College Football Top 25: Finally, Conference Games!

Look, I'm not thrilled that my top team only scored one touchdown in a Friday night win. Quite frankly, they looked ugly. But I'm going with the system here, and Syracuse is the only team to have beaten three Power 5 teams and one from the Group of 5 through the first month of the season.

Lawrence Arnold and the Jayhawks won the battle of the basketball blue bloods to reach my number 2 spot. (Evert Nelson // Topeka Capital-Journal)

1. Syracuse (4-0)
2. Kansas (4-0)
3. Florida State (4-0)
4. Southern California (4-0)
5. Penn State (4-0)
6. Ohio State (4-0)
7. Tennessee (4-0)
8. Alabama (4-0)
9. Minnesota (4-0)
10. Washington (4-0)
11. Georgia (4-0)
12. Clemson (4-0)
13. Michigan (4-0)
14. Mississippi (4-0)
15. Texas Christian (3-0)
16. Kentucky (4-0)
17. Oklahoma State (4-0)
18. North Carolina State (4-0)
19. California Los Angeles (4-0)
20. Texas Tech (3-1)
21. Oregon (3-1)
22. Iowa (3-1)
23. Coastal Carolina (4-0)
24. Texas A&M (3-1)
25. Arkansas (3-1)

College Football Top 25: Don't Call Us Just a Basketball School!

Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, and North Carolina are all 3-0 in football in the same season for the first time ever (as well as some other traditional men's basketball powerhouses). Let's see where they all rank this week!

Oronde Gadsden and the Orange are looking unstoppable through three weeks. (Bryan M. Bennett // Getty)

1. Syracuse (3-0)
2. Penn State (3-0)
3. Kansas (3-0)
4. Georgia (3-0)
5. Florida State (3-0)
6. Arkansas (3-0)
7. Southern California (3-0)
8. Tennessee (3-0)
9. Oklahoma (3-0)
10. Ohio State (3-0)
11. Alabama (3-0)
12. Mississippi (3-0)
13. Duke (3-0)
14. Minnesota (3-0)
15. Washington (3-0)
16. Kentucky (3-0)
17. Iowa State (3-0)
18. Texas Christian (2-0)
19. Washington State (3-0)
20. Rutgers (3-0)
21. Oklahoma State (3-0)
22. North Carolina State (3-0)
23. Wake Forest (3-0)
24. Indiana (3-0)
25. Clemson (3-0)

Check back next week for more outrageous college football takes!

College Football Top 25: Bet on the FCS Team

In week 2, just about every top team playing in a tier 2 (vs. Group of 5) or 3 (vs. FCS) game failed to cover their spread. Several lost right out. So here's where I have things through two weeks.

KJ Jefferson and the Razorbacks are the only team with two tier 1 wins through two weeks. (Michael Woods // Associated Press)

1. Arkansas (2-0)
2. Syracuse (2-0)
3. Duke (2-0)
4. Southern California (2-0)
5. Kentucky (2-0)
6. Brigham Young (2-0)
7. Mississippi State (2-0)
8. Tennessee (2-0)
9. Penn State (2-0)
10. Oklahoma State (2-0)
11. Alabama (2-0)
12. Ohio State (2-0)
13. Kansas (2-0)
14. Kansas State (2-0)
15. Rutgers (2-0)
16. Texas Tech (2-0)
17. Texas Christian (2-0)
18. Georgia (2-0)
19. Wake Forest (2-0)
20. Iowa State (2-0)
21. Florida State (2-0)
22. Washington State (2-0)
23. Indiana (2-0)
24. Clemson (2-0)
25. Illinois (2-1)

That's what we call a major shakeup. As I always say in the early weeks: play better opponents, get better rankings.

College Football Top 25: We're Back, Baby!

After an exciting opening to the 2022 college football season, I have no choice but to ruffle some feathers with another round of independent rankings. Just remember, I value teams' opponents above all else. In other words, you're not getting to number one from the jump beating an FCS team, no matter how badly.

I am going ahead and considering next year's new Big 12 teams (BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, Houston) as top-level (aka Power Five) programs, which ultimately will make them eligible for potentially higher rankings than if I continue to consider them on the same level as their AAC competition.

How do you begin a National Championship defense? Dominate a Power Five opponent in the season opener like Christopher Smith and Georgia did (Joshua L. Jones // Online Athens)

1. Georgia (1-0)
2. Syracuse (1-0)
3. Northwestern (1-0)
4. Texas Christian (1-0)
5. Rutgers (1-0)

6. Clemson (1-0)
7. Florida (1-0)
8. Florida State (2-0)
9. Arkansas (1-0)
10. Penn State (1-0)
11. Indiana (1-0)

12. Pittsburgh (1-0)
13. Ohio State (1-0)
14. Vanderbilt (2-0)
15. Arizona (1-0)

16. Duke (1-0)

17. Southern California (1-0)
18. Brigham Young (1-0)
19. Oregon State (1-0)

20. Alabama (1-0)

21. Michigan (1-0)

22. Tennessee (1-0)
23. Mississippi State (1-0)
24. Kentucky (1-0)
25. South Carolina (1-0)

This is absolutely going to change massively next week, so don't get too torn up about it.