College football rankings: Oregon, Iowa climb, Ohio State falls in AP Top 25 poll for Week 3

Week 2 of the college football season saw two top-10 teams lose and two more needing fourth-quarter rallies to win. In total, five ranked teams lost, which was bound to lead to significant changes in the AP Top 25 poll.

Here's the complete AP poll ahead of Week 3.

AP Top 25 Poll: Week 3

Others receiving votes: UCF 111, TCU 103, Liberty 52, Michigan State 44, USC 39, Indiana 34, LSU 31, Kansas State 30, Nevada 28, Oklahoma State 27, Texas 23, Maryland 14, Pittsburgh 13, Kentucky 13, Stanford 10, Utah 9, Boston College 8, Arizona 6, Texas Tech 2, Fresno State 2, Toledo 2, Army 1

A new-look top four

After Oregon's 35-28 upset win over then-No. 3 Ohio State, the Ducks vaulted from No. 12 to No. 4 in the latest AP Top 25 poll, which marks their best AP ranking since they finished the 2014 season ranked No. 2.

SEC powers Alabama and Georgia maintained their previous rankings of No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, after wins over Mercer and UAB. Oklahoma moved up one spot No. 3 after the Sooners shut out Western Carolina 76-0.

The biggest movers

Oregon made the biggest leap in the AP poll with its eight-spot jump and the team ranked one spot behind the Ducks, No. 5 Iowa, made the second-biggest improvement since last week. The Hawkeyes improved their ranking by five spots after defeating rival and then-No. 9 Iowa State 27-17.

Southern California plummeted from No. 14 to fifth among "others receiving votes" after the Trojans were throttled by unranked Stanford 42-28, which made USC the team that experienced the biggest drop. The Trojans were followed by the Texas Longhorns, which arrived in Fayetteville ranked No. 15 but left with a 40-21 defeat and they too are now unranked.

Ohio State, which was on the losing end of Oregon's excellence, had the biggest fall of any team that was ranked in each of the last two weeks as the Buckeyes dropped six spots to No. 9. It's Ohio State's lowest ranking since the Buckeyes were No. 10 in the AP poll during the week of Nov. 18, 2018.

Week 3 ranked matchups to watch

• 3:30 p.m. ET | No. 1 Alabama at No. 11 Florida | CBS
• 7:30 p.m. ET | No. 22 Auburn at No. 10 Penn State | ABC
• 10:15 p.m. ET | No. 19 Arizona State at No. 23 BYU | ESPN

Alabama won its first two games by a combined 65 points and the Crimson Tide is projected to face stiffer competition in Week 3 as it travels to Gainesville to take on a top-15 opponent in the Gators. Florida has scored 35 and 42 points in its first two wins and it might take that many points, if not more, to keep up with Alabama's high-powered offense.

In an exciting non-conference matchup, Auburn visits Penn State for the latter's white-out game. The Nittany Lions have already beaten one ranked opponent this season with a 16-10 road victory over Wisconsin in Week 1. Auburn's schedule during the first two weeks has included games against Akron and Alabama State, but the Tigers scored at least 60 points in both.

BYU is now ranked after knocking off Utah at home, 26-17, in Week 2 and the Cougars will host another ranked Pac-12 team in Week 3.

Click or tap here to view the complete FBS scoreboard for Week 3.

Here are other games involving ranked teams that are worth highlighting:

• 12 p.m. ET | No. 8 Cincinnati at Indiana | ESPN
• 12 p.m. ET | Nebraska at No. 3 Oklahoma | FOX
• 8 p.m. ET | Tulane at No. 17 Ole Miss | ESPN2
• 10:45 p.m. ET | Fresno State at No. 13 UCLA | Pac-12 Network

🏈 LATEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL NEWS 🏈

 

🏆 CHAMPIONS: Michigan beats Washington for CFP title
📈 RANKINGS: AP Top 25 Poll | Every poll, explained | AP Poll accuracy | CFP schedule
💯 MORE: College GameDay locations | Winningest teams | Coaches with most titles