Kansas State showed a bit of struggle against Tulane, but let's face it, Tulane, even with a new head coach, is still a good Group of Five team. Even though Avery Johnson had to lead a comeback, the defense had to do its job as well, which they didn't do the entire first half.
In the second half, K-State came out looking completely different as the defense allowed Tulane to score just seven points and forced two turnovers in the process. The fumble scoop-and-score ended up being the difference in the game and then the defense was able to put it away for good with a game-ending interception to get the Wildcats to 2-0 and keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.
Kansas State wasn't the only ranked team to struggle against a team they were favored to beat. They weren't even the highest-ranked team to struggle against an opponent they should have beaten. Teams like Penn State, Alabama, and Oregon were teams that were heavily favored to win their matchups, but only won by a slim margin. Then there were teams like Notre Dame and Iowa that lost their games even though they should have.
So with the second week of college football in the books, here are my Week 2 College Football Playoff predictions.
Rank | Team | Why are they here | Previous Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Georgia | SEC Champion | 1 |
2 | Ohio State | Big Ten Champion | 2 |
3 | Miami | ACC Champion | 3 |
4 | Kansas State | Big 12 Champion | 11 |
5 | Texas | At-large | 6 |
6 | Missouri | At-large | 8 |
7 | Ole Miss | At-large | Unranked |
8 | Tennessee | At-large | Unranked |
9 | Oregon | At-large | 5 |
10 | Penn State | At-large | Unranked |
11 | Notre Dame | At-large | 9 |
12 | Boise State | MW Champion | 12 |
The top three teams simply solidified their places this week with big wins over all of their teams, wins they should have dominated. The SEC has truly dominated these ranking predictions since we started them, but it is deserved. Texas can't be ranked any higher because they probably won't win the SEC with the way Georgia is playing, they made a statement win over No. 10 Michigan on Saturday and should be the highest-ranked at-large team.
Missouri soared three spots, but again, it is deserved, they have played easier teams in their first two weeks, but they have yet to allow a point to opponents. The Tigers surprised a lot of people last season, but they are primed and ready for another great season. Tennessee and Ole Miss are new to rankings prediction this week, but again they have just been dominant in both their games, and Tennessee did beat a ranked NC State team.
Kansas State flipped yet again to No. 4 as I think they do have a chance to be the Big 12 Champion. Even though they struggled against Tulane, the comeback win showed they can do it in many ways, on offense, defense, or simply both. Utah beat Baylor this week, but let's face it, Baylor is just not going to be a team to contend for a title.
Deciding whether or not to keep Notre Dame in was truly a tough choice because not only did they lose to Northern Illinois, but they lost at home against Northern Illinois. The Fighting Irish couldn't get anything going offensively and if anything, this loss says a lot about Texas A&M, a team Notre Dame beat in week one.
Boise State did lose to Oregon this week, but they truly took Oregon down to the wire and the Ducks had to kick and game-winning field goal as time expired to make it past the Broncos. Even with one loss to a team that a lot of people think could take down Ohio State, I think Boise State isn't out of it yet.