College Football Rankings 2023: NCAA Top 25 Predictions After Opening Week

Week One in college football was what we thought it would be: top-ranked teams bulldozing lesser, unranked squads as they set the tone for what they hope will be a 2023 season that ends with a national championship.

That is, with one exception.

The much-publicized Colorado Buffalo, with new head coach Deion Sanders, rolled into Forth Worth, Texas and upset 17th-ranked TCU by three.

The same TCU that competed for said national title against Georgia in January.

It was a signature moment in Sanders' coaching career and one that has generated positivity around the school's football program for the first time in what feels like an eternity for the long-suffering Buffalo faithful.

Is the win, in which junior quarterback Shedeur Sanders went 38-47 for 510 yards and four touchdowns, enough to catapult Colorado into the Top 25, though? If so, which teams joined them, and how much movement was there in relation to the preseason poll?

Here are predictions ahead of Tuesday's official release.

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Top 25 Predictions

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Ohio State
4. Alabama
5. USC
6. LSU
7. Penn State
8. Clemson
9. Washington
10. Texas
11. Notre Dame
12. Tennessee
13. Oregon
14. Kansas State
15. Utah
16. Oklahoma
    
17. Wisconsin
18. Florida State
19. Ole Miss
20. Oregon State
21. North Carolina
22. Texas A&M
23. Tulane
24. Iowa
25. TCU

No. 5 LSU at No. 8 Florida State to be played Sunday (7:30 p.m. EST, ABC)

No. 18 Oregon State at San Jose State to be played Sunday (3:30 p.m. EST, CBS)

No. 9 Clemson at Duke to be played Monday (8:00 p.m. EST, ESPN)

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The idea of dropping the Horned Frogs out of the Top 25 because of a three-point loss against a re-energized Colorado team does not make sense, but the performance of the team's defense is cause for concern.

The team cannot afford to allow opponents to throw up 500-plus yards passing every week and hope to remain in contention for a playoff berth. It is not feasible and, although the rest of the team fought hard and the squad as a whole only managed to lose by three, coordinator Joe Gillespie must shore things up.

If not, and the team does not force more turnovers than the one fumble it managed Saturday, it will be a long season for a team that was one win away from the top prize in the sport.

The team that beat them in January for that prize, the Georgia Bulldogs, looked every bit like the defending championship squad.

Sophomore quarterback Carson Beck looked sharp and efficient, Brock Bowers caught five passes for 77 yards, and running backs Kendall Milton and Roderick Robinson II combined for a 103-yard outing in a 48-7 trouncing of UT Martin.

The nation's other powerhouses all dominated as Michigan, Ohio State and Alabama threw up lopsided scores but it was Oklahoma's 73-0 shellacking of Arkansas State and Oregon's 81 against Portland State that drew attention.

While the competition was far from what those teams would see later, in the meat of their schedules, they were still wins that will cause voters to re-examine whether they possibly overlooked those two squads.

With no other notable upsets, any movement in the Top 25 was to account for voters potentially looking at scores and stat lines and making any changes as a result.