AP Top 25 poll reactions: Why Texas jumped Ohio State for No. 2 spot in college football rankings

Sunday’s AP Top 25 brought a slight surprise when it was revealed that Texas, following a big 31-12 road win against Michigan, jumped Ohio State for the No. 2 spot behind top-ranked Georgia. It’s the Longhorns’ highest AP ranking since 2009 and further legitimizes their status as a national title contender. 

Even if Ohio State fans may feel a little slighted, the movement isn’t necessarily reflective of the Buckeyes. Ryan Day’s squad has done everything it needs to do through the first two weeks by beating Akron and Western Michigan by a combined score of 108-6. 

But AP voters tend to be reactive earlier in the season when there are less data points to separate teams that are worthy of a top-25 spot. And no matter what Ohio State has done thus far, Texas entering one of the most venerated stadiums in college football and handing a former top-10 Michigan team its worst loss at home since 2020 leaves a significant impression — especially since Michigan’s 15-0, national title-winning 2023 season is still fresh on everyone’s minds. 

To put it simply, Texas left Week 2 with one of the biggest wins we will see all season, while Ohio State has spent its time beating up on two teams that finished with a combined record of 6-18 in 2023. 

It’s not like a huge gap separated the Buckeyes and Longhorns before the dust settled from Week 2 anyway. Texas was just 60 points behind Ohio State in last week’s AP poll. A large portion of that gap was created by 12 voters that placed Texas outside of the top three. 

There was a radical shift following the Michigan win. Texas held a top-three spot on every ballot but one. Though Ohio State boasts a slight edge in first-place votes — five to Texas’ four — the Longhorns accrued an overwhelming 37 second-place votes — 20 more than Ohio State. 

That razor-thin margin that separated the two teams following Week 1 grew even smaller. Texas had 16 more points than Ohio State (1,492-to-1,476) in the latest AP release. Ohio State is going to have plenty of opportunities to make an impression with a back-loaded schedule. Four of the Buckeyes’ last seven games come against teams that earned a spot in the Week 3 AP poll, including two top-10 teams in Oregon and Penn State. 

Texas, meanwhile, cleared its biggest hurdle thus far. The Longhorns don’t play another ranked team until Oct. 12’s Red River clash against No. 15 Oklahoma. No. 1 Georgia is the only current top-10 team that Texas has to play for the rest of the regular season. 

We’re just two full weeks into the season. While early polls are a fun tool to measure the current college football power structure and a flashy number to show prospective recruits, the initial College Football Playoff Rankings won’t come out until November. That’s the metric that Texas and Ohio State really have their eyes on as two early favorites to go the distance.