Last year Troy had a good defense. Kansas State did not notice.
16. Utah (2-0)–#13–W 20-13 Baylor. The Utes needed two TDs in the 4th quarter to win this game, with the final one coming with 23 seconds left in the game. And then Baylor almost scored at the end. Not good Utah…
17. Oregon State (2-0)–#16–W 55-7 UC Davis
18. Duke (2-0)–#20–W 42-7 Lafayette
19. Arkansas (2-0)–#19–W 28-6 Kent State
20. Colorado (2-0)–#25–W 36-14 Nebraska–It was another nice win for Coach Prime, but I am not ready to rank them in the top 15 yet.
21. LSU (1-1)–#21–W 72-10 Grambling State
22. Cincinnati (2-0)–NR–W 27-21 #23 Pitt. I thought Pitt would win this one. I thought the Bearcats were meh. I was wrong.
23. UNC (2-0)–#22–W 40-34 2OT Appalachian State. Is this becoming UNC’s biggest rivalry game in football? Not South Carolina Duke, but App State, who push the Tar Heels to the max every time they play.
24. Miami (2-0)–HM–W 48-33 #24 Texas A&M. The Hurricanes are BACK! Okay, maybe not yet. One more win and the national media will be talking about them being a top ten team.
25. Washington State (2-0)–NR–W 31-22 #17 Wisconsin. The Cougs looked dominant against Wisconsin.

Honorable Mention
Maryland (2-0)–HM–W 38-20 Charlotte
Mississippi State (2-0)–HM–W 31-24 OT Arizona
Clemson (1-1)–HM–W 66-17 Charleston Southern. It was 24-17 at halftime. Klubnik was still in at the end of the third quarter, throwing TD passes. I guess they really wanted to give him some confidence.
TCU (1-1)–HM–W 41-6 Nicholls State
UCF (2-0)–NR–W 18-16 Boise State

Watch List
James Madison (2-0)–WL–W 36-35 Virginia. JMU’s QB is Jordan McCloud, the brother of Ray-Ray McCloud. I know some of you will like that fun fact. 
Coastal Carolina (1-1)–NR–W 30-16 Jacksonville State. Grayson McCall had a nice game after that rough one against UCLA.
Oklahoma State (2-0)–NR–W 27-15 Arizona State. Is this team good? Not sure, but they scored 27 points in both games. Can they do that in week three against South Alabama?
Kansas (2-0)–NR–W 34-23 Illinois. There was talk about Illinois being really good this year. Jalon Daniels and the Jayhawks shut those people up quickly.
UCLA (2-0)–NR–W 35-10 San Diego State. I am still not ready to put them up in the HMs or Top 25. Sorry Bruins.

Not a great week for big games, but there are some intriguing games. First up we have #5 PSU at Illinois. I expect the Nittany Lions to crush them, but I cannot get that stupid 9OT game out of my head. No repeat of that nonsense! My next game to check out is Minnesota at #23 UNC. I feel like PJ Fleck and the Gophers need a win in a game like this. UNC needs to show they can play defense, especially against a mediocre offense. And finally, the big game of the week is the Backyard Brawl! Pitt at WVU under the lights. You want to see two teams who hate each other, then watch this game. It will be entertaining.