Week 0 is all but in the books and because there was only one team in the AP Top 25 in action, it's not particularly hard to figure out just what the Week 1 poll will look like when it's released on Sunday. Despite very little movement because very few teams actually played, there is at least a little bit of shifting.
More importantly for Notre Dame fans who are still smarting after watching Alabama and Miami beat out the Fighting Irish in the College Football Playoff, there's no jumping or snubbing this week. That means that Marcus Freeman and Co. will play their first game as a member of the Top 5 teams in the AP Poll.
In essence, this week's poll is still more about what the media thinks, than anything they saw. However, there is a chance that what they saw in one game in Week 0 could make the AP Top 25 shift just a little bit. It's not the kind of thing that will change how the season goes, but it does make things a bit more accurate to start the season.
# | Team | Last Week |
|---|---|---|
1 | Ohio State 0-0 | 1 |
2 | Oregon 0-0 | 2 |
3 | Georgia 0-0 | 3 |
4 | Notre Dame 0-0 | 4 |
5 | Texas 0-0 | 5 |
6 | Indiana 0-0 | 6 |
7 | Miami (FL) 0-0 | 7 |
8 | Texas A&M 0-0 | 8 |
9 | Ole Miss 0-0 | 9 |
10 | Oklahoma 0-0 | 10 |
11 | LSU 0-0 | 11 |
12 | Texas Tech 0-0 | 12 |
13 | Alabama 0-0 | 13 |
14 | BYU 0-0 | 14 (t) |
15 | USC 0-0 | 14 (t) |
16 | Michigan 0-0 | 16 |
17 | Washington 0-0 | 17 |
18 | Penn State 0-0 | 18 |
19 | SMU 0-0 | 19 |
20 | Tennessee 0-0 | 20 |
21 | Utah 0-0 | 21 |
22 | Iowa 0-0 | 22 |
23 | Houston 0-0 | 23 |
24 | Louisville 0-0 | 24 |
25 | Missouri 0-0 | 25 |
Week 1 AP Top 25 sees little movement, which is good for Notre Dame football
Perhaps the only thing better than Notre Dame staying where it is and still looking like a team that could get a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff is that USC entered the week at No. 14 and didn't look much like a team that should be in the Top 15.
Yes, the Trojans had an easier time with San Jose State than the final score looked, but that sort of thing gets factored in, especially when there are few games for AP voters to really even care about. Lincoln Riley's defense has long been the weak spot for his team. Allowing 26 points to the Spartans is bad enough.
That the only reason the Spartans were on USC's schedule is that Riley's program dropped Notre Dame off their schedule only makes the score that much better for those in South Bend.
The win won't see USC get punished much, but considering they entered the weekend tied with BYU, there's reason to believe they could be dropped from a tie to the No. 15 spot all by themselves. It's worth pointing out that this kind of drop isn't a huge deal, especially this early, but if the CFP rankings mirrored the AP Top 25, it would mean the Trojans would need to jump another team to make the field.
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