It’s a new era of college football.
When the College Football Playoff committee starts releasing rankings later this season, they aren’t going to be the end-all, be-all given the new seeding rules of the 12-team field. But the rankings are still fun and people are still going to fight over them. They still matter.
So after every weekend, after the dust settles from the games, I’m going to unveil my updated top 10. Miami throttled Florida 41-17 in the Swamp on Saturday causing the Hurricanes to vault up the rankings after week 1.
Let’s start with the first edition:
1. Georgia (1-0)
We’ll get more context regarding how impressive the dismantling of Clemson was as the season progresses, but the Bulldogs had perhaps the most eye-opening win of the weekend. And they did it without running back Trevor Etienne. Though there are fair questions as to whether this team is actually as dominant as the Georgia teams from the previous three years, a deep, talented squad led by the best head coach in college football is off to a fast start.
2. Ohio State (1-0)
If this were a preseason ranking, I’d have Ohio State No. 1. There is no question in my mind the Buckeyes possess the deepest, most talented roster in the sport. But it would be impossible to put them No. 1 right now because, well, resumes already matter. Ohio State got off to a slow start against Akron, but the Buckeyes could certainly claim the top spot in this poll if they turn out to be the team I think they can be.
3. Texas (1-0)
The Longhorns suffered a major loss before the year when running back CJ Baxter suffered a season-ending injury. That put some pressure on Texas’ offense, but it is too good at other positions to fret too much. Quinn Ewers is out here hitting us with no-look touchdown passes, the receivers were getting open consistently and Arch Manning threw his first touchdown pass in Texas’ 52-0 win over Colorado State. Oh, and the defense pitched a shutout. We’ll find out a lot more about this Texas team this weekend in Ann Arbor.
4. Alabama (1-0)
It was too easy to view Alabama as less dangerous because Nick Saban is no longer the head coach. But Kalen DeBoer may be one of the best offensive minds in the sport and he’s working with talent that he’s never had in his career. Alabama still looked pretty scary in its opener, beating Western Kentucky 63-0. The Crimson Tide will have plenty of opportunity to prove they are a national title contender on the field, but until then, it’s still safe to assume this team can play with anyone in the country.
5. Oregon (1-0)
How much can you read into a clunker? It is still shocking to look back and see the Ducks playing a four-quarter game with Idaho when they were favored by 50, but that is how the Dillon Gabriel era started. Oregon is widely-anticipated to be a major threat to Ohio State in the Big Ten, and there is just too much firepower on that offense to think the Idaho game was anything other than rust. The Ducks will be very good this year.
6. Notre Dame (1-0)
Notre Dame went into College Station in its season-opener — arguably its toughest game on the schedule — and got the job done. The Irish didn’t just win, but they looked more explosive on offense with a problem-solver at quarterback in Riley Leonard. He keeps defenses on their toes. The offensive line, which was a concern heading into the year, showed up for the challenge. Notre Dame’s defense is nasty. This is a team that has a real chance to go undefeated and will be a mainstay in this poll all year.
7. Penn State (1-0)
Heading into the season, I was buying the West Virginia hype. Then Penn State rolled into Morgantown and beat the breaks off the Mountaineers. Quarterback Drew Allar seemed to take a step forward and the Nittany Lions made a huge hire in offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who has the team looking more explosive on that side of the ball in the early stages of the year. The Nittany Lions also have one of the best defensive players in the country in Abdul Carter, so this team could be built to shock some people this year.
8. Miami (1-0)
Miami and Florida came into the weekend viewed as relative equals. Miami left Gainesville with an emphatic 41-17 win over the Gators, proving these two teams aren’t in the same weight class. Cam Ward looked like a stud, Xavier Restrepo is an emerging star at receiver and the Hurricanes controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Three other ACC teams — Clemson, Florida State and Virginia Tech — opened the season with losses, so Miami looks like the class of the conference right now.
9. Ole Miss (1-0)
Ole Miss is going to be an interesting case study of how far going all-in on the portal can take you. Jaxson Dart, who led Ole Miss to 11 wins this season, now big-time receiver Juice Wells and running back Henry Parrish to go along with stud wideout Tre Harris. On defense, Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen joined the team. Ole Miss beat Furman 76-0 in the season-opener and it hopes this team will compete for an SEC title and more.
10. Tennessee (1-0)
Tennessee was a trail-blazer of the NIL era and it went all-in on quarterback Nico Iamaleava. But what happens if he isn’t good? Well, Tennessee doesn’t have to worry about answering that question. In just a few games, it has already become clear that he’s a stud. Iamaleava set a Tennessee record with 314 yards passing in the first half and the Vols cruised to a 69-3 win over Chattanooga. It’ll be fun to see how he performs in a big game next weekend against N.C. State.
