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Later this morning in the AP Top 25, if Tulsa isn’t ranked, I will be demanding answers.

The Main Thing: So much for that top two

In 1987, Oklahoma and Nebraska entered as No. 1 and No. 2 in the AP Top 25. As conference nemeses in the Big Eight, they retained those rankings all the way into their November meeting.

That will not be the case for the Big Ten’s Ohio State and Oregon, the first conference mates since 1987 to enter as the country’s top two teams.

And it took just two weeks for it all to fall apart.

If you missed last night’s games, then preseason No. 2 Oregon’s downfall might feel like the least explicable of the two. The Ducks lost 39-31 to Eric Morris’ Oklahoma State a year after beating Mike Gundy’s Cowboys 69-3. OSU is now the first-ever FBS team to break a double-digit-game losing streak by beating a top-10 team.

This also meant one of the offseason’s two most-heralded teams sustaining a transitive loss to Tulsa, which beat Oklahoma State 24-10 last weekend. (Rank Tulsa.)

And Oregon’s loss in Stillwater was nowhere near as close as the score suggests. OSU’s yardage advantage: 554-281, nearly double. Two of the Ducks’ touchdowns were thanks to runbacks of tipped INTs. Dante Moore, who might’ve been a top-five pick if he’d entered the draft, went 14-of-29 and got outshined by Drew Mestemaker, who wasn’t a starter at either high school or North Texas until last year.

But No. 1 Ohio State’s loss at No. 4 Texas might hurt even worse, at least for now.

The Buckeyes led 23-3 in the fourth quarter. Since 2004, AP No. 1 teams with fourth-quarter leads of 20-plus points had been on a 197-0 streak, per ESPN. Almost all night, Texas looked unable to even attempt to cover Jeremiah Smith, who had 164 yards through about 50 minutes, and the Longhorns’ issues on offense were absolutely not limited to Arch Manning.

And then Texas broke up a few passes. And then put together a touchdown drive of a dozen-plus plays. And then kept repeating both of these things while the Buckeyes missed a 45-yard field goal. Slowly dawning dominance. A quarterback much of the country is (understandably) raring to write off decided this wouldn’t be a repeat of last year’s meeting.

Just like that, a three-hour festival of nationwide jokes at the Longhorns’ expense had turned into NC State transfer Hollywood Smothers punching in the comeback-completer with 25 seconds left. 24-23.

In the era of the big Playoff, I have to recite a line about how these losing teams can still make the tournament. Sure. And in Ohio State’s case, it’s still quite likely, per our projections. It’s also too early to say the Ducks’ Nov. 7 visit to Columbus, which had looked like a potential Game Of The Century, will instead be an eliminator.

But for now, these two longstanding storylines have kicked in:

For years, it felt like the college football season didn’t really start until Ohio State or Nick Saban lost a game. Since the latter retired, the Buckeyes are the only ones capable of truly starting the party. Well, three of Ryan Day’s 13 career losses came in his four most recent games, and 2026 college football is now underway.
Oregon’s curse has long been playing from ahead all season, then collapsing. Did the most-hyped team in program history merely get its collapse out of the way early? Or, considering how hard the Ducks tried to lose to Boise State a week prior, have we already identified this year’s Clemson-style fraud? Ten games will determine those answers.

Oh hey, Indiana will be the Big Ten’s top-ranked team now. Guess we’re picking up right where last season left off, huh?

Superlatives

Weirdest 2-0: It wasn’t all bad for the Big Ten. Michigan played a game every bit as ugly as its Western Michigan encounter, but emerged with a 17-10 win over No. 11 Oklahoma. This time, Bryce Underwood’s legs made much of the difference, and John Mateer is now the QB facing the hardest questions.

In the day’s third round of Big Ten versus SEC Conference Wars, a battle stoked by Saban saying the B1G lacks depth, Mississippi State won 38-13 at Minnesota. So far, the Big Ten has this season’s worst record in games between Power 4 conferences, which doesn’t fully capture the hardships of this next team:

The most interesting team in the country:

A week ago, Rutgers lost 37-21 to UMass, which spent last season being maybe the worst FBS team of the decade.
Friday night, Rutgers lost 28-21 at Boston College, which went 1-10 against FBS peers last season.
The Scarlet Knights’ finances have been in deplorable shape, and Greg Schiano’s buyout is about $18 million. Interesting.
(Actually, the weirdest 2-0 team is UMass, which beat Sacred Heart 37-10. The preseason No. 138 has as many wins as the preseason No. 1 and No. 2 combined.)

Favored non-power team, seemingly forever: The Pac-12’s Boise State handled Memphis 38-20 at home. Though I no longer have any idea what to make of the Broncos almost beating Oregon (let alone the Tigers’ supposedly big win over UNLV, which got crushed 44-6 by North Texas), the next inter-G6 showdown to circle is Boise State-WMU on Sept. 26.

Best FCS roster, seemingly forever: North Dakota State, which is in the FBS’ Mountain West, to be clear. The Bison moved up after the transfer portal had already closed, but are 3-0 after going on the road to give Air Force its first loss, 38-32. Ball-knowers are eying NDSU-New Mexico on Oct. 24.

Best actual FCS teams: The participants in last year’s all-time classic of a championship both won yesterday on MWC fields. Reigning champ Montana State beat Nevada 20-7, and runner-up Illinois State (the FCS No. 5) took down Northern Illinois 28-24. Yes, NIU is in the MWC.

Most determined football: The one fumbled by Virginia Tech during a scoop-and-score attempt against Old Dominion, then delivered into the end zone one play later in nearly identical fashion. James Franklin’s 2-0 Hokies don’t face a currently ranked team until SMU in November.

Most reliable rivalry: I know Iowans tire of hearing their showcase event described as a puntfest. But … well … in yesterday’s 16-13 win by Iowa over Iowa State, footballs traveled further via 13 combined punts (571 yards) than via offense (539). The Hawkeyes then fumbled the trophy. All of this is lovely.

Most concerning win: I was not wowed by No. 8 LSU nearly falling behind Louisiana Tech in the third (before winning 45-14) or No. 13 Texas Tech trailing Oregon State late (before winning 35-24), but this week’s side eye goes to No. 19 Washington only winning 16-14 against a Utah State that lost to FCS’ Idaho State.

Ranked teams mostly handled business otherwise, including No. 10 Texas A&M 48-20 vs. Arizona State, No. 12 Alabama 45-17 at Kentucky, No. 15 BYU 28-17 vs. Arizona and No. 18 Tennessee 45-24 at Georgia Tech.

Easiest day of work: The winner of Akron’s fan-coordinator contest got to help assemble a four-play drive … cut short by a fumble.

Conference game of the week: From Cal to Syracuse and back is a 5,600-mile round trip. The Golden Bears won 21-18 yesterday and are seeking the mercies of Poseidon throughout their voyage home. (Cal’s new coach: former Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi. Ducks could’ve used him.)

Far worse road trip for Arkansas, which got brutalized 43-10 at No. 20 Utah in a game that finished at 2 a.m. ET, and now has to host No. 2 Georgia at noon ET on Saturday.

Worst branding decision: Hear LSU fans cheer for their alumni during a video rundown of which Tigers are on which NFL rosters … but boo Jayden Daniels, who did that weird No. 5 thing a month ago.

Best branding decision: Elsewhere in Louisiana, Tulane beat South Alabama 28-24 while wearing Mardi Gras uniforms, surely chosen for this matchup in order to troll Mobile, home of the country’s oldest such celebration.

Most generous political-ads platform: Tune in to ESPN on any weekday morning, and you’ll hear someone embracing debate. On a Saturday morning, you’ll instead hear “GameDay” hosts and guests stumping for the Protect College Sports Act without debating the bill’s flaws. Or when Austin constituents booed Ted Cruz, did that count as debate?

Worst coach quote: Mizzou’s Eli Drinkwitz objected to Kansas using the rivalry’s Civil War history to cast his Tigers as literal “villains.” Fair, so far. After winning 38-21 in Lawrence (and calling for national unity on 9/11), he could’ve noted the original Missouri Tigers were Union-state militiamen. Instead, he said, “We left Kansas bleeding again,” linking his team’s victory to violence committed by pro-slavery forces, AKA … literal villains.

Purplest field: Central Arkansas, you have been surpassed in purpleness. Behold the DIII Curry (Mass.) Colonels. Let’s stay in that state:

Strangest box score: The WPI Engineers beat the New England Nor’easters by scoring five points in the final seven seconds. What? Up 21-17 late, UNE took an intentional safety, then attempted a squib kickoff. But the ball went only 13 yards from the 20 before being downed, which set up a winning 50-yard field goal.

For more from the weekend, see Stewart Mandel’s Final Thoughts.

Quick Snaps

👴🏻 “He is a full-time pastor and father of three. He’s also college football’s oldest player.”

📰 News:

To me, it sounds like some in the SEC are using last week’s LSU controversy as one more way to try to sell people on breaking away from the NCAA in the name of 😉😉 “self-governance.”
Speaking of the Tigers, basketball center Kate Koval received an NCAA waiver to transfer to Baylor. She’s Ukrainian, and was asked by coach Kim Mulkey to play alongside an incoming player from Russia. “For me, this war is not distant or abstract,” Koval said in a social media post.

🚨 “Can red-light therapy treat brain injuries? Some research shows ‘striking’ results,” based on a study of 26 BYU players.

Mementos

The moment I am least likely to forget: Kansas QB Isaiah Marshall lunging out of bounds while 360-no-scoping a pass completion as part of a touchdown drive.

Say hello at untilsaturday@theathletic.com, and we’re on to Week 3. Some might say it’s LSU-Ole Miss week. I prefer to call it New Mexico-Oklahoma week.

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