| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | USC | USC did not blow out Syracuse, but they played pretty well for a long road trip. A trip to Palo Alto won't be easy. | 1 |
| 2 |  | LSU | Eventually LSU will play somebody good. It wasn't last week and it won't be this week against Idaho. | 2 |
| 3 |  | Alabama | Even in a trap game sandwiched between Michigan and Arkansas, the Crimson Tide had no trouble with WKU. | 3 |
| 4 |  | Oklahoma | It took a game against Florida A&M for OU to find their offensive groove. They'll take a week off before KSU. | 4 |
| 5 |  | Oregon | Oregon only scored 35 points in the first half against Fresno State. They'll got closer to 50 against Tennessee Tech. | 5 |
| 6 |  | Georgia | Even without some of their top defensive stars, Georgia ended up holding Missouri's potent offense in check. | 6 |
| 7 |  | South Carolina | The Gamecocks had an easier time against ECU this year. The defense was stellar and UAB will have a tough time. | 9 |
| 8 |  | Florida State | FSU did not quite get the opportunity to cover the 70 1/2 point spread since the game ended early due to weather. | 10 |
| 9 |  | Michigan State | Michigan State's passing game got on track against CMU. A balanced offense will be needed to beat Notre Dame. | 13 |
| 10 |  | Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech got off to a slow start against a bad Austin Peay squad. Pittsburgh will be just as easy to beat. | 12 |
| 11 |  | Clemson | Clemson cruised past Ball State and the offense kept on ticking. They'll be better this week with Waktins back. | 16 |
| 12 |  | Ohio State | Braxton Miller has been unstoppable and the OSU defense ain't too shabby either. Cal is the next to feel the pain. | 20 |
| 13 |  | Michigan | UM got Toussaint back, but he did nothing against Air Force. Michigan will finally play well against Umass. | 8 |
| 14 |  | Stanford | Beating Duke is nothing to write home about, but Stanford is getting better and that is a good thing with USC next. | 15 |
| 15 |  | Texas | Texas looked better against New Mexico than they did against Wyoming, but a trip to Ole Miss will be tougher. | 17 |
| 16 |  | West Virginia | The WVU offense needed a little break after running all over Marshall. That's bad news for James Madison. | 19 |
| 17 |  | Wisconsin | Apparently Montee Ball should go back to pronouncing his name Montee Ball, because the Badger offense is awful. | 7 |
| 18 |  | Boise State | Following a week off, Boise State will debut on the smurf turf against Miami (OH) on Saturday. | 18 |
| 19 |  | Florida | The Gators got a quality win at Texas A&M. The SEC road games continue with a trip to Knoxville this weekend. | 22 |
| 20 |  | Oklahoma State | OSU had some trouble in the desert against Arizona, but they should get back on track at home against Louisiana. | 11 |
| 21 |  | Kansas State | Kansas State looked great against Miami (FL) and coasted to an easy win. Klein is playing great and UNT is next. | 25 |
| 22 |  | Arkansas | Maybe Arkansas was looking ahead to Alabama. Maybe Alabama will slaughter a team that lost to ULM. | 14 |
| 23 |  | Notre Dame | Purdue is a deceptively tough team, but Notre Dame stepped up. A trip to East Lansing will tell us a lot more. | NR |
| 24 |  | TCU | TCU slaughtered Grambling State in their season opener. This week they head to Kansas for their Big 12 debut. | 24 |
| 25 |  | Nebraska | A trip to UCLA is always tough, but it looks like it may be a while before Nebraska returns to the Rose Bowl. | 21 |
Week 2 Football Top 25 Rankings
Sat, 09/08/2012
