College Football Ratings- Week 1 2024
Week 1 was entertaining but contained relatively few surprises. At time of writing (I am publishing this prior to the Sunday and Monday games given my schedule this weekend), favorites went 29-9 straight up. Vanderbilt, Sam Houston State and Nevada were the 3 double digit underdogs to win. This is definitely a bit more chalk than we normally see on week 1.
Bracketology
1 Georgia
2 Ohio State
3 Miami (FL)
4 Iowa State
Georgia is going to be the consensus #1 team everywhere after their dominant win over Clemson. The gap between them and Ohio State is as big as the gap between Ohio State and #12 Oklahoma.
Everyone is going to have Miami (FL) in their projected playoff after their dominating win over Florida. At least I can say I was first as I had them in my field last week as well.
5 Alabama vs. 12 Boise State
6 Oregon vs. 11 Arizona
7 Penn State vs. 10 Missouri
8 Notre Dame vs. 9 LSU
Alabama jumped up to my top at-large team after they thrashed Western Kentucky and Oregon struggled with Idaho. I’ll take a flier and put Arizona in this week’s field after their dominating offensive performance against New Mexico. Boise State picked up a nice win at Georgia Southern and has put some distance between them and the rest of the Group of Five.
Top 25
Numbers in parentheses represent changes in ranking from last week. Reminder that all rankings are prior to the USC/LSU and Florida State/Boston College games.
Georgia
Ohio State
Alabama (+2)
Penn State (+3)
Oregon (-2)
LSU (-2)
Notre Dame (+4)
Texas
Miami (FL) (+6)
Texas A&M (-4)
Oklahoma (-2)
Missouri
Michigan
Clemson (-4)
Ole Miss (+4)
Iowa State (-2)
Arizona (+1)
Virginia Tech (-1)
Auburn (+5)
Louisville
SMU (+1)
Georgia Tech (+17)
Kentucky
TCU (+6)
USC (-1)
Next Ten: Florida, Kansas, Tennessee, Iowa, Maryland, Florida State, Kansas State, Boise State, UCF, Northwestern
Penn State looked great against West Virginia and will not face a real test until they travel to USC in mid-October. Georgia Tech climbs into my top 25 after their wins over Florida State and Georgia State- this is their first appearance in my top 25 in a decade. A few teams such as Alabama, Ole Miss, Auburn rose a few spots after beating up on FCS teams.