NCAA Football Update: Just Two Weeks In and Things Are Already Beginning to Heat Up

A few weeks ago we took a look at the upcoming NCAA football season and discussed the AP preseason poll and how the biggest programs in the country stacked up against each other leading into the 2022 season. High profile programs such as Alabama and Georgia were expectedly atop the preliminary rankings while other programs such as Texas A&M were ranked higher than expected and looked to make their presence felt early on. Now as we enter week three of the NCAA football season, we are slowly beginning to see how this season is likely to shake out and who we can expect to fight for the national championship once playoffs roll around. Lets take a look at the biggest winners and losers of the NCAA football season thus far and who is likely to take home the gold in a few short months.

When the AP released their preseason poll we unexpectedly saw two of the aforementioned firmly ranked in the first and second spots: Alabama and Georgia. Equally unsurprisingly, they have retained the top two spots but with Georgia now in first after putting up more convincing wins than their dominant counterpart in Alabama. Most shifts in the rankings thus far have only seen programs jump or fall a few positions, but a few others have already made some considerable strides early on that have them ranked significantly higher now. Take Kentucky for example, a school revered primarily for its basketball program, jumping eleven spots and now sitting in the top 10 as the 9th ranked team in the country after starting the season 2-0, or BYU making a considerable jump as well after also starting off 2-0 and ascending nine spots to become the 12th ranked team in the country. On the other hand, some programs have taken a considerable hit that now sees them on the fringe of the top 25, such as the aforementioned Texas A&M who have fallen 18 spots and are ranked 24th overall after beginning the season 1-1. While each team only has a small sample size to work with thus far, the best NCAA teams are lauded for their consistency and if these programs as well as others not mentioned want to become national champions then they will have to continue to come out and best their opponents week after week.

NCAA football fans are arguably much more tenacious than NFL fans and even just a few weeks in, it's abundantly clear that those fans are already enjoying what the season has to offer thus far. Whether their favorite teams can build upon the success they’ve enjoyed thus far and make an appearance in this year’s playoffs is a different story though, and there is still a lot of football to be played. Patience is a virtue as they say though and NCAA football fans will just have to keep looking forward to watching their favorite teams play week after week.