How will Week 1 results affect Oklahoma and others in top-25 rankings?
By Chip Rouse
With all but one game remaining in the Week 1 college football schedule, there shouldn't be much change in the national rankings, but there will be some movement in the second ten, which should enable Oklahoma to move up a spot or two.
The Sooners began the season in the No. 16 spot in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls, but with seven SEC teams ranked ahead of them. With No. 10 Florida State losing to Georgia Tech in Week Zero, and No. 13/12 LSU and No. 14 Clemson falling over the weekend, however, we should see Oklahoma benefit when the new rankings come out on Tuesday.
Several media outlets are already anticipating what the new national rankings will look like after the Labor Day kickoff for most of the college football landscape.
With nine of the top-10 teams holding serve over this weekend (Florida State was the one exception from a week ago), there should be little change at the top of the rankings. Miami, a 41-3 decisive victor over a ranked Clemson Tiger team, however, and USC's dramatic win over a higher-ranked LSU squad might result in one or the other to jump all the way into the top 10. Miami was ranked 19th a week ago in both major national polls while USC was in the 23rd spot.
FOX Sports has USC all the way up to No. 7, for example. Oklahoma is projected at No. 11 in that same early projection. Sports Illustrated has the Sooners up two spots, to No. 14, and College Football News has OU advancing just one position, to No. 13.
The one thing that all three outlets agree on is that Georgia, Ohio State and Texas remain in the top three spots. Also look for Ole Miss and Notre Dame to jump over former No. 3 Oregon, which had more trouble than expected in overcoming Idaho State out of the FCS.
Also on a progressive note: Now there should only be six teams out of the SEC ranked ahead of Oklahoma.