Week 2 CFB Power Rankings: FSU, Colorado, Duke Take Huge Leaps

 

Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated

Week 1 of the 2023 College Football regular season may have concluded on Labor Day, but there were no shortage of surprising results from the four-day weekend slate of games. To start, the new look Colorado Buffaloes, under first year head coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, a team that went 1-11 in the Pac-12 last season and will be moving back to the Big 12 effective next season, went into Fort Worth, TX and upset the National Championship runner-up TCU Horned Frogs, 45-42, in a high-flying scoring shoot-out. The Buffaloes were heavy underdogs coming into this game, and all eyes were on Coach Prime and what his team could bring to the table. Sheddur Sanders, the coach's son, and Travis Hunter, both transfers from Jackson State, BALLED out in the shocking victory. If Coach Prime was going to bring the glory days back to Boulder, Colorado and that program, he certainly started it off  with a bang. 

Elsewhere, in a highly anticipated matchup of two top-10 Power 5 conference football programs, and both teams with National Championship title aspirations, the 8th seeded Florida State Seminoles trounced the 5th ranked LSU Tigers 45-24 in a neutral site game. LSU looked very much overpowered and sloppy. Very disappointing result, but props to Florida State for picking up a signature win to bolster its College Football Playoff resume. 

And last, but certainly not least, in a battle of two ACC rivals, it was unranked Duke who got the last laugh, crushing ninth-ranked Clemson at home, 28-7, with the home crowd storming the field after the game. It was the Blue Devils' first win over the Tigers since 2004, and it was their first time beating a AP Top 25 team since... they beat Clemson back in 1989, 21-17. Clemson overlooked their opponent, and it proved costly when it counted the most. 

Week 1 provided so many shocking upsets and unpredictable outcomes, which is what makes college football so great to watch and to follow. Four schools were paid a lot of money to play on the road against superior competition, and those four schools(Fresno State, Texas State, Northern Illinois, and Wyoming) all ended up doing the unthinkable and knocking off their host opponent. In college football, anything can happen. 

With week 1 in the rear view mirror, here are my Top 25 CFB  power rankings:

1.     Georgia Bulldogs

2.     Alabama Crimson Tide

3.     Michigan Wolverines

4.     USC Trojans

5.     Florida State Seminoles

6.     Notre Dame Fighting Irish

7.     Washington Huskies

8.     Penn State Nittany Lions

9.     Ohio State Buckeyes

10.  Tennessee Volunteers

11.  Oregon Ducks

12.  Texas Longhorns

13.  Utah Utes

14.  Colorado Buffaloes

15.  Oklahoma Sooners

16.  Wisconsin Badgers

17.  North Carolina Tar Heels

18.  Oregon State Beavers

19.  Kansas State Wildcats

20.  Ole Miss Running Rebels

21.  Duke Blue Devils

22.  Texas A&M Aggies

23.  Tulane Green Wave

24.  LSU Tigers

25.  Clemson Tigers