College Football Power Rankings: Top 10 Teams After Week One

10. Arizona State

The Sun Devils are still the favorites to win the Big 12, and get that autobid from me this week. This conference could get really crazy over the course of the season, as it did last year. But it hasn’t really started yet. So we’ll see how it plays out.

2. Georgia

The Bulldogs looked the part of one of the best teams in the country against Marshall, and are the favorites to win the SEC as of today. The Bulldogs are in the driver’s seat to make the CFP. All of the most difficult games on their schedule are at home (Texas, Alabama, Ole Miss) or on a “neutral” field (Florida, Georgia Tech). I would be shocked if they don’t get to 10 wins.

3. LSU

No team did more to improve their likelihood of making the CFP in week one than LSU. The Tigers do have a tough schedule, with 5 ranked teams remaining for them to play, but they are likely to be favored in all 5. The Clemson win essentially gives them a bonus mulligan to lose a game to a quality opponent.

4. Penn State

Thanks to a very manageable non-conference schedule, and a fortunate draw in the conference schedule, the Nittany Lions essentially play a 3-game season. Indiana, Oregon, and Ohio State are really the only 3 teams with a real chance to beat Penn State, who have given me no reason to expect they can’t do 1-2 or better in those 3 games.

5. Miami

The Hurricanes end week one as the favorites to win the ACC autobid into the CFP. With a remaining schedule that doesn’t include Clemson, they’ll likely be favored (or close to it) in every remaining game. They just have to avoid the dumb loss that has plagued them year in and year out in the last decade.

6. Texas

In the current sports culture of overreactions everywhere, I am not going to overreact on my projection of Texas’ season. The loss to Ohio State just uses one of the “mulligans” they had to start the season. They now need to finish the season with only one more loss to for sure make the CFP, which I think is a very doable task for a team of this talent.

7. Oregon

We learned nothing about Oregon in their 59-13 win over Montana State. And we likely won’t learn anything of significance about them until they play Penn State on September 27th. For now, they’re in. A loss in that game would put their playoff hopes on life support.

8. Michigan

Yes, the opponent was New Mexico, but I was impressed with this new look Michigan offense in week one. They created the same amount of 40-yard plays in week one as they did all of last season. A big tilt versus Oklahoma looms this week, and the winner gets this spot in the bracket for now.

9. Notre Dame

Much like with Texas, I’m not overreacting to Notre Dame’s loss against Miami, a game in which QB CJ Carr looked quite good in the second half. Like with Texas, they can only afford one more loss, and a big matchup against Texas A&M takes place in South Bend after their bye.

10. Arizona State

The Sun Devils are still the favorites to win the Big 12, and get that autobid from me this week. This conference could get really crazy over the course of the season, as it did last year. But it hasn’t really started yet. So we’ll see how it plays out.