NCAA Football Rankings 2016: Predicting Top Movers in Week 3 Top 25 Standings

While Week 2 of the college football season didn't include the marquee matchups prone to shaking up the Associated Press rankings, there were still some impressive showings and major letdowns sure to impact this week's poll.

Below, we'll break down projections for the Week 3 poll and analyze some of the likely risers and fallers after the weekend's action.

Projections

Rank	Team	Last Week
1	Alabama	1
2	Florida State	3
3	Ohio State	4
4	Clemson	2
5	Michigan	5
6	Houston	6
7	Stanford	7
8	Washington	8
9	Wisconsin	10
10	Lousiville	13
11	Texas	11
12	Georgia	9
13	Michigan State	12
14	Oklahoma	14
15	Tennessee	17
16	Iowa	16
17	Notre Dame	18
18	Ole Miss	19
19	Texas A&M	20
20	LSU	21
21	Baylor	23
22	Oregon	24
23	TCU	15
24	Miami	25
25	Florida	n/a

Risers

Louisville

If you aren't familiar with Lamar Jackson, it's time to get to know the Louisville starting quarterback and the player quickly climbing Heisman watch lists. All he's done to start the season is throw for 697 yards and seven touchdowns while rushing for 318 yards and another six scores.

Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports put those numbers in perspective:

Heady stuff from the Louisville signal-caller. And it's left him in some rarefied air, as Feldman noted:

No, the Cardinals don't have a signature win yet. But they have accumulated 132 points and 1,508 yards from scrimmage in their first two games. That alone is worth a bump into college football's Top 10. 

And they'll have a chance to earn their signature win next week against Florida State. If they pull off that upset, Louisville's explosive offense will be in an excellent position to lead it to an ACC title this season.

Florida 

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

The team most likely to benefit from the upsets of TCU and Oklahoma State this week is Florida, which may sneak back into the Top 25 after a disappointing showing in Week 1 dropped it out of the rankings.

While voters may have some sympathy on the Big 12 schools—TCU lost in overtime, albeit at home against Arkansas, and Oklahoma State wouldn't have lost at all if the officials interpreted the rules correctly—the possibility remains that Florida could sneak into the Top 25 after an impressive 45-7 win over Kentucky. 

"We had a lot of guys do their job today, and they not only did their job, but they did it a higher level, a heightened sense of urgency," Florida head coach Jim McElwain said after the game, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com). "I thought we came out aggressively on both sides of the ball and we're not going to take no for an answer. And that's the edge the Gators have to play with as we move forward."

The fact that Florida opened the season as a ranked team and earned 117 votes last week in the Associated Press poll, the most among non-ranked teams, suggests it is the most likely candidate to vault back into the Top 25.

        

Fallers

Clemson

Tyler Smith/Getty Images

Clemson isn't likely to drop out of the Top Five. Frankly, it probably shouldn't be lower than No. 4 at this point of the season. But after winning their first two games against Auburn and Troy by a combined score of just 49-37, it's hard to make the argument that the Tigers have been better than either Florida State or Ohio State.

The Seminoles have a win against Ole Miss on their resume. The Buckeyes haven't beaten anyone impressive, but they have opened the season with two wins by a combined score of 125-13. By those standards, Michigan has two blowout wins to open the season and could vault ahead of Clemson, and Houston beat Oklahoma in Week 1. 

Clemson likely will drop, though how far is harder to say. Florida State has looked like the better team to this point, so the Tigers should be no higher than No. 3 heading into Week 3. But dismiss Deshaun Watson and the Tigers at your own risk; once the team's offense gets on track, it's going to be scary for the rest of the country.

TCU and Oklahoma State

J Pat Carter/Getty Images

Say what you want about the controversial nature of Oklahoma State's loss, but make no mistake—if the Cowboys didn't want to get dinged in the rankings, they shouldn't have cut it so close against Central Michigan in the first place.

Should the Cowboys be harshly punished for losing a game that, by the letter of the law, they actually won? No. Should they drop in the rankings for being tested at home by Central Michigan?

Absolutely.

TCU has no excuses, meanwhile. It also lost at home against an Arkansas team that didn't get a single vote in last week's Associated Press poll. The fact that the game went to overtime—and that TCU didn't appear to play its best contest—will probably keep the Horned Frogs in the Top 25, albeit near the bottom.

"You feel like you gave one away," TCU head coach Gary Patterson told the Associated Press said after the game, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com). "They're going to be upset when they watch the film."

They will probably be upset when they see this week's rankings, too.

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