A preview of the AP and Coaches Poll, and a look at the scores that may impact this week's rankings. Expect rankings to be released later Sunday morning.
Sep 18, 2011 - It was another week of cupcakes, mixed in with a few conference openers and marquee matchups in the college football world. The big matchup of the week, Oklahoma vs. Florida State, kicked off in primetime, and will have a meaningful impact on the rankings. Upsets weren't aplenty, though, likely leaving the top of the rankings mostly intact.
The bottom of the rankings, however, will see a shakeup. Teams just barely inside the top-25 last week struggled, and the lower half of the polls didn't fare well. Ohio State and Michigan State highlighted the teams in the teens tripping and falling all over themselves, perhaps giving the polls a bit of a new look this weekend, and allowing a few new teams to earn a shiny ranking on Sunday.
Here's a primer for this week's college football rankings.
Games of note that could affect the rankings
No. 1 Oklahoma 23, No. 5 Florida State 13. Oklahoma State handles its early-season test while Florida State has to climb back out of a hole.
No. 2 Alabama 41, North Texas 0. In the words of the North Texas quarterback, "OH S**T."
No. 3 LSU 19, No. 25 Mississippi State 6. LSU still waiting for a team above it to slip-up, Mississippi State will fall out.
No. 4 Boise State 40, Toledo 15. Kellen Moore still loves embarrassing less opponents.
No. 6 Stanford 37, Arizona 10. The Cardinal should jump into the top-5, taking advantage of Florida State's fall.
No. 7 Wisconsin 49, Northern Illinois 7. Another Saturday, another steam-roller win for the Badgers.
No. 8 Oklahoma State ?, Toledo Tulsa ?. Nobody watched this game. When a game starts after 1 a.m. on the East Coast, nobody is staying awake to scout it.
No. 9 Texas A&M 37, Idaho 7. Robb Akey's mustache is clearly worth a touchdown, but the Aggies will probably move up at least one spot.
No. 10 South Carolina 24, Navy 21. Where will the FSU slide end? Perhaps here, where Sakerlina struggled with a tough Navy squad.
No. 11 Nebraska 51, Washington 38. Same story for Nebraska: close first half, dominant second.
No. 12 Oregon 56, Missouri State 7. The Ducks handle an inferior opponent for a second week, boosting their confidence in the wake of a season-opening loss to LSU.
No. 13 Virginia Tech 26, Arkansas State 7. Another cupcake game that can't hurt.
No. 14 Arkansas 38, Troy 28. Troy made it close with a second-half burst, but the Razorbacks had this all the way.
Notre Dame 31, No. 15 Michigan State 13. NOTRE DAME SHOULD TOTALLY BE RANKED, GUYS. THEY'RE BACK! RETURN TO GLORY!
No. 16 Florida 33, Tennessee 23. The orange pants just didn't do the trick for the Vols as Florida lowered the Boom.
Miami 24, No. 17 Ohio State 6.The score may not seem that bad, but Ohio State looked absolutely inept. The Buckeyes' passing game is gone, and we shall never speak of it again.
No. 18 West Virginia 37, Maryland 31. Holgo pulls a rabbit of out a Red Bull can again.
No. 19 Baylor 48, Stephen F Austin 0. We should probably just start ranking Robert Griffin III, too.
No. 22 South Florida 70, Florida A&M, 17. This wasn't even fair.
Illinois 17, No. 22 Arizona State 14. Goodbye Sparky, hello Zook?
Clemson 38, No. 24 Auburn 24. You knew this was going to happen at some point, considering how the first two weeks of the season went for the Tigers.
No. 23 Texas 49, UCLA 20. Texas justifies its ranking nicely and Rick Neuheisel inches close to losing his job.
And here are last week's rankings, for your reference.
AP Poll: As usual, the latest rankings will be released on Sunday, sometime after 12 p.m. EDT. The exact time fluctuates, depending on when all the ballots arrive from across the country. Here is last week's rankings.
| RK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
| 1 | Oklahoma (31) | 1-0 | 1440 |
| 2 | Alabama (10) | 2-0 | 1423 |
| 3 | LSU (17) | 2-0 | 1417 |
| 4 | Boise State (2) | 1-0 | 1307 |
| 5 | Florida State | 2-0 | 1195 |
| 6 | Stanford | 2-0 | 1161 |
| 7 | Wisconsin | 2-0 | 1091 |
| 8 | Oklahoma State | 2-0 | 1035 |
| 9 | Texas A&M | 1-0 | 1025 |
| 10 | South Carolina | 2-0 | 892 |
| 11 | Nebraska | 2-0 | 889 |
| 12 | Oregon | 1-1 | 846 |
| 13 | Virginia Tech | 2-0 | 827 |
| 14 | Arkansas | 2-0 | 770 |
| 15 | Michigan State | 2-0 | 602 |
| 16 | Florida | 2-0 | 515 |
| 17 | Ohio State | 2-0 | 459 |
| 18 | West Virginia | 2-0 | 416 |
| 19 | Baylor | 1-0 | 371 |
| 20 | South Florida | 2-0 | 351 |
| 21 | Auburn | 2-0 | 348 |
| 22 | Arizona State | 2-0 | 308 |
| 23 | TCU | 1-1 | 161 |
| 23 | Texas | 2-0 | 161 |
| 25 | Mississippi State | 1-1 | 124 |
Coaches Poll: The USA Today Coaches Poll will also be released on Sunday morning, but like the AP Poll, the time is variable. Typically, both are released around the same time. Here is last week's set of rankings.
| 1 | Oklahoma (44) | 1-0 | 1453 |
| 2 | Alabama (8) | 2-0 | 1410 |
| 3 | LSU (7) | 2-0 | 1372 |
| 4 | Boise State | 1-0 | 1214 |
| 5 | Florida State | 2-0 | 1211 |
| 6 | Stanford | 2-0 | 1165 |
| 7 | Oklahoma State | 2-0 | 1072 |
| 8 | Wisconsin | 2-0 | 1033 |
| 9 | Texas A&M | 1-0 | 1001 |
| 10 | Nebraska | 2-0 | 911 |
| 11 | South Carolina | 2-0 | 863 |
| 12 | Virginia Tech | 2-0 | 842 |
| 13 | Arkansas | 2-0 | 825 |
| 14 | Oregon | 1-1 | 754 |
| 15 | Michigan State | 2-0 | 639 |
| 16 | Ohio State | 2-0 | 566 |
| 17 | Florida | 2-0 | 498 |
| 18 | Arizona State | 2-0 | 353 |
| 19 | Auburn | 2-0 | 331 |
| 20 | West Virginia | 2-0 | 304 |
| 21 | Texas | 2-0 | 260 |
| 22 | South Florida | 2-0 | 230 |
| 23 | TCU | 1-1 | 211 |
| 24 | Baylor | 1-0 | 171 |
| 25 | Mississippi State | 1-1 | 125 |
We'll be back with the rankings as they're released. To look back at the day that was, check out our College Football Saturday StoryStream.
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