Ohio State holds No. 1 in the Week 2 Coaches Poll released Tuesday, September 8, with 50 first place votes. The coaches split from the AP on two of the top four, ranking Texas third and Notre Dame fourth, and they kept Michigan at No. 24 after AP voters dropped the Wolverines out of their poll entirely.
| Rank | Team | 1st place votes | Preseason | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State | 50 | 1 | Same |
| 2 | Georgia | 7 | 3 | Up 1 |
| 3 | Texas | 1 | 4 | Up 1 |
| 4 | Notre Dame | 4 | 5 | Up 1 |
| 5 | Indiana | 11 | 6 | Up 1 |
| 6 | Oregon | 1 | 2 | Down 4 |
| 7 | Miami (FL) | — | 7 | Same |
| 8 | LSU | — | 13 | Up 5 |
| 9 | Texas A&M | — | 8 | Down 1 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | — | 9 | Down 1 |
| 11 | Ole Miss | — | 10 | Down 1 |
| 12 | Alabama | — | 11 | Down 1 |
| 13 | Texas Tech | — | 12 | Down 1 |
| 14 | USC | — | 14 | Same |
| 15 | BYU | — | 15 | Same |
| 16 | Penn State | — | 17 | Up 1 |
| 17 | SMU | — | 20 | Up 3 |
| 18 | Tennessee | — | 18 | Same |
| 19 | Washington | — | 19 | Same |
| 20 | Utah | — | 21 | Up 1 |
| 21 | Iowa | — | 22 | Up 1 |
| 22 | Houston | — | 24 | Up 2 |
| 23 | Missouri | — | 25 | Up 2 |
| 24 | Michigan | — | 16 | Down 8 |
| T25 | Virginia | — | NR | New |
| T25 | Florida | — | NR | New |
Ballots are submitted by a panel of FBS head coaches. A first place vote is worth 25 points, a 25th place vote one point. The Preseason column shows each team’s rank in the August 4 Coaches Poll.
Others Receiving Votes
Louisville 125, Illinois 45, Boise State 43, Arizona 42, South Carolina 36, Memphis 24, Auburn 19, Vanderbilt 17, Pittsburgh 14, Virginia Tech 11, Nebraska 11, Arizona State 11, Minnesota 9, Western Michigan 7, New Mexico 7, North Dakota State 6, Kansas State 6, Navy 5, UCLA 4, Duke 4, UNLV 3, Clemson 3, San Diego State 2, North Carolina 2, Colorado 1.
Dropped out: Clemson (preseason No. 23).
What the Poll Is Telling You
The coaches did not punish Michigan the way the writers did. Michigan beat Western Michigan 13 to 12 on a second Hail Mary after a disputed second was put back on the clock. The AP dropped the Wolverines from No. 16 to unranked. The coaches moved them from 16 to 24 and kept them on the board. That eight spot fall is still the largest in this poll, and Michigan hosts No. 10 Oklahoma on Saturday.
Texas and Notre Dame are flipped. Coaches have Texas third with one first place vote and Notre Dame fourth; the AP has it the other way. Ohio State visits Texas on Saturday night, so the two polls get a direct answer in five days.
LSU was the biggest riser. Lane Kiffin’s 51 to 10 debut over Clemson moved the Tigers from 13th to eighth, a five spot jump, and pushed Clemson off the board completely. SMU was next, up three to 17th after winning at Florida State on Monday night.
Louisville is the odd team out. The Cardinals are ranked 24th by the AP but sit first among unranked teams here with 125 points, well clear of Illinois at 45. Florida works in the opposite direction: tied for 25th with the coaches, unranked with 83 points in the AP poll.
How the Coaches Poll Works
The Coaches Poll is voted on by a panel of FBS head coaches, administered through the American Football Coaches Association and published by USA Today. Each coach submits a top 25 ballot. A first place vote is worth 25 points, second is worth 24, down to one point for 25th, and the point totals set the order.
The poll runs weekly through the season, normally on Sundays. Week 2 came out on Tuesday because the opening weekend ended with a Monday night game. It carries no official weight with the College Football Playoff selection committee. For how the three sets of rankings differ, see our breakdown of the AP poll, the coaches poll and the CFP rankings, and the current AP Top 25. The official poll is published at USA Today.
The Bottom Line
Ohio State is No. 1 with 50 first place votes, ahead of Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame and Indiana. Oregon fell from second to sixth, LSU climbed to eighth, Michigan slid to 24th but stayed ranked, and Virginia and Florida came in tied at 25 as Clemson dropped out. The next Coaches Poll is released Sunday, September 13.