The problem with pre-season polls is that we really just don't know what the product on the field is actually going to be. We have an idea and sometimes we're in the ballpark (Oklahoma/Alabama), sometimes we've over-ranked a team (South Carolina/Missouri), sometimes we've not given a team enough credit (Nebraska/Virginia Tech) and sometimes we totally went the wrong direction (TCU).
| Team | Last Week's Ranking | This Week's Ranking | Comments |
| Oklahoma | #1 | #1 | Still a little work to do in the secondary |
| Alabama | #2 | #2 | Four fumbles! I bet we're working on ball security this week. |
| LSU | #4 | #3 | Defense needs to carry the offense until things get worked out. |
| Florida State | #5 | #4 | Dominating defensive performance. |
| Stanford | #6 | #5 | Best performance by a Pac-12 team. |
| Nebraska | #8 | #6 | T. Martinez 116 yards passing/113 rushing |
| Boise State | #9 | #7 | One game season for Boise. Its all down hill from here |
| Oregon | #4 | #8 | Couldn't capitalize on golden opportunity |
| Wisconsin | #11 | #9 | 500 offensive yards |
| Virginia Tech | #11 | #10 | Offense and special teams looked good. Defense wasn't tested. |
Crimson and Cream Machine Ballot - Week 2
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma Sooners | -- |
| 2 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -- |
| 3 | LSU Tigers |
 1 |
| 4 | Florida St. Seminoles |
1 |
| 5 | Stanford Cardinal |
1 |
| 6 | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
3 |
| 7 | Boise St. Broncos |
3 |
| 8 | Oregon Ducks |
 -5 |
| 9 | Wisconsin Badgers |
3 |
| 10 | Virginia Tech Hokies |
1 |
| 11 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys |
-4 |
| 12 | Texas A&M Aggies |
-4 |
| 13 | Arkansas Razorbacks |
3 |
| 14 | Ohio St. Buckeyes |
5 |
| 15 | Florida Gators |
6 |
| 16 | Michigan St. Spartans |
2 |
| 17 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
-4 |
| 18 | Missouri Tigers |
-3 |
| 19 | Georgia Bulldogs |
-2 |
| 20 | West Virginia Mountaineers |
3 |
| 21 | Penn St. Nittany Lions | -- |
| 22 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | -- |
| 23 | Houston Cougars | -- |
| 24 | USC Trojans |
-2 |
| 25 | South Florida Bulls | -- |
| Dropouts: TCU Horned Frogs, Auburn Tigers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Tulsa Golden Hurricane | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings
Inconsistency caused Oklahoma State to drop and poor defense got Texas A&M. South Carolina, Missouri and USC all drop for overall bad performances. Penn State, Mississippi State, Houston and South Florida are all new on the ballot this week while TCU, Auburn, Notre Dame and Tulsa are all dropped completely off.