College Football Ratings- Week 2 2024
Week 2 challenged a lot of assumptions that I had about the state of the college football landscape. Some teams that I was feeling pretty good about, like Notre Dame, Penn State and Oklahoma, looked awful. Other teams that I thought were in for a rough season, like South Carolina, Arizona State and BYU, looked pretty good.
Bracketology
1 Georgia
2 Ohio State
3 Clemson
4 Iowa State
Clemson rocketed up my rankings this year after they demolished App State. The Mountaineers were supposed to be one of the better teams in the G5, and Clemson scored 8 straight touchdowns to start the game to beat them. This put the Tigers narrowly ahead of Miami in my ratings so I am giving them the ACC auto bid for now.
5 Alabama vs. 12 Northern Illinois
6 Texas vs. 11 USC
7 Oregon vs. 10 Missouri
8 Miami vs. 9 Penn State
Oregon remains in my projected bracket despite significantly underperforming expectations in both games so far. Penn State falls outside of my projected top 8 after a shaky performance against Bowling Green, and thus is projected to travel to Miami. My model viewed Northern Illinois as a MAC contender prior to their win over Bowling Green and now says they are the third best G5 team behind Boise State and Memphis. Given that they have the best win any G5 team is likely to pick up all year, I’ve slotted them in as the 12 seed.
Top 25
Georgia
Ohio State
Alabama
Oregon (+1)
Texas (+3)
Clemson (+8)
Texas A&M (+3)
Miami (+1)
Missouri (+3)
Penn State (-6)
Notre Dame (-4)
LSU (-6)
Ole Miss (+2)
USC (+11)
Iowa State (+1)
Oklahoma (-5)
Michigan (-4)
Tennessee (+10)
Louisville (+1)
Virginia Tech (-2)
Auburn (-2)
Georgia Tech
Arizona (-6)
UCF (+10)
South Carolina (+21)
Next Ten: Kansas, TCU, Kansas State, SMU, Florida, Boise State, Boston College, Washington, Iowa, Arkansas
My mode is not the only computer that loves Texas A&M, although most people would call me crazy for having them in the top 10. The Aggies still have an incredibly talented roster, and while they have some question marks at QB, I expect their defense to suffocate Florida this weekend. I think that a lot of people are sleeping on Louisville. The Cardinals demolished a solid Jacksonville State team last week and look like the clear third best team in the ACC behind Clemson and Miami. South Carolina vaults into my top 25 after demolishing Kentucky on the road, but faces a stern test from LSU this week.