NCAA Football Rankings 2017: Analysis for Latest Polls Before Week 1

College football fans got just a taste of their sport over the weekend as a handful of teams were in action, and they will get a full plate this week as it returns in full.

Stanford and South Florida picked up easy wins over the weekend and both teams could move up a spot or two in the Top 25 from the No. 14 and 19 spots, respectively.

Here's a look at the initial Top 25, along with previews of two key games that are on tap this weekend (the number in parentheses indicates the first-place votes that each school received in the initial AP poll).

AP Top 25

1. Alabama (52)
2. Ohio State (3)
3. Florida State (4)
4. USC (2)
5. Clemson
6. Penn State
7. Oklahoma
8. Washington
9. Wisconsin
10. Oklahoma State
11. Michigan
12. Auburn
13. LSU
14. Stanford
15. Georgia
16. Louisville
17. Florida
18. Miami (Florida)
19. South Florida
20. Kansas State
21. Virginia Tech
22. West Virginia
23. Texas
24. Washington State
25. Tennessee

John Raoux/Associated Press

Top-rated Alabama will put its No. 1 ranking to the test immediately, when the Crimson Tide opens their season against No. 3 Florida State at the brand-new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta Saturday night.

The 8 p.m. ET game will be televised nationally by ABC, and Alabama should be ready to get after its ACC opponent after losing to Clemson in the national championship game in January. 

The offense should be able to hit the ground running as quarterback Jalen Hurts returns for his sophomore season behind a talented offensive line that will able to give him excellent protection and open big holes in the running game.

Florida State has the talent on the defensive line to give Alabama a battle for at least 30 minutes, but there are questions about the Seminoles' depth in that area.

When Florida State has the ball, their biggest area of concern is the offensive line, and there's little doubt that Alabama has the firepower with its front seven to cause huge problems.

Alabama's strength up front is probably the biggest difference between these two teams, and winning the battle up front is often the key to victory. It should be in this game as well.

Hurts has key skill players in wide receiver Calvin Ridley and running back Bo Scarbrough, who should both be able to assert themselves against the Seminoles. 

Florida State has its own experienced quarterback as Deondre Francois returns for his sophomore season after a strong performance as a redshirt freshman. Francois threw for 3,350 yards with a 20-7 TD-interception ratio, and he also had five rushing touchdowns.

Nyqwan Murray and Auden Tate are both competent receivers even though neither is a star at this point, and both will have to assert themselves against the strong Crimson Tide defense.

Prediction: Alabama 35, Florida State 21

Michigan and Florida will square off at 3:30 p.m. as those two traditional powers meet at AT&T Stadium in Dallas in another game that will be broadcast by ABC.

This game could prove to be more of a must game than the Alabama-Florida State game, because the loser of this game will face a daunting task if it wants consideration for the College Football Playoffs.

Michigan has crucial road games later in the year at Penn State and Wisconsin in addition to a huge battle with Ohio State on its schedule. If the Wolverines lose to the Gators, they would almost certainly have to go undefeated to make the playoffs.

Florida will get tested by Georgia, LSU, Tennessee and Florida State, and if they can get through the SEC East on top, a meeting with Alabama in the SEC title game is almost certain.

Junior quarterback Wilton Speight of Michigan is coming off a solid season in which he completed 61.6 percent of his passes for 2,538 yards with 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has a chance to be better this year and improve his draft status in 2018 if he opts to go that route.

The Michigan defense should once again be the strength of the team, and that unit may be able to hold the Florida offense in check. Defensive end Rashan Gary got his feet wet as a freshman last season with 24 tackles, one sack and five tackles for loss, and he could become the unit's best player this year.

"

Which Florida Gators QB will take the most snaps against Michigan? https://t.co/3j2Uo8m5zq #GatorNation pic.twitter.com/MSug1cQQsV

— SEC Country Florida (@SECCountryUF) August 24, 2017"

The Gators come into the 2017 season with an unsettled quarterback situation, and head coach Jim McElwain says three quarterbacks could see action against the Wolverines. Malik Zaire, Feleipe Franks and Luke Del Rio are all in the picture, and that's not a good situation against an opponent that can play defense like the Wolverines.

Florida won't have wideout Antonio Callaway in this game as a result of a suspension for violation of team rules, and this will be a problem against Michigan.

The Gators suffered some big losses on defense as they no longer have Teez Tabor, Marcus Maye or Quincy Wilson, but this remains an area where the team should excel.

The best player on defense may be Duke Harris, who moves to cornerback this year and looked excellent at the position this spring. Dawson had seven passes broken up and an interception last year.

Prediction: Michigan 17, Florida 13