Week 3 is in the books, and the computers continue to get a better view of how this year is going to shake out.
| Rank | +/- | Team | WinPct | SoS | Adjusted | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off. | Def. | Pace | |||||||||
| 1 | -- | Alabama | 0.945 | 0.528 | 45 | 28.8 | 7 | 9.3 | 1 | 159.1 | 107 |
| 2 | -- | Boise St. | 0.915 | 0.471 | 74 | 28.8 | 8 | 11.2 | 3 | 166.6 | 59 |
| 3 | +2 | Stanford | 0.898 | 0.499 | 64 | 31.1 | 1 | 13.0 | 8 | 160.4 | 98 |
| 4 | +2 | Oklahoma | 0.896 | 0.653 | 9 | 25.5 | 17 | 10.8 | 2 | 179.7 | 6 |
| 5 | +2 | LSU | 0.890 | 0.690 | 5 | 29.5 | 3 | 12.8 | 7 | 156.1 | 118 |
| 6 | -2 | Florida | 0.885 | 0.516 | 56 | 26.4 | 12 | 11.6 | 4 | 161.9 | 92 |
| 7 | -4 | Ohio St. | 0.863 | 0.481 | 68 | 24.2 | 19 | 11.6 | 5 | 158.3 | 110 |
| 8 | +1 | Oregon | 0.862 | 0.645 | 11 | 27.5 | 10 | 13.2 | 10 | 185.5 | 1 |
| 9 | +4 | Wisconsin | 0.859 | 0.474 | 71 | 29.8 | 2 | 14.5 | 18 | 158.4 | 109 |
| 10 | -2 | TCU | 0.854 | 0.429 | 89 | 29.0 | 5 | 14.3 | 16 | 163.3 | 80 |
| 11 | -- | Virginia Tech | 0.854 | 0.531 | 41 | 25.7 | 16 | 12.7 | 6 | 156.2 | 116 |
| 12 | -2 | Arkansas | 0.806 | 0.533 | 40 | 27.5 | 9 | 15.6 | 26 | 169.5 | 36 |
| 13 | -1 | Florida St. | 0.803 | 0.632 | 14 | 26.0 | 15 | 14.8 | 22 | 157.5 | 114 |
| 14 | +5 | Texas A&M | 0.790 | 0.557 | 32 | 22.4 | 33 | 13.2 | 9 | 176.3 | 12 |
| 15 | NA | Miami-FL | 0.781 | 0.693 | 4 | 23.6 | 22 | 14.2 | 14 | 166.9 | 53 |
| 16 | NA | Utah | 0.781 | 0.509 | 57 | 24.0 | 21 | 14.5 | 17 | 165.5 | 69 |
| 17 | -2 | Oklahoma St. | 0.779 | 0.524 | 49 | 26.1 | 13 | 15.8 | 29 | 182.8 | 2 |
| 18 | -1 | Nebraska | 0.758 | 0.523 | 50 | 24.1 | 20 | 15.3 | 25 | 165.9 | 64 |
| 19 | -5 | Auburn | 0.753 | 0.634 | 13 | 29.1 | 4 | 18.7 | 55 | 169.7 | 33 |
| 20 | -2 | Georgia | 0.749 | 0.715 | 1 | 28.9 | 6 | 18.6 | 53 | 157.9 | 112 |
| 21 | -5 | West Virginia | 0.748 | 0.507 | 60 | 22.8 | 30 | 14.8 | 19 | 160.0 | 103 |
| 22 | +2 | Texas | 0.740 | 0.479 | 70 | 22.9 | 28 | 15.1 | 23 | 163.1 | 83 |
| 23 | -- | USC | 0.739 | 0.553 | 33 | 22.4 | 34 | 14.8 | 20 | 168.3 | 46 |
| 24 | -2 | Missouri | 0.735 | 0.561 | 31 | 20.5 | 49 | 13.6 | 11 | 171.2 | 25 |
| 25 | -5 | Iowa | 0.734 | 0.576 | 26 | 23.3 | 23 | 15.6 | 27 | 168.7 | 41 |
New entries: Miami-FL, Utah.
Dropped out: South Carolina, Michigan St.
Out with the old, in with the new. And then there's Alabama. The Crimson Tide solidify their hold on the top spot by shutting out whipping boy North Texas. Meanwhile Stanford, Oklahoma, and LSU continue their charge up the rankings, while Ohio State, TCU, and Auburn begin their slow drift downwards. Ohio State, in particular, is still living off their power rankings from old data. The computer doesn't know about the loss of Jim Tressel or key pieces of OSU's squad, but it'll figure it out soon enough as the Buckeyes post less and less impressive stats.
Miami benefits from this, though, as the Hurricanes leap 14 spots to land in the top 25 thanks to a thumping of an apparently-powerful Buckeye team. Utah also makes an amazing leap into the top 25, gaining 15 spots thanks to a 44-point thumping of BYU.
On the flip side, South Carolina snuck by Navy to win by 3, but that wasn't enough to keep them in the top 25. Michigan State didn't even manage to win, dropping an important one to Notre Dame by 18 and dropping out of the top 25 as a result.
This season is shaping up to be a five-way race between Alabama, Boise State, Stanford, Oklahoma, and LSU. The last three, in particular, are separated by less than one-hundredth of a point and are looking to make up the gap from last year. Two more weeks and we'll be ready to start looking at conference projections and the national title picture in earnest.
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