Before we go further, a programming note: Life changes elsewhere has placed Nuggets on indefinite hiatus, and so in replacement of that each Sunday morning I'll publish the Scoop 16 -- my ballot in the FWAA-NFF Super 16 poll, with brief thoughts on each team.
Ranking teams is harder than it looks (if you don't believe me, try it), and it's especially hard in September. How much do you weigh your offseason assumptions against what each team has actually shown you on the field? I've thought a lot about this, and I've come to the conclusion there's no right answer. It's some combination of both, and the percentage of Offseason Assumptions and On-Field Results is different for each person.
One concrete opinion I do have for this time of year: If you're not changing your rankings wildly from week to week, you're doing it wrong.
1. Georgia: The 2-time defending champions are here until proven otherwise, but it'd be nice to see the Dogs put up more than seven points in their first 25 minutes against Ball State this week.
2. Alabama: The No. 1 team in the 247Sports Talent Composite looked the part against Middle Tennessee. Above all else, this is the most athletic, most physically imposing team in college football.
3. Florida State: Shame on me for being among this team's doubters heading into the year. Florida State might not face another ranked team until... Duke?
4. Michigan: I got a chuckle out of Michigan players, led by QB1 JJ McCarthy wearing "Free Harbaugh" shirts for warm-ups on Saturday. Fellas, he's on a self-imposed suspension.
5. Ohio State: These Week 1 games are funny in a way. Wouldn't we all feel a little better about the Buckeyes if they'd beaten Indiana 44-24 instead of 23-3? Anyway, they've got a couple more weeks to get right until the trip to South Bend.
6. Duke: I have no idea how long this lasts. But if Virginia Tech had beaten the No. 8 team 28-7, and was 10-4 under their new head coach, we wouldn't think twice about ranking them this highly.
7. Washington: Winners of eight straight, Kalen DeBoer's club picked up exactly where they left off. Michael Penix hit 12 completions of 20-plus yards, and seven receivers caught at least one 20-yard completion in a 56-19 demolition of Boise State.
8. USC: We'll get our first semi-real look at the Trojans when they host Stanford on Saturday night.
9. Notre Dame: So far, so good for the Sam Hartman era. The Wake Forest transfer has thrown seven incompletions and six touchdowns through two games.
10. Colorado: Is this too high? Too low? Sustainable? No idea, no idea, no idea. But it's been a heckuva lot of fun so far, and that likely doesn't change against Nebraska.
11. Tennessee: You saw everything you wanted to see against an overmatched Virginia team.
12. Penn State: Penn State did not exactly run away and hide from a team picked to finish last in the Big 12, but Drew Allar showed promise as a much-needed difference-maker at quarterback.
13. Texas: After an up-and-down first half, Texas finally mowed through Rice in the third quarter before pulling starters in the fourth. I could see the Longhorns winning in Tuscaloosa, and I could also see them losing by multiple touchdowns.
14. Utah: For a traditionally slow-starting team, beating Florida without your top quarterback and pass-catcher was an encouraging sign of overall program strength.
15. Texas A&M: Boiled down to one sentence, A&M's game-plan was "Throw it up to our outstanding wide receivers." Most weeks, that's as complicated as it needs to be. In 155 career attempts, Conner Weigman has thrown 13 touchdowns and no interceptions.
16. Oregon State: Who would've ever thought D.J. Uiagaleilei would trade Clemson for Oregon State and upgrade supporting casts?