For what it is worth this early in the season, Stanford is performing well in the S&P;+ rankings. The AP and Coaches have Stanford at 18 and 20 respectively. Despite the Cardinal going into Los Angeles and beating USC by ten points both human polls have the Trojans ranked higher but that may change if Stanford continues to dominate their opponents.
Oregon suddenly looks very beatable, the Big Game may feature two ranked opponents, and UCLA and Notre Dame both at Stanford are shaping up to be huge games. It is a very long, and turbulent season, though, so hang on tight. We have a ways to go.
| AP | Coaches | S&P;+ | |
| 1 | Ohio State (45) | Ohio State (61) | Alabama |
| 2 | Michigan State (5) | Michigan State (2) | Florida State |
| 3 | Ole Miss (10) | TCU | West Virginia |
| 4 | TCU | Baylor | LSU |
| 5 | Baylor | Ole Miss (1) | Ole Miss |
| 6 | Notre Dame | Georgia | Clemson |
| 7 | UCLA | Notre Dame | Ohio State |
| 8 | Georgia | LSU | Oklahoma |
| 9 | LSU | Florida State | USC |
| 10 | Utah (1) | UCLA | Michigan |
| 11 | Florida State | Clemson | Georgia |
| 12 | Clemson | Utah | Notre Dame |
| 13 | Alabama | Alabama | Stanford |
| 14 | Texas A&M; | Oklahoma | UCLA |
| 15 | Oklahoma | Texas A&M; | Michigan State |
| 16 | Northwestern | USC | Wisconsin |
| 17 | USC | Northwestern | TCU |
| 18 | Stanford | Wisconsin | Baylor |
| 19 | Wisconsin | Oklahoma State | Duke |
| 20 | Oklahoma State | Stanford | Minnesota |
| 21 | Mississipi State | West Virginia | Florida |
| 22 | Michigan | Mississippi State | Penn State |
| 23 | West Virginia | Florida | Tennessee |
| 24 | Cal | Cal (tie) | Miami |
| 25 | Florida | Oregon (tie) | Texas A&M; |
