NCAA Football Rankings 2014: Week 3 Standings for College's Top 25 Teams
Upsets are one of the most compelling reasons to watch college football, and Week 2 delivered them. Teams that came into the season 1-0 and ranked in the Top 10, like Ohio State, will find themselves tumbling in the updated polls when they're released. The Buckeyes, ranked No. 8 heading into Saturday, fell to unranked Virginia Tech 35-21.
Meanwhile No. 18 Wisconsin, which fell in its season opener to LSU, helped its cause Saturday. The Badgers defeated Western Illinois soundly, 37-3, and put themselves out of danger of falling out of the Top 25.
Some teams benefited from others' follies. Texas A&M, which heading into Week 2 was ranked No. 9, will reap the rewards of Ohio State falling.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Before the release of the updated polls, let's take a look at the most recent Bleacher Report rankings and a breakdown of how teams shifted in the standings.
| 1. Florida State | 2-0 | def. Citadel, 37-12 |
| 2. Alabama | 2-0 | def. Florida Atlantic, 41-0 |
| 3. Oregon | 2-0 | def. Michigan State, 46-27 |
| 4. Oklahoma | 2-0 | def. Tulsa, 52-7 |
| 5. Auburn | 2-0 | def. San Jose State, 59-13 |
| 6. Georgia | 1-0 | No game |
| 7. Michigan State | 1-1 | loss vs. Oregon, 46-27 |
| 8. Ohio State | 1-1 | loss vs. Virginia Tech, 35-21 |
| 9. Texas A&M | 2-0 | def. Lamar, 73-3 |
| 10. Baylor | 2-0 | def. Northwestern St., 70-6 |
| 11. UCLA | 2-0 | def. Memphis, 42-35 |
| 12. LSU | 2-0 | def. Sam Houston, 56-0 |
| 13. Stanford | 1-1 | loss vs. USC, 13-10 |
| 14. USC | 2-0 | def. Stanford, 13-10 |
| 15. Ole Miss | 2-0 | def. Vanderbilt, 41-3 |
| 16. Notre Dame | 2-0 | def. Michigan, 31-0 |
| 17. Arizona State | 2-0 | def. New Mexico, 58-23 |
| 18. Wisconsin | 1-1 | def. W Illinois, 37-3 |
| 19. Nebraska | 2-0 | def. McNeese State, 31-24 |
| 20. Kansas State | 2-0 | def. Iowa State, 32-28 |
| 21 (tie). South Carolina | 1-1 | def. East Carolina, 33-23 |
| 21 (tie). North Carolina | 2-0 | def. San Diego State, 31-27 |
| 23. Clemson | 1-1 | def. S Carolina State, 73-7 |
| 24. Missouri | 2-0 | def. Toledo, 49-24 |
| 25. Louisville | 2-0 | def. Murray State, 66-21 |
Breakdown of Rankings
Florida State did nothing to endanger its No. 1 ranking Saturday as the Seminoles managed a 37-12 win over Citadel. Jameis Winston looked much-improved over his two-interception Week 1 debut, posting an incredibly accurate 22-of-27 passing for 256 yards and two scores.
Winston has now thrown a touchdown pass in 15 consecutive games.
Oklahoma improved to 2-0 on the season with a win over Tulsa on Saturday, demonstrating that it can contend with the best teams in college football. As Florida State, Alabama and Oregon also won, Oklahoma will likely remain at No. 4.
Against Tulsa, quarterback Trevor Knight was one yard shy of 300 passing and threw for two touchdowns while rushing for a third.
Wide receiver Sterling Shepard shone for the Sooners with 177 receiving yards on eight receptions Saturday, which set and tied career-highs, respectively, as Ryan Aber of The Oklahoman noted.
Oklahoma owed 21 of its 52 points to running backs Alex Ross and Keith Ford, who finished with 90 and 87 yards respectively and combined for three touchdowns.
As previously noted, no matter how well Oklahoma performed Saturday, there is no way they're leapfrogging Oregon in the updated rankings.
Though the Ducks struggled early Saturday against Michigan State, Oregon soon buried the vaunted Spartans defense by scoring 28 unanswered points to end the game and advance to 2-0.
Marcus Mariota helped not only his Heisman positioning but Oregon's chances of advancing to the national championship, passing for 318 yards and three touchdowns in the win. He set an Oregon record with 69 career touchdown passes.
It wasn't a good day for Big Ten conference leaders Ohio State and Michigan State.
Though the top-ranked teams will likely remain the same, the big shifts in the rankings will come as a result of Ohio State's loss and Wisconsin's first win. Teams that were ranked lower than Ohio State, such as Texas A&M and Baylor, which blew out Northwestern State 70-6, will likely rise in the rankings.
UCLA narrowly avoided an upset by Memphis, eking out the win 42-35. Memphis safety Fritz Etienne returned a pick 17 yards to tie the game up with 13:44 left in the fourth quarter, but quarterback Brett Hundley connected with Thomas Duarte on a 33-yard reception and the Bruins defense stepped up to stave off a comeback.
Even though it won, the manner in which it did means UCLA likely will not crack the Top 10 in the updated polls. It was the second week in a row that the Bruins squeaked out a win, after winning 28-20 over Virginia in Week 1.
National college football writer Bryan Fischer remarked that after their performance over the last two weeks, the Bruins won't even make his Top 25.
All rankings from AP Top 25 via ESPN.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
