Week 2’s College Football Playoff impact tracker: Updating with notes on Top 25 final scores
Let’s keep track of college football’s ranked scores the way the Playoff committee would.
Below, let’s look at Week 2’s ranked games in a way similar to the College Football Playoff committee’s perspective. For the committee, it’s not about what you did last week. It’s about what your entire schedule did all year long. Beating a team in Week 2 that finishes .500-plus is better than beating a team that doesn’t, no matter where either team is ranked at kickoff. The same goes for a team that finishes in the Playoff’s Top 25.
Committee rankings won’t be out until Oct. 31, so we’ll stick with AP Poll rankings for now.
Week 2 college football’s Top 25 final scores
No. 1 Alabama 41, Fresno State 10
Likely won’t matter at all.
No. 4 Penn State 33, Pitt 14
Pitt’s got a good shot at making a bowl, so PSU could end up with a decent committee boost here.
No. 8 Michigan 36, Cincinnati 14
Cincy seems unlikely to make a bowl, so this is unlikely to matter to the committee.
No. 9 Wisconsin 31, FAU 14
FAU seems unlikely to make a bowl, so this is unlikely to matter to the committee.
No. 11 Oklahoma State 44, South Alabama 7
Will only really matter to the committee if USA finishes .500. Got a shot, but not guaranteed.
No. 17 Louisville 47, North Carolina 35
UNC looked bad in Week 1, and it’s hard to think this will matter that much in the long run to the committee.
No. 18 Virginia Tech 27, Delaware 0
FCS opponent. The committee won’t care.
No. 19 Kansas State 55, Charlotte 7
Charlotte’s unlikely to make a bowl, so this is unlikely to matter to the committee.
No. 23 TCU 28, Arkansas 7
It’s hard to see this mattering a whole lot in the long run, other than in conference supremacy arguments, but that’ll be a really nice road win, if Arkansas hits .500.
No. 25 Tennessee 42, Indiana State 7
FCS opponent. The committee won’t care.
Week 2 college football’s remaining Top 25 schedule
All times p.m. ET.
No. 5 Oklahoma at No. 2 Ohio State, 7:30, ABC/WatchESPN
The regular season’s best win might be at stake here, as either team is a reasonable bet to hit 11-1.
No. 13 Auburn at No. 3 Clemson, 7, ESPN/WatchESPN
Likely to hold up for either as an excellent win. Both teams are expected to challenge for 10 wins. If Clemson wins, we have a far-and-away ACC favorite. If Auburn wins, the Iron Bowl is already looming.
No. 14 Stanford at No. 6 USC, 8:30, Fox/Fox Sports Go
The winner probably has to be considered the Pac-12 favorite for the moment.
Montana at No. 7 Washington, 8, Pac-12 Networks/Pac-12.com
FCS opponent. The committee won’t care.
Chattanooga at No. 12 LSU, 7:30, SEC Network/WatchESPN
FCS opponent. The committee won’t care.
No. 15 Georgia at No. 24 Notre Dame, 7:30, NBC/NBCSports.com
Likely to hold up as an excellent win. Both teams should go 8-4 or better.
Boise State at No. 20 Washington State, 10:30, ESPN/WatchESPN
This overshadowed game could matter a lot. A Boise win would make the Broncos the real favorite for the mid-major New Year’s Six bid, in my opinion, because USF’s unlikely to have anything on its schedule that can top WSU. A WSU win would give the Pac-12 North a win over a potential conference champion.

