Fifty-three teams are undefeated through two weeks of the college football season, but not all 2-0 (or 3-0) records are created equal. Here are the 10 best:
1. South Florida: No team has accomplished more in two weeks than Da Bulls. In dismantling the defending Group of 5 "champion" Boise State and then scoring their first win over their state's flagship university, Alex Golesh's team has emerged from a cast of dozens to become the clear front-runner for the G5 Playoff berth, all while returning to the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2018. With one of the biggest games in school history now waiting this Saturday at No. 5 Miami (3:30 p.m. ET, The CW), USF can put its lead out of reach to the point where they may not even need to win the American to reach the CFP.
2. Iowa State: The Cyclones scored their first home win over Iowa since 2011, and thus the first home CyHawk win of the Matt Campbell era. At 3-0, Iowa State has beaten its rivals K-State and Iowa in the same season for the first time since... 2024. But it's the first time they've beaten the Wildcats and the Hawkeyes within a 3-week span, and the first time in program history ISU has won Farmaggedon and the CyHawk game in back-to-back seasons.
3. Florida State: Who else has already matched last season's win total? Considering the circumstances, the 31-17 win over Alabama was probably this program's most satisfying win since beating Auburn to win the 2013 national championship, and then Saturday's 77-3 drubbing of East Texas A&M (yes, that's a Division I school) probably wasn't far behind. Seeing that helmet run past any helmet into the end zone 11 times undid years of trauma for Seminole Nation. Now, a team that received eight votes in the preseason AP Top 25 has rocketed all the way up to No. 10.
4. Oklahoma: Every single one of Oklahoma's SEC opponents is currently ranked in the AP Top 25, so the Sooners are a long way from accomplishing the mission. But Job No. 1 was to establish a coherent offense with a play-making quarterback, and that box has been checked. John Mateer is currently the Heisman Trophy favorite; that's a loaded statement to be sure, but so far, so great.
5. Ohio State: It was a whole 10 days ago now, but Ohio State welcomed a whole bunch of new faces in new places by beating the AP No. 1 team in the country. On Saturday, Ohio State beat Grambling 70-0 -- the first of its ongoing 6-game win streak to not come at the expense of an AP top-10 team. In a season without a clear-cut favorite, Ohio State quickly established itself as (the reigning) team to beat until proven otherwise. Jeremiah Smith has yet to be unlocked, but Julian Sayin is hitting 79.5 percent of his throws for 11.1 per attempt. That'll do.
6. LSU: Consider the gulf of feeling between winning at Clemson and losing. We knew what LSU had in its offense, but the Tigers are one of 10 FBS teams yet to allow 100 rushing yards, total.
7. Texas State: GJ Kinne's team logged its first win at UTSA on Saturday, extending their streak over their longtime (the I-35 neighbors played their first game in 2012) to two. GJ Kinne's squad is one of 11 FBS teams to throw and run for 500 yards through two games. This week's trip to defending Big 12 champ Arizona State looms extremely large.
8. Mississippi State: The Bulldogs opened their season with a more-difficult-than-meets-the-eye win at Southern Miss in impressive fashion (it was 34-10 through three quarters), and then built a 17-0 lead over Arizona State, lost it, then got it back with a 58-yard touchdown pass in the final minute on Saturday night. This team will have a chance this year so long as Blake Shapen stays healthy.
9. Auburn: A similar story to Oklahoma and LSU -- let's not overlook how important that Baylor win was now that it's in the rear-view mirror a little bit. Jackson Arnold is 35-of-45 for 359 yards with three touchdowns against no interceptions so far.
10. Oregon: Oklahoma State might be the worst team in Power 4 football, but good gosh did Dan Lanning's team look terrifying in tearing them apart on Saturday. Also, don't sleep on their 59-13 win over Montana State either, quite possibly the most difficult of the two opponents the Ducks have faced thus far. Dante Moore is averaging 10.9 yards per attempt with six touchdowns, and the ground game has ripped of 7.43 a carry with 10 touchdowns thus far.
Also receiving votes: Miami, UNLV, Tennessee, 40 other teams
And now, the Bottom 5:
1. Florida: The thought was, given the difficulty of Florida's schedule, 9-3 could get the Gators into the Playoff -- which was viewed as a realistic expectation, given DJ Lagway's 6-1 record as a starter as a true freshman in 2024. Problem one: South Florida was assumed to be one of those nine. Problem two: Lagway's lack of offseason reps was clearly evident vs. USF, where ESPN's QBR gave him a 58.8 rating on a 100-point scale. Problem three: Eight of Florida's next 10 opponents are currently ranked in the AP top-20, and the next three are all in the top 10.
2. Kansas State: Ironic considering the season began in Ireland, but this team needs a vacation. The Farmaggedon loss wasn't the end of the world, but the Wildcats had to fight for their lives to escape North Dakota the following week, then blew a 13-0 lead to Army on Saturday. Next, they get a non-conference game(!) game at Arizona(!!) on short rest(!!!) before getting into the meat of the Big 12 schedule. Fortunately, they'll do so at home against UCF on Sept. 27 after taking Sept. 20 off. This is a correlation/causation thing, but Avery Johnson is presently the nation's 53rd-rated passer.
3. Oklahoma State: What do you even say after that? Oregon 69, Oklahoma State 3 was the worst loss of the Mike Gundy era since... Oklahoma State's last game against a Power 4 opponent: Colorado 52, OSU 0 to close the book on last year's 3-9 season. That's a 121-3 cumulative score, for those who didn't feel like pulling up their iPhone calculators. Incredibly hard to see the Gundy era reaching Year 20.
4. Virginia Tech: The schedule-maker did Brent Pry no favors here. If you open with South Carolina in a virtual road game, the absolute last team you want to come home and play on a short week in a supposed "gimme" game is Vanderbilt -- it's like playing a service academy, only with better athletes. Virginia Tech started well on Saturday, leading 10-0 after one and 20-10 at the half. Vandy then won the second half 31-zip, meaning through two games VT has scored just 31 points. Dating back to last season, Virginia Tech has lost three in a row and is 1-6 in its last seven games.
5. Alabama: Again, we can't let Alabama 73, ULM 0 wash away the stain of Florida State 31, Alabama 17. The Crimson Tide will likely beat Wisconsin at home on Saturday (noon ET, ABC) and then take two weeks to prepare for the biggest game on the Kalen DeBoer era, Sept. 27 at No. 6 Georgia.
Also receiving votes: Arizona State, Stanford, Iowa, about 20 other teams