Only two weeks into college football season, we already have our first major, playoff-shaking result. There's no nice way to put this — Oregon's in trouble after Saturday's stunning loss at Oklahoma State. Despite keeping Dante Moore away from the NFL Draft and investing significantly in talent retention and acquisition defensively, Oregon is not the team most assumed the Ducks would be after two games, at least not yet.
Replacing both coordinators has proved difficult for Dan Lanning, whose winning streak over unranked teams at the program is over, as is the Cowboys' 21-game losing skid against FBS competition. From here, Oregon will have to win 10 games to be in the at-large conversation, and that's no guarantee, considering USC, Ohio State, Michigan and Washington are left on the slate, among others. The Ohio State-Texas showdown offered an early glimpse of which preseason elite has the advantage in September, but these are two loaded teams we'll see more of inside the top 10 as the season progresses.
Both play grueling schedules, and the comeback win for the Longhorns gives them quite a card to play if they find themselves in an at-large CFP predicament a few months from now. Boise State stays put this week as our current Group of Six playoff favorite after dismantling Memphis with a dominant second half. With a favorable Mountain West schedule remaining and their two toughest games behind them, the Broncos will be a heavy favorite to win out from here.
Check out Brad Crawford's complete bowl projections for every game. No. 1 Miami (ACC champion): Driven by the Heisman frontrunner at quarterback and Malachi Toney's brilliance so far, the Hurricanes might be untouchable until November when they head to South Bend for what could be college football's game of the year against Notre Dame. It's up to Mario Cristobal to keep this team focused on the ultimate prize and allow no let-ups in the ACC.
No. 2 Georgia (SEC champion): Fourteen different Bulldogs have scored touchdowns in the first two weeks, good enough for 133 total points during wins over Tennessee State and WKU. Gunner Stockton's completion rate sits at 87.5%, and he leads the SEC with eight touchdown passes. There's a lot to like so far from the defending SEC champions.
No. 3 Ohio State (Big Ten champion): Eight new defensive starters and the same old elite look out of Matt Patricia's unit — before Texas ran off 21 unanswered points to shock Ohio State on Saturday night. We're still penciling in the Buckeyes as the projected Big Ten champion after Oregon's slip, but their margin for error shrinks a bit if they don't get there with the auto-bid. No. 4 Notre Dame: Championship mindset.
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