LSU moved to No. 1 in The Athletic 138 after hammering Clemson 51-10 in Week 1, a result that sent the early college football rankings into motion after just one weekend. The Tigers did it with more than 600 yards of offense, a number that explained the gap on the field better than the final margin alone.
That kind of leap is exactly why people are checking the college football rankings now. Week 1 is enough to reorder the conversation, and LSU’s move to the top gives the first real answer to which teams look the part after opening weekend. Miami climbed after a 45-6 win against Stanford, Ole Miss pushed into the top 10 after a last-second win against Louisville, UCLA made a big jump into the top 25 after beating Cal 45-24, and Colorado moved one spot ahead of Georgia Tech after blocking the final field goal for a road win.
Belichick’s North Carolina also moved up after its Week 0 win against TCU, one of several early results that changed the shape of the poll before most teams had even played twice. Virginia rose after its Week 0 beatdown of NC State, and Memphis climbed because of its Week 0 win over UNLV. Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia and Texas stayed in their preseason order, while Oregon, Notre Dame, Louisville, Boise State, Tennessee, Houston, Michigan, Western Michigan, Baylor and Clemson all settled into new positions based on how Week 1 actually looked.
The catch is that LSU has already lived this movie. The Tigers were also No. 1 after Week 1 last season, then finished 7-6 and No. 42. That is the warning built into The Athletic 138: it is supposed to react quickly, and it does. Michigan and Western Michigan being ranked back-to-back after the Hail Mary win was another reminder that the first rankings after opening weekend can reward style, chaos and timing as much as staying power.
For LSU, the question is not whether the jump was deserved on Sunday night. It was. The real test is whether the Tigers can hold that spot once the rankings have to absorb another week of games, because the first big rise in college football rankings is usually the easiest one to get and the hardest one to keep.
