AP College Football Poll, Michigan Remains 7th, MSU Drops

Ann Arbor, MI — September 3, 2019

Week one of the 150th Season of College Football is in the books. The University of Michigan was ranked in the Top 10 when the Associated Press (AP) released their preseason poll. Michigan State began the season ranked 18th.

The Top Five teams remained the same as all posted opening weekend wins. Last year’s Champion, Clemson in 1st. Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Ohio State, 2nd to 5th respectively.

Wolverines

The U of M Wolverines defeated Middle Tennessee State 40-21. But, it was ugly. At halftime, the score was Michigan 27 and MTSU 14. All of Middle Tennessee’s points came off Wolverine turnovers.

Michigan Head Coach Jim Harbaugh was quoted as saying. “We shot ourselves in the foot at times with pre-snap penalties and mishandling the ball.” In the 2nd half, Michigan did a better job of controlling the football and opened the final margin to 19 points. Far from the 30 point favorites they entered the game as.

The Wolverines held onto their 7th place ranking in the AP Poll, but voters may be less likely to reward them next week if they stumble when the Army Cadets visit “The Big House.”

Spartans

All the attention for Michigan State football was on improving their offense in 2019. The Spartans defense was expected to be one of the premier squads in the Big 10 Conference this year.

In their opener against Tulsa, the defense lived up to its billing. With quarterback sacks and tackles for losses, the Golden Hurricanes lost 73 yards rushing and managed only 80 total yards against the Green & White defenders.

However, Spartan Head Coach Mark Dantonio made it perfectly clear he was not happy with the offensive effort despite a 28-7 win. Michigan State was a 22 point favorite against Tulsa, Dantonio expected more.

During his news conference today, Dantonio did not mince words. “I can say this… football is a game of effort, toughness and knowing what to do, half of our team figured that out, half of it didn’t. We will make sure that other half gets figured out this week. So that’s my message to our football team.”

Western Michigan comes to East Lansing next Saturday and is likely to feel the wrath of the Spartans work preparing for the game. Michigan State dropped from 18th to 19th in the AP Poll this week as fellow Big 10 competitor Wisconsin jumped ahead of them in the rankings.

New Rankings

Here is the complete AP Poll heading into Week 2.

AP Top 25

Updated Sep 3, 2019

RANK	TEAM	TREND	POINTS		NEXT GAME
1	Clemson (54) 1-0	—	1542		Sat, Sep 7 @ 3:30 pm	vs  Texas A&M
2	Alabama (8) 1-0	—	1493		Sat, Sep 7 @ 4:00 pm	vs  New Mexico St.
3	Georgia 1-0	—	1407		Sat, Sep 7 @ 4:00 pm	vs  Murray St.
4	Oklahoma 1-0	—	1337		Sat, Sep 7 @ 7:00 pm	vs  South Dakota
5	Ohio St. 1-0	—	1270		Sat, Sep 7 @ 12:00 pm	vs  Cincinnati
6	LSU 1-0	—	1233		Sat, Sep 7 @ 7:30 pm	@  Texas
7	Michigan 1-0	—	1126		Sat, Sep 7 @ 12:00 pm	vs  Army
8	Notre Dame 1-0	+1	1037		Sat, Sep 14 @ 2:30 pm	vs  New Mexico
9	Texas 1-0	+1	1032		Sat, Sep 7 @ 7:30 pm	vs  LSU
10	Auburn 1-0	+6	958		Sat, Sep 7 @ 7:30 pm	vs  Tulane
11	Florida 1-0	-3	940		Sat, Sep 7 @ 7:30 pm	vs  UT Martin
12	Texas A&M 1-0	—	862		Sat, Sep 7 @ 3:30 pm	@  Clemson
13	Utah 1-0	+1	826		Sat, Sep 7 @ 1:00 pm	vs  N. Illinois
14	Washington 1-0	-1	768		Sat, Sep 7 @ 10:30 pm	vs  California
15	Penn St. 1-0	—	688		Sat, Sep 7 @ 7:30 pm	vs  Buffalo
16	Oregon 0-1	-5	568		Sat, Sep 7 @ 7:30 pm	vs  Nevada
17	Wisconsin 1-0	+2	519		Sat, Sep 7 @ 3:30 pm	vs  C. Michigan
18	UCF 1-0	-1	445		Sat, Sep 7 @ 7:00 pm	@  FAU
19	Michigan St. 1-0	-1	409		Sat, Sep 7 @ 7:30 pm	vs  W. Michigan
20	Iowa 1-0	—	351		Sat, Sep 7 @ 12:00 pm	vs  Rutgers
21	Syracuse 1-0	+1	246		Sat, Sep 7 @ 12:00 pm	@  Maryland
22	Washington St. 1-0	+1	244		Sat, Sep 7 @ 5:00 pm	vs  N. Colorado
23	Stanford 1-0	+2	198		Sat, Sep 7 @ 10:30 pm	@  USC
24	Boise St. 1-0	+9	179		Fri, Sep 6 @ 9:00 pm	vs  Marshall
25	Iowa St. 1-0	-4	86		Sat, Sep 14 @ 4:00 pm	vs  Iowa
25	Nebraska 1-0	-1	86		Sat, Sep 7 @ 3:30 pm	@  Colorado

Courtesy of CBS Sports