LSU football heads up my SEC-Big Ten top 25. Alabama plummets. Tennessee rises

Since the Big Ten and SEC have deemed themselves superior to the rest of college football, I’m playing to their egos with a top 25 that excludes everybody else.

You might notice that my first regular-season rankings vary significantly from my preseason top 25. Get used to big changes each week.

1. LSU: Who says Brian Kelly can’t win an opener? All he needed was a defense to match his offense. The Tigers held a talented Clemson offense to 261 yards in a 17-10 victory.

2. Ohio State: The Buckeyes suffered huge losses on defense, lost defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to Penn State, and limited formerly No. 1 Texas to one touchdown. But their demanding fanbase will be enraged by the lack of offense in a 14-7 victory.

3. Penn State: The Nittany Lions celebrated alum Micah Parsons’ new contract by beating Nevada 46-11. They also sent a strong message to recruits: You can graduate from Penn State in three years and make more money than any non-quarterback in the history of the NFL.

4. Georgia: The Branch Brothers, formerly of Southern Cal, didn’t take long to endear themselves to Bulldogs fans. Zion Branch led Georgia with seven solo tackles, and wide receiver Zachariah Branch had three catches for 95 yards in a 45-7 rout of Marshall.

5. Texas: Arch Who?

6. Oregon: Maybe, the Ducks’ mascot should get his web sneakers from Adidas instead of Nike. He tripped running onto the field and lost his head.

But his team had few slipups in a 59-13 victory over Montana State.

7. Auburn: The best team in the state of Alabama wasn’t in Tuscaloosa on Week 1.

8. Tennessee: Looks like the Vols didn’t lose anything in their quarterback trade with UCLA.

9. Ole Miss: Austin Simmons has made only one start, but it’s not too early to say he will write another quarterback success story for Lane Kiffin.

10. Southern Cal: As a longstanding proponent of scoring as many points as you can – even against outmanned competition – I’m rewarding the Trojans for ringing up 73 points against Montana State.

11. South Carolina: Gamecocks quarterback LaNorris Sellers is like some great fastball pitchers. He gets stronger as the game goes along.

12. Michigan: The Wolverines are capitalizing on SEC recruits. They took Alabama running back Justice Haynes in the transfer portal and beat out LSU for quarterback Bryce Underwood.

Haynes rushed for 159 yards and three touchdowns in Michigan’s opener, and Underwood completed 21 of 31 passes for 251 yards in his first college start.

13. Nebraska: The Cornhuskers celebrated the 30th anniversary of their 1995 national championship team by beating Cincinnati in their opener. They can match the ‘95 team if they go undefeated, beat their opponents by an average of 40 points per game, and score 62 points in the national championship game.

14. Illinois: Before getting too excited about the Illini’s 52-3 victory over Western Illinois, remember what happened the last time the Leathernecks took on a Big Ten team. They lost to Indiana 77-3.

15. Oklahoma: Washington State transfer John Mateer lived up to his advance billing by passing for 392 yards against Illinois State, and the Sooners allowed only 151 yards in a 35-3 win.

16. Texas A&M: Why am I always wrong about the Aggies? I thought they would have a formidable running game but questioned their passing.

So, what happened? Quarterback Marcel Reed passed for 292 yards, and the Aggies ran for only 108 yards in a 42-24 win over UTSA.

17. Florida: Kudos to the Gators for discovering that Long Island fields a football team.

18. Missouri: Penn State transfer quarterback Beau Pribula looked like a faster, more accurate version of former Tigers quarterback Brady Cook in a 61-6 rout of Central Arkansas.

19. Arkansas: Taylen Green doesn’t get the hype that so many SEC quarterbacks do but continues to impress. He passed for six touchdowns in a 52-7 victory over Alabama A&M.

20. Alabama: Lindy’s preseason football magazine ranked the Tide’s offensive line as the best in the country. If that’s true, Florida State’s entire defensive front should be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame immediately.

21. Minnesota: Some viewers might have thought the only thing more offensive than quarterback Drake Lindsey’s 290 yards passing against Buffalo was sportscaster Tim Brando’s Bob Dylan impersonation. But as a Dylan and Brando fan, I gave his “Lay, Lady, Lay” a thumbs up.

22. Wisconsin: Billy Edwards obviously didn’t consider the Badgers’ recent quarterback history in transferring from Maryland. Wisconsin lost each of its last two quarterbacks to injury.

Edwards didn’t make it to the second half before going down with a knee injury in Wisconsin’s victory over Miami (Ohio).

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23. Iowa: If the NCAA would ban the forward pass, the Hawkeyes could compete for championships. They passed for a whopping 48 yards in a 34-7 victory over Albany.

24. Vanderbilt: If only the NCAA would allow it, the Commodores would declare Diego Pavia as their “quarterback for life.”

25. Indiana: The Hoosiers did their best to turn Old Dominion quarterback Colton Joseph into a Heisman Trophy candidate. He rushed for 179 yards on just 10 carries in a 27-14 loss.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: LSU football tops SEC-Big Ten top 25. Alabama falls. Tennessee rises

LSU football heads up my SEC-Big Ten top 25. Alabama plummets. Tennessee rises | Adams

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