Gerald Herbert/Associated Press We were nearly treated to a major shakeup in the college football rankings, as TCU held a 21-13 lead over Ohio State late in the third quarter Saturday. But the Buckeyes poured in 20 unanswered points in a span of five minutes and cruised to a 40-28 victory over the Horned Frogs. Auburn was the only team in the top 10 to lose Saturday, but a close defeat against LSU likely won't drop Auburn too far in the rankings—especially since Gus Malzahn's squad already has a top-10 victory of its own against Washington. Most of the shakeup in the latest rankings is likely to occur on the back end of the Top 25 thanks to losses by TCU, Boise State and USC. Here's a look at how the new Associated Press Top 25 could look when the rankings are released on Sunday afternoon: Video Play Button CFB National Signing Day 2019 Did Not Disappoint Martell Is Leaving Ohio St. and Is on His Way to the U White House Treats National Champions to Fast Food Cheat Day Northwestern May Have CFB's Most Hyped Coach Army's Historic Bowl Beatdown Caps Off Epic Season Purdue Football's No. 1 Fan Is Inspiring the Team CFB's Creative Entrances Put WWE to Shame CFB's Walk-on Scholarship Season Has Returned Tua Continues to Take Hawaiian Football to Another Level CFB Players Teaming Up to Tackle Hunger in Miami 4'2" WR Will Walk on at Baylor University Felder's Film Room: Ferocious Front 7's Will Decide National Championship UAB Is Making CFB Even More Fun and Having Its Best Season at the Same Time Heisman Hopefuls: B/R Highlights Finalists Prior to Trophy Ceremony Who Should Be the 2017 Heisman Finalists? Miami vs. Clemson: Which Elite Defense Will Prevail in ACC Championship Game College Football Top 25 Upset Alert for Week 11 College Football Top 25 Upset Alert for Week 10 Which CFB Stars Need More Heisman Hype? College Football Top 25 Upset Alert for Week 9 Right Arrow Icon 1. Alabama (Last week: 1) 2. Clemson (2) 3. Georgia (3) 4. Ohio State (4) 5. Oklahoma (5) 6. LSU (12) 7. Notre Dame (8) 8. Stanford (9) 9. Penn State (11) 10. Auburn (7) 11. Washington (10) 12. Virginia Tech (13) 13. West Virginia (14) 14. Mississippi State (16) 15. Wisconsin (6) 16. UCF (18) 17. Oklahoma State (24) 18. TCU (15) 19. Michigan (19) 20. Oregon (20) 21. Miami (21) 22. Boise State (17) 23. Texas A&M (NR) 24. Boston College (NR) 25. Colorado (NR) LSU Ron Jenkins/Associated Press It's hard to explain how LSU is 3-0, especially when looking at its offensive performance. Head coach Ed Orgeron deserves a lot of credit for taking an imperfect roster and preparing his squad play against the best teams in the nation. According to ESPN's Chris Fallica, LSU's victory over Auburn was historic: Video Play Button CFB National Signing Day 2019 Did Not Disappoint Martell Is Leaving Ohio St. and Is on His Way to the U White House Treats National Champions to Fast Food Cheat Day Northwestern May Have CFB's Most Hyped Coach Army's Historic Bowl Beatdown Caps Off Epic Season Purdue Football's No. 1 Fan Is Inspiring the Team CFB's Creative Entrances Put WWE to Shame CFB's Walk-on Scholarship Season Has Returned Tua Continues to Take Hawaiian Football to Another Level CFB Players Teaming Up to Tackle Hunger in Miami 4'2" WR Will Walk on at Baylor University Felder's Film Room: Ferocious Front 7's Will Decide National Championship UAB Is Making CFB Even More Fun and Having Its Best Season at the Same Time Heisman Hopefuls: B/R Highlights Finalists Prior to Trophy Ceremony Who Should Be the 2017 Heisman Finalists? Miami vs. Clemson: Which Elite Defense Will Prevail in ACC Championship Game College Football Top 25 Upset Alert for Week 11 College Football Top 25 Upset Alert for Week 10 Which CFB Stars Need More Heisman Hype? College Football Top 25 Upset Alert for Week 9 Right Arrow Icon Through three games, quarterback Joe Burrow is completing just 46.2 percent of his passes, yet somehow the Tigers have knocked off Miami and Auburn. For LSU to keep the ball rolling on this impressive season, Burrow needs to play at a more consistent level, but style points don't matter when playing a team like Auburn. With arguably the most impressive resume in the country, LSU should rise considerably and likely deserves a spot in the top 10. Burrow will have time over the next two gameweeks—at home against Louisiana Tech and Ole Miss—to work out some kinks and hopefully get a better feel for the LSU offense. The Tigers likely won't be tested again until October 6 at Florida, and if they can survive their trip to The Swamp, a much-anticipated showdown with Georgia awaits the following weekend. Oklahoma State Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press Expectations for Oklahoma State were tempered this season after losing one of the best quarterback-receiver duos in school history in Mason Rudolph and James Washington. The Cowboys entered the season just outside the AP Top 25 and only climbed to their spot at No. 24 after Week 2 thanks to losses by other teams. Wins over South Alabama and Missouri State were not exactly resume builders. On Saturday, however, Oklahoma State proved that it has the talent to pick up where Washington and Rudolph left off. Led by quarterback Taylor Cornelius and running back Justice Hill, the Cowboys racked up more than 400 yards of offense and cruised to a 44-21 victory over Boise State. Now that Oklahoma State has a win over a respected program on the resume, the Cowboys should start to make a more legitimate ascent up the rankings. USC Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images Apparently, most AP voters didn't stay up late enough to watch USC's offense sleep walk through a 17-3 loss against Stanford in Week 2 because the Trojans remained ranked at No. 22 in the previous poll. Hopefully Texas' 37-14 drubbing of the Trojans on Saturday night opened some eyes to the reality that this USC squad is in rebuilding mode. Video Play Button CFB National Signing Day 2019 Did Not Disappoint Martell Is Leaving Ohio St. and Is on His Way to the U White House Treats National Champions to Fast Food Cheat Day Northwestern May Have CFB's Most Hyped Coach Army's Historic Bowl Beatdown Caps Off Epic Season Purdue Football's No. 1 Fan Is Inspiring the Team CFB's Creative Entrances Put WWE to Shame CFB's Walk-on Scholarship Season Has Returned Tua Continues to Take Hawaiian Football to Another Level CFB Players Teaming Up to Tackle Hunger in Miami 4'2" WR Will Walk on at Baylor University Felder's Film Room: Ferocious Front 7's Will Decide National Championship UAB Is Making CFB Even More Fun and Having Its Best Season at the Same Time Heisman Hopefuls: B/R Highlights Finalists Prior to Trophy Ceremony Who Should Be the 2017 Heisman Finalists? Miami vs. Clemson: Which Elite Defense Will Prevail in ACC Championship Game College Football Top 25 Upset Alert for Week 11 College Football Top 25 Upset Alert for Week 10 Which CFB Stars Need More Heisman Hype? College Football Top 25 Upset Alert for Week 9 Right Arrow Icon With true freshman JT Daniels at quarterback, USC fans have a reason to be optimistic about the future, but this is not the Trojans' year. The main issue for USC seems to be the offensive line, which has struggled to clear room in the run game. Despite the talented Stephen Carr in the backfield, USC managed just 3.1 yards per carry against Stanford and was then held to an embarrassing minus-five yards on the ground against Texas. A return to the Top 25 probably isn't realistic for USC this season, as the immediate road ahead features tough home games against Washington State and Colorado and road trips to Arizona and Utah. Given the way USC has performed through three weeks, not one of those games looks like an easy win.<doc-sep>We're already a quarter of the way through the 2018 college football season, and the same College Football Playoff contenders remain at the top. It's just a matter of what order you have that top five of Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State and Oklahoma at this point in the season. All five have played at a high level, but there are a few teams lurking in the Playoff picture. It's not too early for Playoff talk. Dec. 2 — when the pairings are announced — will be here before you know it. With that mind, here are the four teams in, the first two out and four to watch heading into Week 2. MORE: Week 3 highlights, scores Four in 1. Alabama (3-0) The Crimson Tide became the first SEC team to score 50 or more points to start the season in their win against Ole Miss, knocking the Rebels out 62-7. It's a frightening offense with Tua Tagovailoa at the controls, and Nick Saban has the perfect setup. They won't be able to take a break with Texas A&M rolling into Tuscaloosa this week. 2. Clemson (3-0) Kelly Bryant missed the second half in a 38-10 victory against Georgia Southern, and that allowed freshman phenom Trevor Lawrence to get some valuable experience in a 38-7 victory. While that is the dominant storyline, the Tigers' defense allowed just 80 yards rushing against the option in a tune-up for the trip to Georgia Tech, and Travis Etienne busted loose with 16 attempts for 162 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Tigers just keep rolling. 3. Georgia (3-0) The Bulldogs cruised in a 49-7 victory against Middle Tennessee State and showed they have one of the most balanced offenses in the FBS. Jake Fromm is completing 80.4 percent of his passes. Georgia averages 216.3 passing yards and 272 passing yards through three weeks, and that's without being tested in the air in two of those games. If you have the Bulldogs in the No. 2 spot right now, we wouldn't put up a big fight. 4. Ohio State (3-0) The Buckeyes took care of business with a 40-28 victory against No. 15 TCU at Jerry World, concluding Ryan Day's three-game audition as acting coach. The Buckeyes averaged 56.3 points per game in that stretch, and Dwayne Haskins is a full-go Heisman Trophy candidate. Now, Urban Meyer returns from a three-game suspension with a tune-up against Tulane before a big-time Big Ten showdown at No. 11 Penn State on Sept. 29. MORE: Week 4 Power Rankings First two out 5. Oklahoma (3-0) Kyler Murray finished 21 of 29 passing for 348 yards and rushed for 77 more with three total touchdowns in a 37-27 victory at Iowa State. Trey Sermon, who rushed for 74 yards and a touchdown, will need to continue to develop in Rodney Anderson's absence. Iowa State averaged 10.0 yards per pass, something Oklahoma will need to clean up as the year wears on, though it shouldn't be a problem against Army in Week 4. 6. LSU (3-0) We're giving the Tigers the bump based on a quality victories against Miami and Auburn — wins that have put Ed Orgeron in the quarter-pole penthouse. Joe Burrow led the game-winning field-goal drive, and the Tigers have not turned the ball over this season. They are plus-7 in turnover ratio. Any team is good when that happens, especially one with this much talent. Four to watch Penn State (3-0) easily could have been put in the No. 6 spot, too, but they need to beat a ranked opponent first. Trace McSorley has 11 total touchdowns, including six on the ground. The Nittany Lions open Big Ten play against Illinois before the season-shifting showdown against Ohio State. … Stanford (3-0) coasted to a 30-10 victory against UC-Davis without Bryce Love and remains the best unbeaten team in the Pac-12. They'll find out if that's real the next two weeks in road games at Oregon and Notre Dame. … Of course, Notre Dame (3-0) survived upset bid from Vanderbilt with a 22-17 victory. The Irish's first road trip at Wake Forest is tricky, considering the ranked teams that follow the Demon Deacons. … West Virginia (2-0) was out of sight with its Saturday game against North Carolina State canceled because of Hurricane Florence. They return against Kansas State on Saturday.<doc-sep>
Week 3 of the 2018 college football season lived up to the hype. Here’s the latest AP Top 25: RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREV 1 Alabama (58) 3-0 1521 1 2 Georgia 3-0 1416 3 3 Clemson (3) 3-0 1405 2 4 Ohio State 3-0 1357 4 5 Oklahoma 3-0 1283 5 6 LSU 3-0 1241 12 7 Stanford 3-0 1055 9 8 Notre Dame 3-0 1034 8 9 Auburn 2-1 958 7 10 Washington 2-1 947 10 10 Penn State 3-0 947 11 12 West Virginia 2-0 841 14 13 Virginia Tech 2-0 816 13 14 Mississippi State 3-0 790 16 15 Oklahoma State 3-0 587 24 16 UCF 2-0 556 18 17 TCU 2-1 502 15 18 Wisconsin 2-1 486 6 19 Michigan 2-1 448 19 20 Oregon 3-0 399 20 21 Miami 2-1 362 21 22 Texas A&M 2-1 193 NR 23 Boston College 3-0 130 NR 24 Michigan State 1-1 86 25 25 BYU 2-1 75 NR We’ll start with LSU, which rose from No. 12 to No. 6 on the heels of an impressive road win over Auburn. The Tigers appear to have a legitimate quarterback in Joe Burrow, who threw for 249 yards and a touchdown. LSU fans have been waiting for a quarterback like Burrow for years. As usual, the Tigers are loaded on defense and have more than enough talent in the backfield and on the outside. LSU held Jarrett Stidham under 200 yards passing and picked him off twice. With wins over Miami and Auburn, LSU is looking like a College Football Playoff contender. Of course, it plays in the same division as Alabama. But what a start it’s been in Baton Rouge. MORE: College football's best turnover props LSU took Wisconsin’s place in the rankings, which lost to BYU and fell 12 spots in the AP Poll. The Badgers just don’t seem to have the “oompf” they had a year ago. The defense hasn’t been bad, but it hasn’t dominated. Jonathan Taylor ran for 117 yards on Saturday, which is good, but he averaged less than five yards per carry. Good, but not great. The passing game has never been Wisconsin’s strong suit, and Alex Hornibrook played similarly to how he did most of last year. The problem for the Badgers is that the defense and running game don’t look to be on the same level as they were in 2017. There’s time for Wisconsin to turn this around, but a home loss to BYU seriously dampers any College Football Playoff hopes. MORE: College football home There was one change in the top five: Georgia leapfrogged Clemson to take the No. 2 spot. Only nine points separate the Bulldogs and the Tigers, but it’s just a function of how the teams have looked thus far. Georgia has smoked everyone in its path. Clemson nearly lost to Texas A&M. Now, it’s interesting that the switch occurred this week, when both teams handled lower-level competition with ease. But it’s fair if you zoom out and look at the season as a whole. An under-the-radar riser was Oklahoma State, which jumped nine spots to No. 15 after a 44-21 thrashing of Boise State. The Cowboys may have lost Mason Rudolph and James Washington this offseason, but they haven’t missed a beat. Justice Hill has been magnificent; he’s averaging 8.1 yards per carry, while Taylor Cornelius is averaging almost 10 yards per pass attempt. Mike Gundy is one of the most underrated coaches in the country – watch out for these guys in the Big 12. A few other tidbits: Texas A&M joins the fray at No. 22. The Aggies were competitive against Clemson and have destroyed their other two opponents; the Jimbo Fisher era is off to a nice start. But a Week 4 matchup with Alabama looms. BYU is ranked 25th after its win over Wisconsin — a well-deserved honor for the Cougars. Boston College also checks in at No. 23 after piling up 41 points against Wake Forest this week. Believe it or not, that was a season-low for the Eagles. BC has scored a whopping 158 points in three games this season. The college football season rolls on. Week 4 should be a doozy, as several impact matchups could swing the polls once again.