My AP Top 25 Ballot: BYU, Kentucky, USC climb as Notre Dame, Texas A&M stumble

Kellis Robinett
·3 min read
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A crazy week of college football led to quite a few changes in my top 25.

Several teams that I expected to be very good in the preseason are no longer on my ballot. That has opened the door for plenty of new blood. A handful of squads that were ranked last week have also made major climbs.

The biggest winners this week were BYU, Kentucky and USC.

I didn’t have the Cougars ranked at all in the preseason but they are now sitting pretty at No. 13 following impressive victories over South Florida and Baylor. Kentucky is also off to a 2-0 start with a win at Florida, which puts the Wildcats at No. 12. I was skeptical of how the Trojans might look early in the season with a new coach and so many transfers in the starting lineup, but they have won both of their games by double digits and sit at No. 6.

Whenever there is good news to share, there is also bad news.

Seven teams said goodbye this week. There were some big names in that group. Notre Dame, Texas A&M and Wisconsin all suffered shocking losses at home and tumbled out of the rankings. I thought about keeping the Aggies around at No. 25, but there are simply too many other teams that haven’t lost at home that deserve to be there.

Welcome to the party

Say hello to North Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Marshall and Oregon State.

The Tar Heels weren’t on my radar at all until Appalachian State went out and beat Texas A&M over the weekend. But I feel like a team that is off to a 3-0 start with a road win over the Mountaineers needs to be in the top 25.

Marshall also cracked the top 25 after pulling off a road upset against Notre Dame.

Sorry to see you go

Say goodbye to Florida, Fresno State, Houston, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Wisconsin.

The Aggies haven’t looked good at all in their first two games. But at least they have a win. Notre Dame is 0-2.

I guess I was wrong about South Carolina. I thought the Gamecocks would be a top 25 team with Spencer Rattler at the controls this season. Maybe they still will be, but I can no longer rank them after losing by double digits at Arkansas.

Some may ask why I didn’t also bid farewell to Texas. Well, I can’t penalize a team for losing by a single point against Alabama. I just can’t.

On Deck

I have got my eye on Florida State, Iowa State, Syracuse, Cincinnati, TCU, Mississippi State and Washington State heading into Week 3.

They could all easily be in my top 25 with another win.

Kellis Robinett’s Top 25

1. Georgia (1)

2. Alabama (2)

3. Ohio State (3)

4. Clemson (4)

5. Michigan (6)

6. USC (9)

7. Arkansas (10)

8. North Carolina State (11)

9. Oklahoma State (14)

10. Michigan State (12)

11. Oklahoma (13)

12. Kentucky (20)

13. BYU (25)

14. Miami (18)

15. Wake Forest (16)

16. North Carolina (NR)

17. Mississippi (NR)

18. Baylor (7)

19. Tennessee (NR)

20. Kansas State (NR)

21. Utah (18)

22. Texas Tech (NR)

23. Texas (23)

24. Marshall (NR)

25. Oregon State (NR)

Last week’s ranking in parentheses.