Thoughts on the AP Poll: Week 3

ACC Gets Another Big Win Against the SEC

After Clemson's 38-35 victory over Georgia in Week 1, Miami followed suit with a thrilling upset win over rival Florida. The Hurricanes’ 21-16 win propelled them from their unranked status all the way to No. 15 in this week’s poll. It is the first time they have been ranked in the top-25 by the AP since November 2010. These two upsets over SEC foes don’t suggest that the SEC is getting weaker as a conference, but rather point to the improvement the ACC has made over the past few seasons.

Big Matchups Did Not Disappoint

Outside of the Miami-Florida game, the two other big matchups—South Carolina vs. Georgia and Notre Dame vs. Michigan—did not disappoint. Georgia was able to contain Heisman candidate Jadeveon Clowney, and received excellent quarterback play from Aaron Murray, who went 17-for-23 with 309 yards passing. Thanks in part to Murray's four passing touchdowns, the Bulldogs won 41-30. The Notre Dame-Michigan game was played in front of the largest ever crowd at an NCAA football game—115,109 attendees. The Wolverines came out on top 41-30, led by a stellar performance from quarterback Devin Gardner, who had four passing touchdowns and one rushing.

Texas and USC Fall

The biggest defeats in Week 2 came courtesy of two of college football’s most storied programs.  Texas got clobbered by BYU 40-21, allowing 550 rushing yards in the process. The loss dropped the Longhorns from No. 15 in the polls to unranked this week. USC has also dropped from the AP Poll following a disappointing 10-7 loss to Washington State. Through the first two games of the season, the Trojans quarterbacks are a combined 26-of-50 for just 226 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Both teams have gotten off to disappointing starts and need to improve quickly to stay competitive in their respective conferences.

The Bigger Picture

While the middle of the AP Poll has had some movement this week due to the defeats of South Carolina, Florida, Texas and Notre Dame, the top of the poll \ remained largely the same.   Alabama, coming off of a bye week, remains No. 1 and Oregon stayed at No. 2 with a 59-10 thumping of Virginia. Clemson jumped Ohio State for the No. 3 spot in the poll, perhaps due to quarterback Braxton Miller’s injury. Things should change more next week, as top teams face difficult opponents, most notably No. 1 Alabama visiting No. 6 Texas A&M in a game with large national title implications.