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AP College Football Poll 2018: Complete Week 2 Rankings Released

Mike Chiari

After a dominant performance in their season-opening game against Louisville, the Alabama Crimson Tide maintained their No. 1 ranking with 48 first-place votes in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll on Tuesday.

Here is a full rundown of the Top 25 after one week of play, courtesy of the AP:

1. Alabama (48)

2. Clemson (12)

3. Georgia

4. Ohio State

5. Wisconsin (1)

6. Oklahoma

7. Auburn

8. Notre Dame

9. Washington

10. Stanford

11. LSU

12. Virginia Tech

13. Penn State

14. West Virginia

15. Michigan State

16. TCU

17. USC

18. Mississippi State

19. UCF

20. Boise State

21. Michigan

22. Miami

23. Oregon

24. South Carolina

25. Florida

          

Alabama made a talented Louisville team look ordinary in a 51-14 victory Saturday as Tua Tagovailoa staked his claim to the starting quarterback job.

While both Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts saw action under center, Tagovailoa shined brightest with 227 yards and two touchdowns through the air, as well as 26 rushing yards and another score.

Head coach Nick Saban has been careful to not favor one of his quarterbacks, but he did announce Tagovailoa will start against Arkansas State on Saturday.

Life after Lamar Jackson proved difficult for the Cardinals against Alabama, as quarterback Jawon Pass threw two interceptions, and the Tide held Louisville to just 16 rushing yards as a team.

With Saturday's win, Bama continued an unprecedented streak of dominance against unranked teams, according to ESPN Stats & Info:

While the Tide are rolling unencumbered, they have some company near the top of the rankings.

Clemson, Georgia, Wisconsin and Ohio State all dominated inferior teams, and they are off and running as top College Football Playoff contenders.

Bama's greatest threat, however, may be its biggest rival: the Auburn Tigers.

Auburn moved up from No. 9 to No. 7 after pulling off a hard-fought, 21-16 win over the Washington Huskies.

With the loss, Washington dropped from sixth to ninth.

Auburn struggled to run the ball in that game and took too many penalties, but quarterback Jarrett Stidham was solid and the defense was stout, which suggests the Tigers will be in the CFP picture.

Other positive movers are Notre Dame (12th to eighth), Virginia Tech (20th to 12th) and LSU (25th to 11th).

The Fighting Irish held on to beat the Michigan Wolverines 24-17 in their season opener, which marked the continuation of Michigan's recent struggles against ranked teams on the road:

On Monday night, Virginia Tech embarrassed Florida State in a road win that saw the Hokies intercept Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois three times.

Perhaps most impressively, LSU crushed Miami 33-17 on the strength of 125 rushing yards and two touchdowns by senior running back Nick Brossette.

The voters weren't high on the Tigers entering the season, but that may have been a mistake given their recent track record of success against highly ranked teams:

Miami's loss dropped it from No. 8 to No. 22, while Michigan went from 14th to 21st and FSU fell from 19th to outside the Top 25.

There are several games in the second week that could have rankings ramifications.

Clemson (at Texas A&M), Georgia (at No. 24 South Carolina), Penn State (at Pittsburgh) and Michigan State (at Arizona State) all have tough road tests, while No. 17 USC and No. 10 Stanford will lock horns in a Pac-12 clash where the winner may emerge as the conference favorite.

   

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