Amway College Football Poll 2015: Complete Week 3 Rankings Revealed

Two weeks into the 2015 college football season, the Amway coaches poll already looks vastly different than the preseason Top 25. 

Michigan State's win over Oregon in the season's first matchup of two Top 10 teams provided the biggest changes at the top of the standings, but Auburn's escape against Jacksonville State was one of the few times a victory came at a steep price. 

Here's how the coaches voted in this week's poll:

Rank	Team (1st Place Votes)	Record	B/R Poll
1	Ohio State (62)	2-0	Ohio State
2	Alabama (1)	2-0	Alabama
3	TCU	2-0	Michigan State
4	Michigan State	2-0	TCU
5	Baylor	2-0	Baylor
6	Florida State	2-0	USC
7	USC	2-0	Clemson
8	Georgia	2-0	Notre Dame
9	Clemson	2-0	UCLA
10	Notre Dame	2-0	Georgia
11	Mississippi	2-0	Mississippi
12	UCLA	2-0	Oregon
13	Oregon	1-1	Florida State
14	LSU	1-0	Texas A&M
15	Auburn	2-0	Georgia Tech
16	Georgia Tech	2-0	LSU
17	Oklahoma	2-0	Oklahoma
18	Texas A&M	2-0	Auburn
19	Arizona	2-0	Arizona
20	Missouri	2-0	Utah
21	Utah	2-0	Wisconsin
22	BYU	2-0	BYU
23	Wisconsin	1-1	Missouri
24	Northwestern	2-0	West Virginia
25	Oklahoma State	2-0	Northwestern

The Spartans got their moment of revenge in a 31-28 win over Oregon, payback for last year's loss in Eugene, and were rewarded by the coaches with a two-spot jump in the poll to No. 4.

Oregon's inability to defeat elite teams on the road continues to be a problem, as ESPN Stats & Info pointed out after the loss:

Winning away from home is never easy, especially against top-ranked opposition, but it seems odd that the Ducks have been so great for so long without having more victories in those big moments.

The silver lining for Oregon is that its only remaining game against an opponent currently in the Top 25 is USC at home on November 25. 

On the other side, per ESPN.com's Brian Bennett, Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio is really happy about what the victory means for his team. 

"In my mind, this is a stepping-stone game," Dantonio said. "It will pay dividends at the end of the season."

Since Michigan State moved into the upper tier of college programs two years ago, it's lost two games in September—against Notre Dame in 2013 and against Oregon in 2014—that wound up hurting the team's national title hopes late in the season.

Looking at the current rankings and projecting forward, Notre Dame's spot in the Top 10 looks tenuous simply because of Malik Zaire's injury. The Fighting Irish starting quarterback suffered a fractured ankle against Virginia, ending his season, per Pete Sampson of Irish Illustrated.

Notre Dame was able to steal a victory from the Cavaliers thanks to this DeShone Kizer 39-yard touchdown pass to Will Fuller, via ESPN College Football:

Kizer was terrific in relief of Zaire, going 8-of-12 for 92 yards and two touchdowns, but Notre Dame's schedule really picks up, with three of the next five games against Georgia Tech, Clemson and USC.

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly does have experience in situations like this from his time at Cincinnati. In 2008, the Bearcats lost starting quarterback Dustin Grutza to a fractured fibula in early September. Tony Pike took over and led the team to an 11-3 record and an appearance in the Orange Bowl. 

Yet no team lost more in a victory than Auburn, which fell eight spots to 15th. Optimism was high around the Tigers coming into the year, as the coaches voted them seventh in the preseason poll, but the bloom has fallen off the rose despite a 2-0 record. 

It was only because of a bad punt by Jacksonville State in the final minutes of regulation that Auburn took the game into overtime. 

Joel Klatt of Fox Sports 1, who votes in the Associated Press poll, took a hard-line stance against the Tigers:

The problem for Auburn is there was no reason to raise expectations so high before the season. The roster lost too many significant contributors, especially on offense, to anticipate a massive improvement from last year's 8-5 record. 

Player	Pos.	Key Stats
Nick Marshall	QB	3,346 Total Yards, 31 Total TDs
Cameron Artis-Payne	RB	1,608 Rushing Yards, 13 TDs
Sammie Coates	WR	741 Receiving Yards
Reese Dismukes	C	2-time First-Team All-SEC
Gabe Wright	DT	4.5 Tackles For Loss
Quan Bray	WR	471 Receiving Yards

Unless Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn is recruiting at the same level as Urban Meyer or Nick Saban, there's going to be a period of adjustment. That has shown so far this season, making the team's descent in the rankings wholly justified. 

Yet that is also part of what makes college football so great. There can be expectations around a team before the season, but no one really knows anything until games start. Dynamics change due to erratic performances or injuries. 

Ohio State and Alabama may end the season as the top two teams in the country, or Auburn could figure out what's been wrong thus far and emerge as a playoff contender. 

Things will continue to change until the end of the year, so the latest rankings are merely a snapshot in time that is going to shift all over again next week.