Week 1 College Football Poll: Analyzing the Accuracy of Preseason Picks

Week 1 of the college football season has wrapped up, with results as unpredictable as some of the passes attempted in the first games. The initial rankings of the active season have been unveiled, and as anticipated, there have been significant changes at the top. This was largely due to three games featuring top-10 teams facing off. Add in an unexpected upset, and the list already diverges greatly from the pre-season predictions.

The long Labor Day weekend was an excellent opportunity to assess how your favorite team performed, evaluate their ranking, and get acquainted with new players added through the transfer portal, who may become your latest favorites.

The weekend was action-packed, stretching events into Monday night. A notable moment was when Bill Belichick’s college coaching debut ended with a decisive defeat by TCU. (Due to our managing editor’s Tar Heels enthusiasm, we’ll keep this mention brief.) Here’s a summary of the opening weekend’s highlights and some noteworthy outcomes.

• Lee Corso, a staple on ESPN’s Saturday morning “College Game Day,” marked his final appearance on the panel, wearing a mascot head for the last time. Numerous tributes were paid on Saturday, including Ohio State’s marching band spelling out his name on the field. Furthermore, host Reese Davis announced that Corso’s iconic sign-off will retire with him. “Anyone who attempts to don mascot headgear to conclude the show, I’ll issue a tackle worthy of impressing Chris Spielman,” Davis asserted.

• The impact of “College Game Day” is evident as Fox Sports endeavors to establish its own Saturday pregame show, “The Big Noon Kickoff,” featuring a panel of experts and ex-players. They also sought someone akin to Pat McAfee. In the offseason, they recruited Dave Portnoy from Barstool Sports, sparking instant controversy. With Fox’s show also stationed in Columbus for the Ohio State-Texas game, it was reported that the school banned Portnoy from entering the stadium. While this claim was contested, the response from Buckeye fans towards the outspoken Michigan supporter was undeniable.

• Regarding mascots, while the Oregon Ducks easily overcame Montana State, another waterfowl mascot faced challenges. During pregame activities, the head of the new Duck Mascot unintentionally detached, causing a brief moment of chaos.

The Oregon Duck lost his head while running out 😬 pic.twitter.com/pr3OSxbdbx

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 30, 2025

• In New Orleans, there has been plenty of recognition on the 20th anniversary of the day Hurricane Katrina decimated the city. To commemorate the event, Tulane wanted to wear the same uniforms from that year, but their request for the switch to gameday whites was rebuffed by visiting Northwestern, which said the request came in too late as the Wildcats had already aligned their helmet decals and uniform patches. Tulane coach Jon Sumrall used this slight as motivation, as the Green Tide dominated with a 23-3 win.

• Some of last year’s upstarts had a tough opening. Boise State had a first-round bye in last year’s playoffs and opened as the only school out of the Power Four conferences to be ranked in the pre-season, at #25. The Broncos were drilled by the South Florida Bulls, 34-7. And after a strong bowl season, the Army Knights seem less weaponized as they dropped their opener to…(rechecks score sheet)…it says Tarleton State.

On to the bigger games.

Ohio State 14 – Texas 7

In a game that was as much about flagging offenses as it was a defensive battle, the long-awaited Arch Manning era got off to a grinding start. The touted Longhorn QB struggled all day, as he missed receivers on the way to just 170 yards in the air, and was not able to get Texas to the end zone until there was 3:28 remaining in the game. On the other side, the Buckeyes were not much better, gaining only 203 yards of total offense. The game came down to essentially two plays, which could have easily flipped the score. Texas was completely stymied inside the five-yard line and could not punch in with a 4th-and-inches. Ohio State got the winning score on a miracle no-look catch by Carnell Tate in the end zone with blanket coverage.

Miami 27 – Notre Dame 24

Playing under tropical rains, the Carson Beck era in Miami started strong. After a first quarter where the Georgia Bulldog transfer looked off on his timing with receivers, he settled in and piloted the offense for much of the game. Beck ran three touchdown drives of 70+ yards as he seemed thrilled to have receivers who could hang onto the ball, even in the rain. (Last year, he suffered from the most dropped passes in D-1 play with the Bulldogs.) One surprise for the Hurricanes was receiver Malachi Toney, a local 17-year-old recruit the team kept secret, who had 82 yards receiving and a touchdown. The highlight was a staggering one-handed 20-yard nab by Liberty transfer CJ Daniels, stabbing the ball as it was about to be intercepted and tucking it in as he landed for the touchdown. Two fourth-quarter scores tied the game, but helping preserve the win was a wild Miami interception that was deflected twice and then kicked in midair before being taken in by star lineman Rueben Bain Jr.

Straight out of a video game 😦

The Hurricanes come up with the INT! pic.twitter.com/exia1fBxgh

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 1, 2025

LSU 17 – Clemson 10

In another offensive letdown by Heisman hopefuls, Cade Klubnik and Garrett Nussmeier spent much of the game shaking off the rust. Klubnick was hounded all game by the Tigers’ defense as he went 19/38 and an interception. Making his cause more difficult was a complete absence of a running game, with Clemson gaining just 31 yards in total. Nussmeier fared better, coming around in the second half and guiding LSU to the go-ahead score with 12 minutes remaining to take the road win. 

FSU 31 – Alabama 17

The biggest top-10 upset came Saturday night as the hotseat watch for Kalen DeBoer begins. The Alabama faithful were dismayed to see their school coming back down to Earth. They are unsettled, however, not just with a loss this early, but with the level of defeat. Florida State dominated both sides of scrimmage as they nearly rushed for three times the yardage. This result stands as the first time the Tide lost an opener by more than two touchdowns since 1970. And this blowout took place with the Seminoles only making nine completions. 

Also seen: Kansas State fell off as the early #17 squad lost to Iowa State on Week-0 in Ireland, and this week had to edge North Dakota as it took Avery Johnson hitting his third touchdown pass with under a minute left in the game. Utah looks completely different as it stormed past UCLA, 43-10, putting up more points than the Utes were likely to have scored in two games last season.

LSU, Iowa State, and Miami were the big movers, as Alabama took a 13-point dive

Here is the new AP Top-25 (1st place votes received)

1. Ohio State (55)

2. Penn State (7)

3. LSU (3)

4. Georgia 

5. Miami

6. Oregon

7. Texas

8. Clemson

9. Notre Dame

10. South Carolina

11. llinois

12. Arizona State

13. Florida

14. Florida State

15. Michigan

16. Iowa State

17. SMU

18. Oklahoma

19. Texas A&M

20. Ole Miss

21. Alabama

22. Tennessee

23. Indiana

24. Texas Tech

25. Utah

Editor’s Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.