LSU defensive end Sam Montgomery gestures to the crowd Saturday at Cowboys Stadium. Photo by Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE
I thought it was an easy call to elevate LSU to No. 1 on this week’s AP ballot.
The Tigers, with their 40-27 victory over Oregon, have the best victory of this week-old season — and certainly the best victory among the nation’s perceived elite teams.
Only 16 of the other 59 AP voters agreed with me; Oklahoma is still No. 1, receiving 32 first-place votes.
I consider my ballot to be “fluid” from week to week. Teams don’t get landlocked into a certain place, unable to jump another team that keeps on winning.
That’s why I moved LSU up from No. 4, and Boise State from No. 5 to No. 2 after beating Georgia.
As soon as Oklahoma and Alabama, for example, start posting bigger victories — and that could happen soon enough — then I’ll re-evaluate the entire body of work.
I went back and forth between putting Arizona State in the Top 25, but a win over lower-division UC-Davis didn’t provide enough evidence to jump the Devils into my rankings. A win over Missouri this Friday would do just that, in a significant way.
(Related: One AP voter still likes the Arizona Wildcats)
Here are my first week rankings:
1. LSU
2. Boise State
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma
5. Florida State
6. Oklahoma State
7. Stanford
8. Wisconsin
9. Texas A&M
10. Oregon
11. Virginia Tech
12. Nebraska
13. South Carolina
14. Baylor
15. South Florida
16. Maryland
17. West Virginia
18. Ohio State
19. Michigan State
20. Arkansas
21. Mississippi State
22. Texas
23. Florida
24. Northwestern
25. Missouri