Top 25 College Football Rankings: Mike's Week 2 Standings

September 8, 2026

Mike's top 25 college football teams for Week 2 of the 2026 college football season. His complete top 25 rankings, including Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana, and more.

All week leading up to our Labor Day smorgasbord of games, the narrative was that there weren't any "marquee" matchups. The Ole Miss-Louisville game was the only game featuring a ranked matchup. This is why we don't listen to narratives.

What we got was UMass winning a game for the first time in 22 months...over a Big Ten team! Colorado-Georgia Tech was pure theater. Western Michigan-Michigan was pure controversy. Spoiler alert: Michigan will NOT be ranked. Lane Kiffin took all of the hate directed toward him and channeled it into his team. LSU left no doubt about which Death Valley is the real one. Steve Angeli made a triumphant return to the field. Mason Heintschel is breaking passing records at a school with a rich passing history.

Three FCS teams beat FBS teams. The Citadel beat an FBS team for the first time since 2015. Tarleton did it for the second week in a row, which means they'll be in FBS soon. Let's see what else happened to affect the rankings. This is just a reminder: I only go by what has happened on the field, not speculation. Beating a power team is more impressive than demolishing Ball State.

25. Memphis (2-0)

Previous ranking: 25 ⇔

Result: W 42-24 vs. Arkansas State

Jaylin Carter is an absolute bulldozer. Man, this Memphis team is fun to watch. The American Conference may still be the conference to beat when it comes to Group of 6 supremacy. It's just different teams at the top this year.

24. Tulsa (1-0)

Previous ranking: NR

Result: W 24-10 vs. (19) Oklahoma State

I was high on Oklahoma State. So, instead of admitting that I might have been wrong, I'm going to put Tulsa into the rankings. The Golden Hurricane played an impressive game.

Drew Mestemaker made his highly anticipated
Oklahoma State debut against Tulsa:

- 29/49 (59% completion)
- 241 passing yards
- 1 TD & 2 INT
- many errant throws

He has $7M NIL package at the school. pic.twitter.com/gGxTIhf1tP

— Wild Card Sports (@wildcardnet) September 6, 2026

This wasn't a win on a fluky play or one big momentum swing. Tulsa outplayed the Cowboys on both lines. Tre Lamb has something good cooking in Tulsa.

This was the first time Tulsa had beaten the Cowboys in back-to-back seasons since winning three in a row in the series from 1950 to 1952. No wonder Oklahoma State wants Bedlam back. This renewed rivalry isn't fun anymore.

23. UCLA (1-0)

Previous ranking: NR

Result: W 45-24 vs. California

I was high on Cal as well, so it only seems fair that I should move the team that beat them into the Top 25. This was close until two fourth-quarter interceptions by Ta'Shawn Jones turned this into a laugher for the Bruins.

22. SMU (1-0)

Previous ranking: 24 (⇑2)

Result: W 27-24 at Florida State

SMU didn't play its best game, but it's still hard to win in Tallahassee. Florida State is better than they have been since 2023, but that isn't saying much. As expected, Kevin Jennings picked apart the Florida State secondary. We all saw this coming after the New Mexico State game.

21. Arizona State (1-0)

Previous ranking: NR

Result: W 70-7 vs. Morgan State

Hey, if all of the teams that were the Chosen Ones to be ranked in the preseason get props for embarrassing an FCS team, maybe Arizona State should too. The Sun Devils scored 70 points in a game for the first time since they hung 70 on Arizona in the Territory Cup game in December of 2020.

20. Pittsburgh (1-0)

Previous ranking: NR

Result: W 59-14 vs. Miami (OH)

If a quarterback for Pitt starts tying school records, you know it's something special. Mason Heintschel tied a school record with seven touchdown passes against a solid MAC team.

Mason Heintschel just opened Pitt’s season with a RECORD-BREAKING performance ??

31/41, 453 PYDS, 7 PTD, 0 INT

His 7 TD passes tied the Pitt single-game record, and all 7 went to different receivers. pic.twitter.com/cTB3jwNwFv

— Football Performances (@NFLPerformances) September 5, 2026

It wasn't Dan Marino who held the record. It was held by Pete Gonzalez. Heintschel's seven touchdown passes are a new ACC record. Eight previous ACC passers, including Sam Hartman, Lamar Jackson, and Deshaun Watson, all had six touchdowns in a game.

19. Texas Tech (1-0)

Previous ranking: 12 (⇓7)

Result: W 33-10 vs. Abilene Christian

Will Hammond looked good. The run game looked good. Maybe I'm looking too much into this because Tech didn't dominate. Many other teams did, so they deserved to be ranked in front of them. Tech doesn't have the schedule to fly up the rankings. They're going to have to wait a while.

18. Iowa (1-0)

Previous ranking: NR

Result: W 40-0 vs. Northern Illinois

Even casuals start paying attention when the Iowa offense scores 40 points. Hank Brown was serviceable, but that's all he needed to be. Iowa is built solely on a power run game.

Jeremy Hecklinski threw an interception. Iowa has had enough of quarterbacks who make bad decisions. I feel like Brown won the job with his solid performance.

17. USC (2-0)

Previous ranking: 17 (⇔)

Result: W 39-0 vs. Fresno State

USC took offense to San Jose putting up big numbers in the fourth quarter in Week 0. They blanked Fresno in a true statement of what this defense might be capable of.

USC has college football’s next great wide receiver in freshman Trent Mosley (#4). Just cooked Fresno State’s defense for his second TD of the season.

In Week 0, he averaged a ridiculous 5.36 yards per route run pic.twitter.com/eJoaAey8pK

— Bobby Football (@Rob__Paul) September 5, 2026

Trent Mosley turned in another big game. Jayden Maiava was excellent once again. This is what a Lincoln Riley offense is supposed to look like.

16. Alabama (1-0)

Previous ranking: 18 (⇑2)

Result: W 48-10 vs. East Carolina 

The game started a bit sloppy, but Keelon Russell showcased why he won the starting QB job. I'm not sure the Tide want Russell leading the team in rushing every game, but they have to be happy with the debut.

Alabama fans also have to be happy with Ryan Coleman-Williams turning in a 100-yard game. It's been a while. It was September 13 of 2025 against Wisconsin the last time RCW went for triple digits.

15. Oregon (1-0)

Previous ranking: 2 (⇓13)

Result: W 34-27 vs. Boise State

Boise showed up to play in this one. We really shouldn't have been surprised. It seems that whenever Boise is featured in a national game against a power school, they show up. There's no reason to panic in Eugene just yet. The Broncos are better than last year and proved it in this one.

14. BYU (1-0)

Previous ranking: 9 (⇓5)

Result: W 63-7 vs. Utah Tech

Bear Bachmeier dominated for a half, then became head cheerleader. That's what BYU fans wanted to see. True freshman Legend Glasker is looking like a keeper. He added a new element to the passing game in this one.

13. Utah (1-0)

Previous ranking: 13 ⇔

Result: W 66-14 vs. Idaho

The Vandals have been one of the better FCS teams since moving back down to that level in 2018. Utah made them look really, really bad.

12. Texas A&M (1-0)

Previous ranking: 12 ⇔

Result: W 50-0 vs. Missouri State

The Bears are a shadow of the team that made a bowl game last year, but this was still an impressive showing from the Aggies. The defense could be a real strength this year. Marcel Reed looked as expected, but he did miss a few passes that he should have made at this point in his career.

11. Indiana (1-0)

Previous ranking: 6 (⇓5)

Result: W 52-16 vs. North Texas

This North Texas team is a shadow of last year's team, though it is worth noting that last year's team struggled mightily in Week 1.

I guess we saw what we wanted to see from Indiana. Josh Hoover didn't turn it over. The RB situation is a true timeshare. The defense isn't quite as good as last year. The Hoosiers have time to get things figured out before they run into a team capable of beating them.

10. Oklahoma (1-0)

Previous ranking: 7 (⇓3)

Result: W 51-0 vs. UTEP

UTEP is FBS in name only. Any team in the FCS playoffs last year could beat the Miners. Still, Oklahoma came in and took care of business. It looks like Colorado State transfer Lloyd Avant is the lead back, as he should be.

9. Virginia (1-0)

Previous ranking: 14 (⇑5)

Result: BYE

The more I watch the North Carolina State game, the more I realize what a bad fit Chandler Morris was in this offense. Virginia has an offense to go with a defense. The Wahoos are the only decent threat to Miami in this conference right now.

8. Penn State (1-0)

Previous ranking: 16 (⇑8)

Result: W 45-0 vs. Marshall

Marshall is not that bad of a team. Penn State crushed them like you do flies with a flyswatter around the picnic table.

Rocco Becht was impressive in his Penn State debut, but it wasn't one of the receivers who came with him from Ames that he chose as his wingman. It was one of the few holdovers in Happy Valley, sophomore WR Koby Howard.

Koby Howard, you are ridiculous. I think PSU may have found their WR1 pic.twitter.com/vFV6ShynlA

— LandonTengwall (@LandonTengwall) September 5, 2026

7. Ohio State (1-0)

Previous ranking: 1 (⇓6)

Result: W 56-3 vs. Ball State

No, I didn't sour on Ohio State. They are likely still one of the top two or three teams in the country. Other teams had better wins. This is more an indictment of the relevance of polls at this point in the season than it is about teams moving down.

Ohio State looked strong. Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith were in mid-season form. That's all we were really looking for.

6. Georgia (1-0)

Previous ranking: 5 (⇓1)

Result: W 63-3 vs. Tennessee Tech

Beating an FCS team means very little, but this is a reflection of Georgia showing off. They rarely show off. The Bulldogs are notorious for not covering huge spreads under Kirby Smart. It says something that they did this year.

5. Notre Dame (1-0)

Previous ranking: 10 (⇑5)

Result: W 41-13 vs. Wisconsin

I know that Wisconsin is no longer considered a good team, but I feel like the Badgers played the best game in the Luke Fickell era and still got smoked. That's on Notre Dame. Wisconsin played as well as they could have and still lost control of the game.

4. Texas (1-0)

Previous ranking: 3 (⇓1)

Result: W 59-7 vs. Texas State

Simply beating power teams isn't enough. Sometimes a massive blowout is more impressive than beating a chosen team that got into a power conference. That's the reason UMass isn't ranked.

I stand by my claim that Texas State is one of the better Group of 6 teams in the country. You would never know it from this game.

3. Miami (FL) (1-0)

Previous ranking: 4 (⇑1)

Result: W 45-6 at Stanford

ACC teams that have gone cross-country to visit Cal and Stanford have not fared well in the past couple of seasons, no matter how badly the hosts were playing at the time. Miami itself needed a bailout from the refs to beat Cal in 2024.

Miami went to California in 2026 and left no doubt. Darian Mensah (unsurprisingly, in my eyes) looked a lot better than Carson Beck. Malachi Toney is challenging Jeremiah Smith for the title of best WR.

The Hurricanes are on a collision course with whoever else emerges as a title contender. This schedule is as easy as it gets.

2. LSU (1-0)

Previous ranking: 15 (⇑13)

Result: W 51-10 vs. Clemson

Clemson was on the fringe of the top 25 in both polls. Many, myself included, thought that Clemson had a chance to pull off the upset. We were all wrong.

LSU dominated this game on both sides of the field. New QB Sam Leavitt led the team in rushing. Both Leavitt and Wisconsin transfer Dilin Jones ran for 113 yards and two touchdowns.

Lost in the narrative of the Lane Kiffin three-ring circus is that the guy can still coach. He can put together a group of players and get them to play hard as a team. The only thing you have to worry about is some other school catching his attention.

1. Mississippi (1-0)

Previous ranking: 8 (⇑7)

Result: W 41-38 vs. Louisville

Mississippi was the only team to beat another AP-ranked team so far this season. That earns them the top spot for now.

Trinidad Chambliss threw for 336 yards but also lost a fumble for the first time in his FBS career and threw an interception. He threw just three interceptions in 13 games last year. At least the injury to Kewan Lacy is expected to be minor.

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