College football rankings: LSU set to rise, Oregon’s status as No. 2 in doubt

The college football rankings have a slightly different release schedule in Week 1, allowing voters in the AP Top 25 poll to take in all of the action across a five-day game week before resorting their ballots. So while most of the action from the first full weekend of the 2026 season has completed, we still have four more games before the full post-Week 1 picture is complete. 

And since the action remaining includes multiple ranked teams, we don’t have a full top 25 projection just yet on Saturday night. Usually, here in the Tomorrow’s Top 25 Today space, we can give a full rundown of what we think the new top 25 will look like on Sunday. With the unique schedule, we’re left to wait until Monday night for the full top 25 projection and stick with some rankings-focused takeaways here on Saturday night.

Week 1 included some lopsided results on the top 25 scoreboard that will keep many voters stuck in their preseason opinions about top teams, but we’ve identified a few performances that could have voters rethinking their stance and shaking up the rankings heading into Week 2. The ranking adjustments in these situations may be just a few spots in the top 25, but it would signal a change in how teams have or have not lived up to expectations in their first game of the season. 

With no concern about Ohio State’s No. 1 status following a 53-point win against Ball State, the conversation begins at No. 2 with some potential fallout from the Ducks surviving an upset scare.  

No. 2 Oregon — Down

The margins are simply too thin at the top to think that AP voters won’t reshuffle the top of their ballots in a way that results in the Ducks giving up at least a spot or two following the 34-27 win against Boise State. Oregon was one of five teams that received first-place votes in the preseason balloting, and that group doesn’t include No. 3 Georgia, which is not too far off the pace in voting points. The Ducks had a strong argument for No. 1 and didn’t play their best on a big stage in their first game of the season. Dan Lanning will take a win and a strong performance from star quarterback Dante Moore as positives, but there’s a lot of room for improvement in terms of Oregon meeting the expectations that they have for themselves, much less the expectations of the AP voters. Before Week 1, there was a solid argument for Oregon being the best of those national title contenders in the top seven of the rankings. But given the quality of Saturday’s performance, some voters will be changing their position on the Ducks.   

No. 11 LSU — Up

The primary question is how high LSU will climb after an absolute throttling of a Clemson team ranked No. 23 in the Coaches Poll and finishing 26th in the AP poll voting in the preseason. Lane Kiffin’s Tigers looked faster at every turn and simply in a different weight class from the visitors from the ACC, and it’s sensible to predict that any voters doubting LSU’s standing as a potential College Football Playoff contender had some of their concerns alleviated with the blowout win. Now there is still probably a ceiling for how high LSU can climb with that top seven group still holding strong in their own tier, a fact that’s backed up by the first-place votes and the voting points, but an AP poll move into the top 10 should be expected and depending on Ole Miss‘ result on Sunday night the Tigers could find themselves as high as No. 8 when the new college football rankings reset on Tuesday.

No. 13 Alabama — Up

AP voters were relatively cautious with Alabama on their preseason ballots, resulting in the first set of preseason rankings since 2007 that the Crimson Tide were not ranked inside the top 10. There were fair reasons for caution, or even concern, as Kalen DeBoer’s squad was turning over its quarterback position and looking to bounce back from a sub-standard season running the football. Alabama seemed to answer both the quarterback and ground game questions in a 48-10 win against ECU, with Keelon Russell flashing his dual-threat ability (team-high 86 rushing yards) and three combined rushing touchdowns between Daniel Hill and five-star freshman E.J. Crowell. Beating a Group of Six opponent at home as a four-score favorite is not going to draw enough attention for a major move up in the rankings. But given the tight voting margins between Oklahoma at No. 10 and Alabama at No. 13, it’s likely that the Crimson Tide will have a chance to move up closer to that top-10 cut-off.   

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No. 14 USC — Up

This Trojans team has done about everything you would want through 120 minutes of action, holding a +55 combined scoring margin with one bad garbage time showing in Week 0 as the only complaint. USC kept its boot on Fresno State’s back in a 39-0 win on Friday night, giving new defensive coordinator Gary Patterson his first shutout as a Trojan. Like Alabama, USC is not as far from the top 10 in voting points as its ranking may seem. So while a lot hinges on No. 9 Ole Miss’ performance on Sunday night, it’s likely the Trojans’ two wins have done enough to change the mind of some of those lower-end opinions of Lincoln Riley’s 2026 squad. Most voters are fairly locked in on having USC between Nos. 12 and 15, but 17 different voters have USC ranked No. 16 or lower, including four voters who have the Trojans slotted in the 20’s. If those tail-end voters even move USC up to No. 15, it could cause the kind of changes that have USC moving up a couple spots. 

No. 16 Michigan — Down

While Oregon might have lost some stock in the debate to be the No. 1 team in the country, it’s fair to review Michigan’s status as a top 25 team after Saturday night’s showing against Western Michigan. The Wolverines may have survived an upset scare in epic last-second fashion, but that doesn’t change the nearly three-and-a-half quarters of disappointing play from a team that was projected to be a College Football Playoff contender. The offense could not get out of its own way early, and the defense couldn’t get off the field in key moments late. Bryce Underwood underwhelmed after an offseason that provided narratives about his improvement, but he gets credit for stepping up to deliver with the final throw in the 13-12 win. In terms of voting points, Michigan was closer to USC and BYU (both tied for 14th) in the preseason balloting than it was to No. 17 Washington. But after this close call, it’s fair to wonder if the Wolverines could slip closer to Penn State at No. 18 … or lower. 

No. 23 Houston — Down

A double-digit home win that included powering through a weather delay should not, in theory, be penalized in the rankings. But if there’s a team that needs to get bumped from the top 25 to make room for a new arrival, the Cougars’ closer-than-expected victory against Oregon State could put them on the chopping block. Houston played well in a 33-20 win and largely controlled the game, but Oregon State was able to hang around enough to cut the lead to six points midway through the fourth quarter. Perhaps the Beavers are better than the betting markets perceive, but the fact that Houston was favored by nearly three touchdowns and found itself in a dogfight late could impact the team’s perception just enough to cut through those small margins on the edge of a top 25 ballot. Houston might not fall out of the top 25 entirely, but dropping a spot or two as voters shuffle teams in the 20s would not be a surprise.    

No. 26 Clemson — Down 

The Tigers were ranked No. 23 in the Coaches Poll in the preseason and checked in as the first team in “Others receiving votes” for the AP Top 25 poll, falling just five voting points behind No. 25 Missouri. Clemson appeared on 35 of 69 ballots as a top 25 team in the preseason, checking in as high as No. 15 on one ballot. However, after their woeful performance in Baton Rouge, it’s fair to project that any voter will have a tough time arguing for Clemson as one of the 25 best teams in the country heading into Week 2.

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No. 28 Boise State — Up

The AP Top 25 preseason poll was released on Aug. 17, and at the time, I don’t think there was too much thought about Boise State as a contender on the national stage. Fifty-four voters left Boise State off their ballot, and while the Broncos were slotted as high as No. 18 (on two ballots), there was nothing close to majority support from the AP Top 25 poll electorate. We project that while moving up in the rankings with a loss is counterintuitive, Boise State exceeding expectations against Oregon will embolden voters who already ranked the team and may draw attention from others who didn’t consider them a top-25 team in early August. The Broncos will enter Week 2 as a favorite to win the newly expanded Pac-12 and seem to have a team good enough to contend for a return to the College Football Playoff. They’re probably not going to be ranked quite yet after the seven-point loss at Oregon, but that performance against a top-two team on that stage will be favorably remembered by AP voters the rest of the season. Look for Boise State to remain in the “Others receiving votes” category, but with a few more votes.