College Football Rankings 2016: Week 2 AP and Amway Standings Revealed

After an eventful first week of the 2016 college football season, the Top 25 in both the Associated Press and the Coaches Polls have undergone drastic changes. 

Alabama and Clemson still sit atop the standings after their opening-week wins, but Oklahoma's loss against Houston pushed the Sooners outside the Top 10 in both polls and elevated the Cougars to No. 6 in the AP Poll. 

Here is what the rankings look like heading into the second week of the season, per AP.org and USA Today:

AP Poll (1st-Place Votes)	Rank	Amway Coaches Poll (1st-Place Votes)
Alabama Crimson Tide (54)	1	Alabama Crimson Tide (62)
Clemson Tigers (2)	2	Clemson Tigers (2)
Florida State Seminoles (4)	3	Florida State Seminoles
Ohio State Buckeyes	4	Ohio State Buckeyes
Michigan Wolverines	5	Stanford Cardinal
Houston Cougars	6	Michigan Wolverines
Stanford Cardinal	7	Houston Cougars
Washington Huskies	8	Michigan State Spartans
Georgia Bulldogs	9	Georgia Bulldogs
Wisconsin Badgers	10	Iowa Hawkeyes
Texas Longhorns	11	Washington Huskies
Michigan State Spartans	12	TCU Horned Frogs
Louisville Cardinals	13	Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma Sooners	14	Tennessee Volunteers
TCU Horned Frogs	15	Louisville Cardinals
Iowa Hawkeyes	16	Wisconsin Badgers
Tennessee Volunteers	17	Oklahoma State Cowboys
Notre Dame Fighting Irish	18	Mississippi Rebels
Mississippi Rebels	19	Baylor Bears
Texas A&M Aggies	20	Texas Longhorns
LSU Tigers	21	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Oklahoma State Cowboys	22	LSU Tigers
Baylor Bears	23	Oregon Ducks
Oregon Ducks	24	Texas A&M Aggies
Miami Hurricanes	25	Florida Gators

Houston is the feel-good story of Week 1, though this is a program that's been on the rise. Head coach Tom Herman had the Cougars ranked eighth in the AP Poll to end last season after a 13-1 record and victory over Florida State in the Peach Bowl. 

George Schroeder of USA Today is already making the case for Houston as a possible playoff spoiler if it can end the year undefeated following a win over highly ranked and regarded Oklahoma:

"

The Cougars must remain perfect, which would mean running the table in the American Athletic Conference and beating Louisville in November. They probably need help, with some chaos in Power Five conferences. And they probably need the Sooners to bounce back in a big way.

The Cougars won with a combination of good defense, big plays, some good fortune and some magic — a Kick Six, anyone? But however it happened, they left no doubt they belong. If they can keep going, well, Herman isn’t going to talk much about this, and for good reason. But last spring he laid out the theory. Or maybe laid down the gantlet.

"

It won't be easy for Houston to get in the College Football Playoff because the only ranked team left on its schedule is Louisville on Nov. 17. The best thing that can happen to the Cougars is having Oklahoma win out and take home the Big 12 title. 

But all of that is discussion for November and December. Right now, let's just respect Houston for being a terrific program led by one of the nation's premier coaches. 

After years of being regarded as the best football conference in the country, the SEC had a particularly brutal start to 2016. 

ESPN provided the statistical information to back that up:

The one saving grace for the conference was Alabama living up to its reputation with a dominant 52-6 victory over USC. The Crimson Tide's win also gave offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin a perfect opportunity to troll his former employer on Twitter:

LSU's loss was one of the low points. The Tigers were the highest-ranked team—No. 5 in the AP Poll, No. 6 in the Coaches Poll—from the conference to lose last weekend when Wisconsin upended them, 16-14, at Lambeau Field. 

That game was a microcosm of the problems LSU has had for the past two years. Leonard Fournette did all he could to carry the offense, but quarterback Brandon Harris is not turning raw talent into actual ability on the field. 

Sean Pendergast of SportsRadio 610 in Houston highlighted the difference between LSU's stellar recruiting classes and less-than-stellar offensive performance dating back nearly a decade:

One key difference between Alabama and LSU, especially right now, is that Nick Saban and his coaching staff understand how to transform talent on both sides of the ball into performance. Les Miles isn't getting that, which leads to LSU being overrated in the polls every year. 

After winning the best game of the weekend, Texas moved into the rankings this week for the first time since 2013. 

Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong has had to weather a lot of criticism since taking over the program from Mack Brown before the 2014 season, and you could see how much the win over Notre Dame meant to him, per ESPN College Football:

Notre Dame took a huge tumble following the 50-47 defeat, going from 10th to 21st. The positive takeaway is that DeShone Kizer looks like a superstar at quarterback after throwing for 215 yards, running for 77 yards and accounted for all six of the team's touchdowns (five passing, one rushing). 

The bad news for the Fighting Irish is the defense did something it hasn't done in 80 years, per ESPN:

Losing Jaylon Smith, Sheldon Day and KeiVarae Russell to the NFL is going to leave a lot of holes for one team to fill, but Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly needs to find answers fast with Nevada and Michigan State coming to South Bend in the next two weeks. 

The season's first week was expected to feature a lot of movement in the rankings because of how many ranked teams were matched up. Things will likely calm down this week with a softer schedule, but upsets can happen when teams are looking ahead to a marquee game instead of focusing on the task at hand.