Georgia took down Tennessee State 63-3 in their season opener over the weekend. No team ranked above Georgia in the AP Poll lost last weekend, but the Bulldogs’ victory was deemed good enough by voters to move them up one spot to No. 2 in the week two AP Poll.
Ohio State held steady at No. 1, but a shaky win by Oregon sent the Ducks down the poll which allowed Georgia to slide up to No. 2 in this week’s AP Poll.
Week 2 AP Poll proves margin of victory matters
The AP Poll historically does not punish teams who win close games they should dominate often enough. If a ranked team struggles against a significantly inferior opponent but still wins they in the past have chosen to not drop them in their rankings, that however did not happen this week.
Georgia didn’t deserve to move up a spot to No. 2 because they beat Tennessee State by 60 because that was supposed to happen. They still moved up though because former No. 2 Oregon struggled to beat Boise State.
Boise State never trailed Oregon during the entire first half, and the Ducks didn’t take their first lead of the game until the middle of the third quarter. From there the teams traded scores and were even tied in the fourth quarter until Oregon scored the game-winning touchdown halfway through the final quarter.
Georgia on the other hand dominated Tennessee State from the opening kick. Boise State is a significantly better team than Tennessee State, but Oregon should’ve done much better than they did. Thankfully the AP voters were paying close attention and moved Georgia up a spot even though they played an FCS school and dropped Oregon to No. 6.
The AP voters were consistent with this thought process as they dropped former No. 16 Michigan completely out of this week’s poll. The Wolverines needed an extra second added to the clock to beat Western Michigan on a Hail Mary by one point after Western, who was a four touchdown underdog, outplayed them all game.
Georgia still trails Ohio State who is the No. 1 team in the country and until the Buckeyes lose they likely won’t have an argument to pass them. Ohio State travels to Texas this weekend though, so this time next week Georgia could be the new No. 1 team in the country.
Every SEC team ranked in the Week 2 AP Poll
Rank | Team |
|---|---|
2 | Georgia |
4 | Texas |
8 | LSU |
9 | Ole Miss |
10 | Texas A&M |
11 | Oklahoma |
12 | Alabama |
18 | Tennessee |
23 | Missouri |
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