AP Top 25 Poll - Week 2 (9/14/09)

Amid the excitement of NFL opening Sunday, the new AP Top 25 poll was released yesterday afternoon. Let’s take a look at how things shake out for this week:

1 Florida (56) 2-0, 1491 pts, PR: 1
2 Texas (1) 2-0, 1404 pts, PR: 2
3 USC (1) 2-0, 1396 pts, PR: 3
4 Alabama (2) 2-0, 1328 pts, PR: 4
5 Mississippi 1-0, 1145 pts, PR: 6
5 Penn State 2-0, 1145 pts, PR: 7
7 Brigham Young 2-0, 1122 pts, PR: 9
8 California 2-0, 1058 pts, PR: 10
9 LSU 2-0, 951 pts, PR: 11
10 Boise State 2-0, 945 pts, PR: 12
11 Ohio State 1-1, 840 pts, PR: 8
12 Oklahoma 1-1, 835 pts PR: 13
13 Virginia Tech 1-1, 749 pts, PR: 14
14 Georgia Tech 2-0, 683 pts, PR: 15
15 TCU 1-0, 609 pts, PR: 16
16 Oklahoma State 1-1, 445 pts, PR: 5
17 Cincinnati 2-0, 407 pts, PR: 23
18 Utah 2-0, 405 pts, PR: 17
19 Nebraska 2-0, 365 pts, PR: 22
20 Miami (FL) 1-0, 364 pts, PR: 20
21 Houston 2-0, 341 pts, PR: NR
22 Kansas 2-0, 271 pts, PR: 24
23 Georgia 1-1, 260 pts, PR: 21
24 North Carolina 2-0, 250 pts, PR: 19
25 Michigan 2-0, 169 pts, PR: NR

Dropped from rankings:
Notre Dame 18
Missouri 25

There was not a great deal of movement in the top 10 this week and most of the teams held steady. Florida continues to be the overwhelming #1 in the country, again receiving 56 out of 60 1st place votes. USC’s win over Ohio State was good enough to siphon 1 first place vote away from Texas. The top 4 remained the same and the biggest fall of the week was suffered by Oklahoma State. Their loss at home to Houston cost them 11 spots as they tumbled all the way down to #16. The loss also exposed Oklahoma State’s defense and they are not as strong as they appeared last week. This will be a big problem against the high powered offenses in the Big 12 and I suspect that the Cowboys will be suffering at least 1 or 2 more losses this year. They will seriously need to regroup if they hope to still score a major Bowl game invite at the end of the year. The defense needs to find some answers or QB Zac Robinson and WR Dez Bryant need to kick it into another gear.

Speaking of Houston, the huge win for the Cougars leaped them into the Top 25 at #21. It has been 18 long years since Houston has been in the Top 25. Back then, QB David Klingler led the Cougars and they were ranked as high as #10. However, blowout losses to Miami (FL) and Illinois dropped them out of the Top 25 and they haven’t been a player on the national scene since. Houston will hope for a better and longer stay this time around. I was highly impressed with the Cougars’ offense and they can light up the scoreboard with the athletic talent they have. In a small bit of irony, I think Houston could be this year’s Oklahoma State. They will rely on the offense to try and outscore their opposition and hope the defense can do enough to protect the win. This was the formula Oklahoma State used last year and now Houston will have to do the same. If they keep scoring like they did Saturday, they could have a really good season.

Also joining the Top 25 party this week are the Michigan Wolverines. As I expected, their huge win at home against Notre Dame was good enough to sneak Michigan into the poll at #25. This is the 1st time Michigan has been ranked since the end of the 2007 season. It appears that the Wolverines are for real and will be a player this season. They are entering a soft spot on their schedule, so if they can avoid a letdown, they will stay in the poll. I now expect Michigan to obviously overachieve this year, but I still don’t think they are up to Ohio State and Penn State’s level yet. The loss by Notre Dame dropped them out of the Top 25 completely and they were joined by Missouri. The shaky win against Bowling Green was not enough to keep the Tigers in the poll.

Ohio State’s loss to USC only cost them three positions in the poll as they dropped from #8 to #11. I will be interested to see how the Buckeyes rebound. The loss is not a season killer, but now they will have to win their huge game against Penn State later this year to have a shot at a BCS Bowl game. Confidence could be an issue as Ohio State continues to fall short in big games.

The “BCS busters” all had a good week 2 and they continued to inch up the rankings. BYU jumped 2 spots from #9 to #7, Boise State also jumped 2 spots from #12 to #10, and TCU slid up one spot to #15. All of these teams will control their own destiny if they continue to win.

The biggest jump inside the Top 25 this week belonged to Cincinnati. I guess that a 70-3 massacre of Southeast Missouri State is worth something after all. Cincinnati jumped up 6 spots from #23 to #17. After not being ranked at all to start the season, Cincinnati could now become a major player if they keep winning. The Big East is a part of the BCS, so the Bearcats are now the long and away frontrunners to score a major Bowl game bid for the 2nd consecutive season.

Finally, the less than impressive wins by Georgia and North Carolina put them perilously close to falling from the rankings. Georgia’s defense did not show up against South Carolina and the Bulldogs were lucky to outscore them and produce a goal line stand at the end of the game to steal a 41-37 win. Georgia fell from #21 to #23. The Tar Heels needed a holding penalty in the end zone which gave them a safety to defeat Connecticut on Saturday, 12-10. The close call dropped UNC 5 spots from #19 to #24.

New AP Top 25 Poll

I have a huge post coming tomorrow which will offer an NFL season preview division by division. So let's take a look now at the new AP Top 25 Poll just released a short while ago:

1 Florida (56) 1-0, 1493 pts, PR: 1
2 Texas (2) 1-0, 1424 pts, PR: 2
3 USC 1-0, 1355 pts, PR: 4
4 Alabama (2) 1-0, 1331 pts, PR: 5
5 Oklahoma St. 1-0, 1201 pts, PR: 9
6 Mississippi 1-0, 1095 pts, PR: 8
7 Penn State 1-0, 1082 pts, PR: 9
8 Ohio State 1-0, 985 pts, PR: 6
9 Brigham Young 1-0, 984 pts, PR: 20
10 California 1-0, 971 pts, PR: 12
11 LSU 1-0, 890 pts, PR: 11
12 Boise State 1-0, 882 pts, PR: 14
13 Oklahoma 0-1, 782 pts, PR: 3
14 Virginia Tech 0-1, 652 pts, PR: 7
15 Georgia Tech 1-0, 630 pts, PR: 15
16 TCU 0-0, 523 pts, PR: 17
17 Utah 1-0, 404 pts, PR: 19
18 Notre Dame 1-0, 383 pts, PR: 23
19 North Carolina 1-0, 338 pts, PR: 21
20 Miami (FL) 1-0, 315 pts, PR: NR
21 Georgia 0-1, 294 pts, PR: 13
22 Nebraska 1-0, 266 pts, PR: 24
23 Cincinnati 1-0, 248 pts, PR: NR
24 Kansas 1-0, 196 pts, PR: 25
25 Missouri 1-0, 126 pts, PR: NR

Dropped from rankings:
Oregon 16
Florida State 18
Iowa 22

Florida remains strong as the clear #1 in the country, receiving 56 out of 60 1st place votes in the poll. The 2 votes that the Gators lost went to Alabama, who moved up one spot to #4 after an impressive win over Virginia Tech. Alabama looks like they will again be a huge threat this season, especially if their defense continues to be this strong. Florida may actually get a challenge from them this year. Oklahoma State's big win over Georgia was able to jump them up four spots to #5. I'm not sure if Oklahoma State will be able to maintain that ranking all year or if they are really that good. However, if their defense can come anywhere close to matching the high level of the offense, then maybe the Cowboys will be a huge surprise this season. The losses by Virginia Tech and Georgia in these games dropped them 7 spots to #14 and 8 spots to #21, respectively. Both will now have to try and regroup to climb back up toward major bowl game consideration.

The biggest shakeup in the poll comes as a result of BYU's upset win over Oklahoma. BYU was able to leap 11 spots and enter the top 10 at #9. This win now positions BYU for a run at the National Championship, let alone a BCS game. The strength of schedule will obviously hurt BYU, so they will need a great deal of help along the way. But an undefeated season would now assure them of a BCS bowl game it would seem. On the flip side of that game, Oklahoma tumbles 10 spots down to #13. They will now have to hope they can survive until QB Sam Bradford returns and then make a very impressive run to have any shot at the BCS Title game. A BCS Bowl game bid is still possible, but the Sooners are now really behind the eight ball.

Boise State's big win over Oregon was able to inch them up 2 spots to #12 as they try to now keep pace with BYU as the BCS buster this season. The loss dropped Oregon from the top 25.

Notre Dame was also able to make a big leap, up 5 spots to #18 after blowing out Nevada. The Fighting Irish passed the first test of the season, but it remains to be seen if they can handle the pressure all year and stay in for the long haul.

The last big shakeup in this week's poll comes from Miami's huge upset win over Florida State last night. Miami now shoots into the poll at #20, while Florida State drops out of the top 25 entirely. Miami looks like they are for real this season, but they will need to play better on defense. The same goes for Florida State, and I believe they will be able to recover and still have a good season.

Rounding things out...Cincinnati jumped into the top 25 at #23 after beating up on Rutgers. The Bearcats now look to be the clear favorite in the Big East and the talk of them falling off seems to be overblown. Iowa's struggles with Northern Iowa caused them to fall out of the top 25 and allowed Missouri to sneak in at #25 this week.