College Football Rankings 2015: Predicting Week 2 AP and Amway NCAA Polls

Most teams kicked off their 2015 NCAA football season this past weekend. One that didn't is the one that figures to remain ranked atop the Associated Press and Amway polls.

The Ohio State Buckeyes were No. 1 in the initial releases, and they'll be in action Monday evening on the road against Virginia Tech. It's a highly anticipated first contest for OSU, which will trot out two Heisman-caliber quarterbacks in J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones.

Several teams did acquit themselves well on opening weekend, though—potentially meriting a bump in the national hierarchy. Below are projections for the AP and Amway polls in Week 2, followed by analysis on the notable developments.

Ranking	Team
1	Ohio State
2	Alabama
3	Baylor
4	TCU
5	Auburn
6	Oregon
7	Michigan State
8	USC
9	Florida State
10	Notre Dame
11	Georgia
12	Clemson
13	UCLA
14	LSU
15	Georgia Tech
16	Mississippi
17	Arkansas
18	Oklahoma
19	Arizona
20	Missouri
21	Tennessee
22	Texas A&M
23	Mississippi State
24	Boise State
25	Arizona State

Ranking	Team
1	Ohio State
2	Alabama
3	TCU
4	Baylor
5	Oregon
6	Florida State
7	Michigan State
8	USC
9	Auburn
10	Notre Dame
11	Georgia
12	Clemson
13	LSU
14	UCLA
15	Mississippi
16	Georgia Tech
17	Oklahoma
18	Arizona
19	Arkansas
20	Missouri
21	Texas A&M
22	Boise State
23	Tennessee
24	Mississippi State
25	Utah

Analysis

There's no way the Buckeyes are moving from their perch as the defending champions for the foreseeable future—unless they lose to the Hokies and sink in next week's poll.

Based on the slight differences in the AP and Amway from the opening week, the projected rankings are a reflection of where certain teams were placed before. One uniform change, though, is TCU falling out of the No. 2 spot for the time being.

The Horned Frogs had some issues against Minnesota in pulling out a 23-17 victory. They weren't nearly as dominant as Big 12 rival Baylor, which took it to SMU 56-21, or Alabama, as Wisconsin was no match for the Crimson Tide's offense that looked sharp with quarterback Jake Coker at the controls.

Alabama coach Nick Saban applauded Coker and star running back Derrick Henry after the game.

"Offensively, we started a little bit slow, that was kind of the plan, not put too much on the quarterback," said Saban, per ESPN.com. "When we opened it up and created some balance, I thought Jake played really well. Obviously, Derrick Henry did a nice job."

Even Auburn's hard-fought win over Louisville merits consideration for leapfrogging TCU. BuckeyeGrove.com's Kirk Barton weighed in on the Tigers' start compared to the Horned Frogs:

"

I think we'll see Auburn in the playoffs. Good looking team. Would beat TCU by two TDs.

— Kirk Barton (@Kirk_Barton) September 5, 2015"

There is some evident SEC bias in that take on the situation, but it's merited considering how strong the conference tends to be. Look no further than Texas A&M and how the Aggies annihilated Arizona State 38-17—a Pac-12 team that was well inside the Top 25 in both polls.

ESPN's Danny Kannell certainly noticed what Texas A&M did:

Furthermore, the hire of the SEC offseason may have been the Aggies landing longtime LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis. The impact has been immediate, as Brett McMurphy of ESPN.com illustrates:

Two strong non-SEC teams from the weekend were Notre Dame and Florida State. Commonly linked by transferred Fighting Irish quarterback Everett Golson, these two programs seem to have gotten the best of both worlds with Golson's transfer to Tallahassee.

The Fighting Irish rolled out dual-threat QB Malik Zaire on Saturday and steamrolled Texas 38-3. ESPN Stats & Info referenced how precise Zaire was in carving up the Texas secondary:

Notre Dame is sure to gain early buzz for beating a marquee opponent—even if the Longhorns aren't that strong in 2015.

Golson ran FSU's pro-style offense well in a 59-16 romp over Texas State. Although the opponent was hardly a challenge, it was still a strong debut for the signal-caller, as he threw for 302 yards and four touchdowns. With Dalvin Cook to help in the backfield, Golson should continue rolling in the early going as he fills the big shoes of Jameis Winston under center.

It's too early to make any rash judgments or drastic changes to the rankings, especially since many teams in the Top 25 in both polls won with relative ease. That's how the beginning of the season tends to go before conference play separates the contenders from the pretenders.

What is rather certain is that the race for the second edition of the College Football Playoff figures to be loaded with quality teams. Now fans will see just how high of a bar Ohio State sets starting Monday night.