AP College Football Poll 2015: Complete Week 3 Rankings Revealed
Michigan State ascended and Auburn came close to a catastrophe, but after two weeks, the top of the Associated Press college football poll remains unchanged.
The Buckeyes remain the nation's top-ranked team after a 38-0 thrashing of Hawaii, again looking a little shaky in the early quarters before putting the game away late. They're followed again by Alabama, which had no problem with Middle Tennessee, and TCU, which put up a 70 spot on Stephen F. Austin. Michigan State and Baylor round out the Top Five.
Here is a look at how the entire Top 25 played out:
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
| Ranking | Team | Record | B/R Poll |
| 1 | Ohio State | 2-0 | Ohio State |
| 2 | Alabama | 2-0 | Alabama |
| 3 | TCU | 2-0 | Michigan State |
| 4 | Michigan State | 2-0 | TCU |
| 5 | Baylor | 2-0 | Baylor |
| 6 | USC | 2-0 | USC |
| 7 | Georgia | 2-0 | Clemson |
| 8 | Notre Dame | 2-0 | Notre Dame |
| 9 | Florida State | 2-0 | UCLA |
| 10 | UCLA | 2-0 | Georgia |
| 11 | Clemson | 2-0 | Mississippi |
| 12 | Oregon | 1-1 | Oregon |
| 13 | LSU | 1-0 | Florida State |
| 14 | Georgia Tech | 2-0 | Texas A&M |
| 15 | Ole Miss | 2-0 | Georgia Tech |
| 16 | Oklahoma | 2-0 | LSU |
| 17 | Texas A&M | 2-0 | Oklahoma |
| 18 | Auburn | 2-0 | Auburn |
| 19 | BYU | 2-0 | Arizona |
| 20 | Arizona | 2-0 | Utah |
| 21 | Utah | 2-0 | Wisconsin |
| 22 | Missouri | 2-0 | BYU |
| 23 | Northwestern | 2-0 | Missouri |
| 24 | Wisconsin | 1-1 | West Virginia |
| 25 | Oklahoma State | 2-0 | Northwestern |
No team did more for itself this weekend than Michigan State, even though it only nabbed a one-spot leap. The Spartans atoned for last year's collapse in Eugene with a 31-28 victory over Oregon in East Lansing. Madre London rushed for 103 yards, Connor Cook threw for two touchdowns and the Michigan State defense held on late for one of the biggest regular-season wins of the Mark Dantonio era.
"How you perform after this is just as important as how you perform this game," Dantonio said on his radio show on Spartan Sports Network, per We'll either have to handle success or we'll have to handle adversity. Either one, we're going to have to handle things emotionally and we can't get too far ahead of ourselves."
Oregon, which was in Spartans territory before its final drive stalled out, drops to No. 12. The Ducks got 309 passing yards from quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., but the senior transfer threw two picks and missed on what would have been a touchdown pass to Byron Marshall late in the fourth.
"I have to be better than that," Adams said, per George Schroeder of USA Today. "I need to make those throws to give us a chance to win the game."
ESPN's Mike Greenberg believes Saturday was a sign of things to come for Oregon:
For the most part, the top of the rankings were filled with strong victories. Florida State, USC and Georgia continued to look strong against elite opponents, while Notre Dame overcame the loss of quarterback Malik Zaire to earn a last-minute win over Virginia. Zaire suffered a broken ankle during the third quarter, leaving sophomore DeShone Kizer to take over down the stretch.
"Our kids are happy and they're celebrating the win, but they lost a kid they feel really strongly about," Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said, per ESPN.com. "The coaches are probably feeling it more. I am in particular because I'm so close to him. I feel bad for him."
Of course, there was one major exception among the nation's elite. Auburn struggled for the second straight week, this time needing overtime to take down FCS school Jacksonville State at home. Quarterback Jeremy Johnson threw two interceptions and the Tigers defense allowed Jacksonville State to hold possession for nearly 36 minutes.
"We've got some growing up to do; there's no doubt about that," coach Gus Malzahn said, per ESPN.com.
The Tigers drop 12 spots to No. 18 and are among the biggest losers this week. Luckily, their "loss" was actually a win, meaning they'll be just fine for College Football Playoff contention if they course-correct in SEC play. The time to adjust is right now, though, as they travel to LSU next week in their conference opener.
Also moving back this week are Mississippi State, Tennessee, Boise State and Arkansas, which each dropped out of the Top 25. Replacing them are No. 19 BYU, No. 23 Northwestern, No. 24 Wisconsin and No. 25 Oklahoma State.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
