Week 1 has been eye-opening, to say the least. Some teams have looked very impressive in their first game, while others have put on a very underwhelming performance to start the year. The few games everyone is talking about right now are the Michigan Wolverines and the controversial last-second Hail Mary, LSU dominating Clemson, and then Ole Miss and Louisville’s thrilling Sunday night game.
The Cardinals dropped their opening game against No. 9 Ole Miss, but just because they are now 0-1 doesn’t mean they should drop out of the rankings. Louisville showed they can compete with one of the top teams in the country last night and lost on a last-second field goal, and we think they have a legit chance to stay in the AP Poll top 25.
So, here is our prediction of what the AP Poll top 25 could look like heading into week 2 of the 2026-27 season.
- Ohio State Buckeyes (1)
- Georgia Bulldogs (3)
- Oregon Ducks (2)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4)
- Texas Longhorns (5)
- Indiana Hoosiers (6)
- Miami Hurricanes (7)
- Ole Miss Rebels (9)
- LSU Tigers (11)
- Texas A&M Aggies (8)
- Oklahoma Sooners (10)
- Texas Tech Red Raiders (12)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (13)
- USC Trojans (14)
- BYU Cougars (14)
- Washington Cougars (17)
- Penn State Nittany Lions (18)
- SMU Mustangs (19)
- Tennessee Volunteers (20)
- Utah Utes (21)
- Iowa Hawkeyes (22)
- Houston Cougars (23)
- Missouri Tigers (25)
- Michigan Wolverines (16)
- Louisville Cardinals (24)
Louisville football projected to stay in AP Top 25
Like many others, Michigan is expected to take the biggest fall after Week 1. The Wolverines won on a last-second Hail Mary to defeat Western Michigan 13-12, in a game mired in major controversy. The Wolverines were granted another second on the clock after their first Hail Mary, and on that second attempt, Bryce Underwood connected with JJ Buchanan for a game-winning touchdown.
So, we predict the Wolverines to plummet in the rankings, and while Louisville lost to Ole Miss, we think they will stay ranked. The Cardinals showed this weekend that they have the talent and the roster to be a real threat in the ACC. The Cardinals tied the game up with 1:28 remaining and took the No. 9 Ole Miss Rebels to the final seconds. This Louisville team looked like a real threat, and for that we think they drop in the rankings but stay at No. 25.
The biggest riser in our projection is LSU. The Tigers dominated Clemson in a 51-10 victory on Saturday night, grabbing everyone’s attention and showing that Lane Kiffin has this Tigers team looking like a real National Title contender.
It will be interesting to see what we got right and what we got wrong, especially with UofL, but even if the Cardinals do fall out of the rankings, they will have plenty of opportunities to get back in the AP Top 25, including week 3 when they face No. 19 SMU.
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