Week 3 Football AP Poll: Chaos Reigns

Week 2 opened with unranked Texas very nearly knocking off #1 Alabama in Austin and it was just the beginning of the madness. The list of Top 25 teams to lose Saturday:

• #6 Texas A&M lost vs. Appalachian State
• #8 Notre Dame lost vs. Marshall
• #9 Baylor lost at #21 BYU
• #12 Florida lost vs. #20 Kentucky
• #17 Pitt lost vs. #24 Tennessee
• #19 Wisconsin lost vs. Washington State
• #25 Houston lost at Texas Tech

With this much mayhem, the poll was set for upheaval.

Most Overrated

#24 Texas A&M - The Aggies have an FCS win and a home loss to a still unranked App State. The offense has performed terribly to open the season as Haynes King has struggled to take hold as the starting QB, despite being surrounded by all the blue chip talent money can buy. Up next, TAMU gets the potentially overrated #13 Miami Hurricanes to travel to Kyle Field; if the Aggies win that one they could rightfully be placed back into the Top 25, but so far they haven’t shown any of that potential.

Most Underrated

All Group of 5 Teams - Independent BYU is the only non-Power 5 squad to break into the Top 25 this week; there are no teams from G5 conferences. This comes on a week where Sun Belt squads Marshall and Appalachian State knocked off Top 10 superpowers Notre Dame and Texas A&M, while Georgia Southern ended Scott Frost’s troubled tenure at Nebraska.

Spotlight Voter

John Clay (@johnclayiv), Lexington Herald-Leader - This man loves a loser. Seven of the 25 teams on his ballot have already picked up a loss through two games. It’s fair to find it admirable to schedule and lose games to top teams, and not to punish teams for those losses - even the best teams are likely to pick up a loss at some point. That’s an acceptable ranking strategy, if applied to the full list view; that’s not how it’s applied by Clay. Ranking Texas at #12 is the standout oddity, but I can see the thought process even if I don’t agree. Clay is one of 8 voters to omit Florida from the ballot, while ranking a Utah team that the Gators beat at 14th; he ranked Kentucky, the team that gave Florida its loss, at 10th. He’s also among the lowest on Arkansas, despite strongest combination of two wins, over Cinci and South Carolina. Texas A&M is still on his ballot also, suggesting the Aggies win over Sam Houston and loss to App State were more impressive than Florida’s win over Utah and loss to UK. Sure.

TCU Status

The Frogs continue to not receive any votes in the AP Poll, as even the most impressive of victories over Colorado and Tarleton State wouldn’t warrant such consideration. However, the Coaches Poll are showing the Horned Frogs love, with 18 points in the poll, coming in at 40th overall. As many heavily favored squads fell apart around them, the Frogs took care of business to get to the Bye week undefeated; keep winning and the votes will come.

Big 12 (+4) Votes

• #6 Oklahoma - The Sooners tore apart another G5 opponent and now travels to Lincoln to take on the Scott Frost-less ‘Huskers. Expect OU’s climb towards the top 4 to continue
• #8 Oklahoma State - The Cowboys lived up to expectations in a thorough beating of the ASU Sun Devils. With its FCS game and Bye ahead, OSU should remain in the Top 10 until a showdown in Waco on October 1.
• #12 BYU - The Cougs won a thriller in 2OT at home over the previously Top 10 Baylor Bears. There’s no time to bask in the victory, with a trip to Eugene for #25 Oregon on deck.
• #17 Baylor - On the other end of the wild finish in Provo, the Bears took a minor drop in the polls and get what should be an easy home date with Texas State.
• #21 Texas - Congrats on the moral victory! The Longhorns fell victim to the last minute heroics of Bryce Young and the Crimson Tide. Voters loved the loss so much they rocketed the ‘Horns into the Top 25.
• #27 Cincinnati - The Bearcats easily won its FCS game and have a “neutral” game at the Bengals stadium against Miami-Ohio this week. Cinci may still be on the outside until the date with Indiana in Week 4.
• #29 Kansas State - EMAW demolished SEC squad Mizzou, but voters were not sufficiently impressed, as the Wildcats remained outside the Top 25.
• #38 Texas Tech - Another 2OT Big 12 classic between future conference mates knocked Houston out of the Top 25 so fully that it’s no longer receiving votes. Th Red Raiders next head to Raleigh for a date with #16 NC State, where a win will surely put TTU into the rankings.
• #40 Iowa State - Winning the Cy-Hawk game for the first time since 2014, ISU is back on the map but shouldn’t expect to climb this chart until hosting Baylor in Week 4.