| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | USC | The Trojans offense was firing on all cylinders against Hawaii. Syracuse's defense will be in for a battle this week. | 1 |
| 2 |  | LSU | The Tigers did not really get to see the best of new QB Zach Mettenberger in an easy win against North Texas. | 2 |
| 3 |  | Alabama | Well, it really did not take very long at all for the Alabama defense to find its new superstars. | 3 |
| 4 |  | Oklahoma | Oklahoma had to scrap their way to a 24-7 win at UTEP. They'll have to play better on both sides of the ball soon. | 4 |
| 5 |  | Oregon | Oregon piled up 50 points against Arkansas State in the first half before slowing down a little bit in the second. | 5 |
| 6 |  | Georgia | The first half was not pretty, but Georgia pulled things together and beat Buffalo 45-23 on Saturday afternoon. | 7 |
| 7 |  | Wisconsin | The Badgers got all they wanted from UNI, but Montee Ball is great and Danny O'Brien looked solid too. | 8 |
| 8 |  | Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech's offense was not as potent as many hoped, but they played Beamer Ball and came out with a win. | 9 |
| 9 |  | Michigan | Michigan was never really in the game against Alabama. The offense should have more luck against Air Force. | 6 |
| 10 |  | South Carolina | It wasn't pretty, but South Carolina went on the road to Vanderbilt and got an SEC victory. Those are never easy. | 11 |
| 11 |  | Florida State | Florida State started last year with some big wins too before losing three in a row. | 12 |
| 12 |  | Oklahoma State | The Cowboys put up 84 points against Savannah State. A trip to Arizona this weekend will be interesting. | 13 |
| 13 |  | Michigan State | Quarterback Andrew Maxwell was not very good in his first start, but Le'Veon Bell got the job done against Boise. | 17 |
| 14 |  | Arkansas | Tyler Wilson threw for 367 yards and three scores against FCS member Jacksonville State in a 49-24 win. | 18 |
| 15 |  | Stanford | Stanford was very sloppy in their 20-17 win over San Jose State Friday. They will need to play better against Duke. | 10 |
| 16 |  | Clemson | Clemson had to make due without Sammy Watkins, but that proved not to be an issue against Auburn. | 20 |
| 17 |  | Texas | The Longhorns had a little trouble with Wyoming. Things should be a little smoother in week two. | 16 |
| 18 |  | Boise State | Boise State's little streak of opening game victories over ranked opponents came to an end in East Lansing. | 14 |
| 19 |  | West Virginia | West Virginia's Big 12 debut saw them looking like a real Big 12 team. They scored 69 points against Marshall. | 19 |
| 20 |  | Ohio State | The Buckeyes got a huge game from Braxton Miller on Saturday and will now play fellow not bowl eligible UCF. | 22 |
| 21 |  | Nebraska | Taylor Martinez beat Southern Miss with his arm, not his legs. That's a great sign for Nebraska moving forward. | 24 |
| 22 |  | Florida | The battle of Urban Meyer's former teams was pretty ugly, but Florida ended up with a 27-14 win over BGSU. | 21 |
| 23 |  | Auburn | Auburn fell to Clemson, but they put up a better fight than many expected and this is a team to watch out for. | 18 |
| 24 |  | TCU | TCU starts their season this week against Grambling State, a team that is coming off of a disappointing loss. | 23 |
| 25 |  | Kansas State | At one point Kansas State was tied 9-9 with Missouri State. They ended up winning 51-9. | 25 |
Week 1 Football Top 25 Rankings
Mon, 09/03/2012
