The Tigers sit at 1-1 after earning a 65-17 blowout victory over Southern in coach Brian Kelly’s first game at Tiger Stadium, but they’ll have to do a lot more than that if they want to find themselves in the AFCA USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
The Tigers didn’t receive any votes last week after a 24-23 loss to Florida State in New Orleans to begin the season, and that remains the case after an upset-heavy Week 2. As far as the rest of the SEC goes, Alabama and Georgia remain at No. 1 and 2, respectively, despite the fact that the former barely survived a road trip to Austin on Saturday.
Kentucky jumped 10 spots to No. 10 after a road upset against Florida, which in turn fell two spots to No. 21. Arkansas is up six spots to No. 11 after a comfortable win against South Carolina, Texas A&M fell all the way from No. 6 to No. 22 after a home loss to Appalachian State, and Tennessee’s overtime win over Pittsburgh vaulted it into the rankings at No. 16.
Ole Miss took advantage of the chaos, rising six spots to No. 17 after a blowout win over Central Arkansas.
A look at the full Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports
Rank | Team | Record | Points | Change |
1 | Alabama | 2-0 | 1,592 (39) | – |
2 | Georgia | 2-0 | 1,574 (25) | – |
3 | Ohio State | 2-0 | 1,514 (1) | – |
4 | Clemson | 2-0 | 1,387 | – |
5 | Michigan | 2-0 | 1,370 | – |
6 | Oklahoma | 2-0 | 1,253 | +1 |
7 | Oklahoma State | 2-0 | 1,137 | +3 |
8 | USC | 2-0 | 1,133 | +4 |
9 | Michigan State | 2-0 | 1,026 | +2 |
10 | Kentucky | 2-0 | 901 | +10 |
11 | Arkansas | 2-0 | 857 | +6 |
12 | NC State | 2-0 | 816 | +1 |
13 | Miami | 2-0 | 805 | +3 |
14 | BYU | 2-0 | 739 | +11 |
15 | Utah | 1-1 | 673 | – |
16 | Tennessee | 2-0 | 591 | +10 |
17 | Ole Miss | 2-0 | 552 | +6 |
18 | Wake Forest | 2-0 | 540 | +3 |
19 | Baylor | 2-0 | 531 | -11 |
20 | Texas | 1-1 | 306 | +1 |
21 | Florida | 1-1 | 297 | -2 |
22 | Texas A&M | 1-1 | 285 | -16 |
23 | Penn State | 2-0 | 279 | +4 |
24 | Oregon | 1-1 | 197 | – |
25 | Pittsburgh | 1-1 | 157 | -11 |
Schools Dropped Out
No. 9 Notre Dame; No. 18 Wisconsin.
Others Receiving Votes
Florida State 85; Cincinnati 80; Appalachian State 50; Air Force 48; Kansas State 46; Wisconsin 43; Marshall 40; Notre Dame 35; Mississippi State 31; Washington State 29; Houston 25; Texas Tech 24; Oregon State 24; Minnesota 23; Texas Christian 18; Auburn 16; North Carolina 10; Syracuse 7; Washington 6; UCLA 4; Iowa State 4
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