Editor’s note: The Athlete 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.

Week 1 is over and we’ve finally seen everyone in the FBS. Well, not everyone (sorry to keep you waiting, Ball State).

After a weekend that brought us few surprises but several impressive performances, where is everyone heading in this week’s edition of The athlete 134?

Welcome back to the top spot, Georgia, for its 34-3 dominance over Clemson. Welcome to the top 25, Vanderbilt! The Commodores were ranked 95th in the preseason rankings, but why wouldn’t Vanderbilt move up to near the top 25 for now after an overtime win over popular ACC underdog Virginia Tech? It was the most shocking result of the season, and against a team in my preseason top 25.

The Pulse Newsletter

Free daily sports updates straight to your inbox.

Free daily sports updates straight to your inbox.

Sign up

Penn State, Miami and Georgia Tech also rose, while Florida State, Florida and others fell.

As a reminder: The rankings will be volatile in the beginning. Wins against good and competent teams will be rewarded and skewed. Teams can make big jumps quickly with good wins. Teams that beat inferior opponents won’t move much or may even “drop” but that’s simply because someone else jumped ahead with a notable win. Don’t worry. Relax. It will take a few weeks for everything to settle down after everyone has played at least one notable game. I try to highlight the results and it takes time for everyone to have one.

Here is the second week’s edition of The athlete 134.

1-10

I considered putting Notre Dame at No. 2 just for this week. I did. The 23-13 win at Texas A&M was better than anything anyone in the top six outside of Georgia has done. But Notre Dame isn’t the second-best team in the country, and everyone else has done well against lower-tier competition, so it’s a small step up for the Irish for now. Don’t expect them to leave that spot for a while, as they have a favorable schedule over the next month. But that Notre Dame win could look better as the season progresses, which would impact the rankings.

Penn State, welcome to the top 10. I was skeptical in the preseason. I didn’t believe in Drew Allar, but Saturday’s 34-12 win at West Virginia was complete physical domination, and we saw an offense willing to throw the ball down the field and one that let receivers get free. It felt different than last year’s game. Maybe it’s an overreaction in Week 1, but it made me believe that not only is this a team that could make the College Football Playoff, but one that could win a game or two.

Michigan and Oregon nearly fell out of the top 10 after narrow wins over Fresno State and Idaho, respectively. Both teams were within one point of the game deep into the fourth quarter. But they won, so they get some Week 1 is a leap of faith for now. Texas and Boise State are next, so we’ll find out quickly if they’re serious.

11-25

Hello, USC. The revamped defense looked more than competent and Miller Moss looked like a real Lincoln Riley quarterback as the Trojans beat LSU 27-20 and now move up to No. 15 while the Tigers slip to No. 16.

Clemson currently holds onto the top 25 at No. 23. That’s mostly based on my belief that Georgia would do that to just about anyone. Boston College’s 28-13 win over Florida State was more dominant than the final score, moving the Eagles up from No. 62 to No. 24, and Vanderbilt’s overtime win over Virginia Tech put the Commodores at No. 25.

26-50

Georgia Tech rises to No. 26 after a 2-0 start. The Yellow Jackets would have been in the top 25 if BC’s dominant win on Monday night made the win over FSU in Ireland seem less impressive. That’s how things can change from week to week.

No. 27 NC State had to come back and hold on in the fourth quarter against Western Carolina. The same goes for No. 29 Boise State against Georgia Southern. The Wolfpack and Broncos remain in their positions for now. North Carolina moves up 10 spots to No. 36 after a win at Minnesota thanks to a missed Gophers field goal, but losing quarterback Max Johnson for the season could be a problem.

Florida State drops from 9th to 46th after its terrible 0-2 start, and right behind the Seminoles are the Florida Gators, two teams whose fans are facing existential crises.

Colorado moves up a few spots and into the top 50 after a 31-26 win over North Dakota State. The Buffaloes looked a lot like last year’s team and some questionable time management from Deion Sanders gave the Bison a chance at the end, but it was still a solid win against a very successful team with some surprises in the FBS. TCU is ranked 49th after a 31-24 win at Stanford.

51-75

UNLV just misses the top 50 after a dominant 27-7 win at Houston that was nearly a shutout. If you thought UNLV’s last season was a fluke, the Rebels have started with a telling win, although concerns about the passing game remain after Week 1.

Arizona State’s 48-7 win over Wyoming was perhaps the most surprising victory of the weekend, and ASU climbed from No. 89 to No. 53. A Sun Devils team that ranked 124th nationally in scoring last year (17.8 points per game) had to face a Wyoming defense that is usually very solid.

South Carolina drops nine spots and falls out of the top 50, coming in at No. 54 after coming back to narrowly beat Old Dominion 23-19. The same goes for Texas Tech, which falls to No. 57 after needing a two-point stop in overtime to escape an Abilene Christian team that managed 615 yards of offense.

Coastal Carolina put together a surprisingly convincing 55-27 performance to beat Jacksonville State and climbed 30 spots to 64th place. The Chanticleers have now won seven of their last nine games under head coach Tim Beck.

76-100

Is it time to believe in Jeff Choate’s Nevada yet? The Wolfpack held their own against SMU in Week 0 and showed it was no one-off with a 28-26 win at two-time defending Sun Belt championship champion Troy. Nevada jumps more than 50 spots to No. 76 after being lifeless the past two seasons.

Old Dominion and Georgia Southern climb despite their losses because they played well and held fourth-quarter leads. Why rely on a preseason ranking when both played better than expected in the loss? North Texas’ solid win at South Alabama puts the Mean Green at No. 93.

Sam Houston was my Conference USA team to watch in the preseason, and the Bearkats made a statement with a 34-14 win at Rice to move up to No. 99. The Bearkats started 0-8 last year but won three of their final four games and are now 1-0 in 2024. Hawaii played sloppy in a Week 0 win over Delaware State but almost beat UCLA in Week 1 but lost on a last-second field goal. So the Rainbow Warriors move up a few spots to No. 98. We’ll see which is the real Hawaii. Florida Atlantic moved up a spot in the top 100 after a close (but sloppy) 16-10 loss at Michigan State.

101-134

Arkansas State needed a last-second touchdown to beat Central Arkansas, so the Red Wolves drop to No. 103. New Mexico is 0-2, but buy Bronco Mendenhall stock while you can. The Lobos held a 17-point fourth-quarter lead against Montana State in Week 0 and trailed Arizona by just three points at halftime in Week 1. New Mexico lost both games, but the team is as dynamic as it has been in a long time. As a result, the Lobos move up six spots to No. 116. New Mexico State needed a touchdown with less than two minutes left to beat Southeast Missouri State, so the Aggies drop to No. 117.

There’s a new number 134. Kennesaw State played UTSA well into the fourth quarter, so the Owls come from the bottom of the standings. There’s a different group of Owls coming. Temple lost the ball six times in a 51-3 loss to Oklahoma. Philly has been rough the last few years, and things weren’t looking any better on Saturday.

The Athletic 134 series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control or influence over the reporting or editorial process and do not review articles prior to publication.

(Photo by Kirby Smart: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)