When our preseason expectations, cooked up over weeks and months of ruminating over depth charts and press clippings, are finally put to the test in Week 1, the experts respond with some quick adjustments to their view of the land.
In the case of teams like Miami, Michigan and Florida State, high preseason expectations were quickly supplanted with work left to be done to come anywhere close to meeting that predetermined bar. On a more micro level, even the top of the CBS Sports 129 got a shake up after one week of action.
Clemson and Georgia, No. 2 and No. 3 in our preseason balloting, were bumped from the top of the rankings. Both teams played FCS foes and won handily, and that wasn't enough for our voters who instead moved Ohio State, Oklahoma, Auburn and Notre Dame up to join Alabama in the top five.
Elsewhere, there was a predictable positive move for Virginia Tech and LSU, among others, and a few cases -- like Penn State and Michigan State -- where even a win wasn't enough to stop a move down in the rankings.
College football experts from CBS Sports and 247Sports contribute ballots each week, which are averaged together for our rankings. You can see the top-25 below, and 26-129 on our rankings page.
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | 1-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 1-0 | 4 |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 1-0 | 7 |
| 4 | Auburn | 1-0 | 9 |
| 5 | Notre Dame | 1-0 | 12 |
| 6 | Clemson | 1-0 | 2 |
| 7 | Wisconsin | 1-0 | 5 |
| 8 | Georgia | 1-0 | 3 |
| 9 | Virginia Tech | 1-0 | 26 |
| 10 | West Virginia | 1-0 | 20 |
| 11 | LSU | 1-0 | 30 |
| 12 | Stanford | 1-0 | 14 |
| 13 | TCU | 1-0 | 15 |
| 14 | Boise State | 1-0 | 21 |
| 15 | Penn State | 1-0 | 8 |
| 16 | Mississippi State | 1-0 | 16 |
| 17 | UCF | 1-0 | 23 |
| 18 | Michigan State | 1-0 | 10 |
| 19 | USC | 1-0 | 17 |
| 20 | Washington | 0-1 | 6 |
| 21 | South Carolina | 1-0 | 22 |
| 22 | Oregon | 1-0 | 24 |
| 23 | Florida | 1-0 | 25 |
| 24 | Maryland | 1-0 | 59 |
| 25 | Iowa | 1-0 | 32 |
Biggest movers
- Maryland (+35): Preseason expectations among our experts weren't too high for the Terps, but after beating Texas and looking productive in its new offense under the direction of Matt Canada, they've splashed into the top 25 of our rankings after starting the year outside the top 50.
- LSU (+19): No shock here to see a big jump for the Tigers. Soon Ed Orgeron will have to this hype train on the road again with a top opponent as that Week 3 meeting with Auburn (in Jordan-Hare Stadium) looms large following the win against Miami in Dallas.
- Virginia Tech (+17): No matter the coach, team or season, going into Tallahassee and getting an ACC win is something rare and worth celebrating. Our experts see Virginia Tech as the new team to beat in the ACC Coastal, and perhaps even a threat to Clemson at the top of the league.
- Washington (-14): Not a huge drop for the Huskies after losing to Auburn but still one of the biggest adjustments we saw within the top 25 spots of the CBS Sports 129. Big picture it's hard to penalize the quality of the team too much -- unless you are factoring in the absence of All-American tackle Trey Adams for an undetermined amount of time because of injury -- from losing to Auburn.
- Michigan (-14): Few of the steps forward that so many had hoped to see from Michigan's offense were visible on Saturday night in South Bend. That quick snap from "potential playoff dark horse" to possible double-digit win team is reflected with a drop of more than a dozen spots.
- Miami (-19): There was not a lot of good to take away from Miami's 2018 debut against LSU, a game which might have demonstrated the distance between the Hurricanes and their desired status as one of the top teams in the country. After starting just outside the top 10 at No. 11, Miami dropped all the way to No. 30 following the loss.
Check out the rest of the CBS Sports 129: Teams ranked 26-129
