Week 1: Ohio State and Texas cruise, Michigan escapes, and Smith answers the draft question
A Week 1 digest of the AP preseason field's first tests, the games most likely to move Tuesday's ballot, and the 2027 prospects whose stock gained fresh evidence.
Coverage: Aug. 31–Sep. 6, 2026.
Week 1 gave AP voters plenty to use, but the official ballot will not arrive until Tuesday. Ohio State, Texas, Indiana and Georgia all won comfortably. Oregon survived Boise State, Michigan escaped Western Michigan, and Washington won the Apple Cup. The early 2027 draft read is just as clear: Jeremiah Smith turned a familiar preseason claim into an on-field performance, while the first full board of the week still puts Arch Manning ahead of him.
The AP ballot is still the preseason ballot
The first regular-season AP Top 25 is scheduled for Tuesday. The preseason ballot remains the official ranking through this Sunday issue. 1
The 25 teams below are the Aug. 17 AP preseason field. Week 1 status shows the evidence available before Tuesday's vote; it is not a new AP rank. 2
| Preseason rank | Team | Week 1 result or status | Movement case entering Tuesday |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State | Beat Ball State 56-3. | Hold at No. 1 after a 53-point win. 3 |
| 2 | Oregon | Beat Boise State 34-27. | Win keeps Oregon in place; the seven-point margin gives voters a reason to look closer. 4 |
| 3 | Georgia | Beat Tennessee State 63-3. | Hold after a 60-point margin. 5 |
| 4 | Notre Dame | Wisconsin game was still live at this issue's cutoff. | Final ballot effect pending. 6 |
| 5 | Texas | Beat Texas State 59-7. | Hold after Arch Manning's four-touchdown game. 3 |
| 6 | Indiana | Beat North Texas 52-16. | Hold after a 36-point win. 5 |
| 7 | Miami | Beat Stanford 45-6. | Hold after a 39-point win. 5 |
| 8 | Texas A&M | Beat Missouri State 50-0. | Hold after a shutout. 5 |
| 9 | Ole Miss | Louisville game was still live at this issue's cutoff. | Final ballot effect pending. 6 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | Beat UTEP 51-0. | Hold after a shutout. 5 |
| 11 | LSU | Beat Clemson 51-10. | A 41-point win puts LSU in position to rise. 5 |
| 12 | Texas Tech | Beat Abilene Christian 33-10. | Hold; the win supplies little separation. 5 |
| 13 | Alabama | Beat East Carolina 48-10. | Hold after a 38-point win. 5 |
| 14 | USC | Beat Fresno State 39-0. | Hold after a shutout. 5 |
| 15 | BYU | Beat Utah Tech 63-7. | Hold after a 56-point win. 5 |
| 16 | Michigan | Beat Western Michigan 13-12. | A win, but the narrow escape puts Michigan under pressure. 4 |
| 17 | Washington | Beat Washington State 24-10. | Hold after winning the Apple Cup. 5 |
| 18 | Penn State | Beat Marshall 45-0. | Hold after a shutout. 5 |
| 19 | SMU | Plays Florida State Tuesday. | No Week 1 result before the issue cutoff. 5 |
| 20 | Tennessee | Beat Furman 56-9. | Hold after a 47-point win. 5 |
| 21 | Utah | Beat Idaho 66-14. | Hold after a 52-point win. 5 |
| 22 | Iowa | Beat Northern Illinois 40-0. | Hold after a shutout. 5 |
| 23 | Houston | Beat Oregon State 33-20. | Hold after a 13-point win. 5 |
| 24 | Louisville | Ole Miss game was still live at this issue's cutoff. | Final ballot effect pending. 6 |
| 25 | Missouri | Beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 54-14. | Hold after a 40-point win. 5 |
The AP field has no confirmed new entries or dropouts yet. The Tuesday ballot will decide whether LSU, Michigan, USC or another team turns Week 1 into a rise or fall.
The games that will drive Tuesday's ballot
| Ranked team | Final or status | Player or game detail |
|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | Ohio State 56, Ball State 3 | Julian Sayin threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns. Jeremiah Smith caught eight passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns. 3 |
| Texas | Texas 59, Texas State 7 | Arch Manning threw for 305 yards and four touchdowns. Cam Coleman caught three passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns. 3 |
| Oregon | Oregon 34, Boise State 27 | Dante Moore threw for 388 yards and three touchdowns in a game Oregon had to win late. 4 |
| LSU | LSU 51, Clemson 10 | LSU's 41-point win over a preseason top-10 opponent gives the No. 11 Tigers the strongest case to rise. 5 |
| Michigan | Michigan 13, Western Michigan 12 | Michigan needed a second-chance Hail Mary after a clock review added one second. 4 |
| Washington | Washington 24, Washington State 10 | Demond Williams Jr. accounted for 268 passing yards, 61 rushing yards and two total touchdowns. 5 |
Michigan's win is the ballot's awkward data point. Western Michigan led 12-7 late, and the clock review gave Michigan one last play after Bryce Underwood's first Hail Mary fell incomplete. The second throw reached receiver Andrew Marsh for the 13-12 win. 4
Oregon has a different problem. Dante Moore produced 388 passing yards and three touchdowns, but Boise State led 17-14 at halftime before Oregon pulled away. Oregon won; the margin leaves room for a voter to keep Ohio State clearly ahead. 4
Texas supplied the cleanest quarterback statement. Arch Manning threw four touchdown passes in a 59-7 win. Cam Coleman added two touchdown catches, and Ryan Wingo caught seven passes for 121 yards and a score. 3
LSU's 51-10 win over Clemson was the weekend's strongest ranked-opponent result. LSU led 31-3 at halftime and finished with a 41-point margin. The result gives No. 11 LSU a real path into the top 10, even though the next AP ballot remains unknown. 5
Draft stock after Week 1
The Sep. 2 Yahoo Sports board by Nate Tice put Arch Manning No. 1, Jeremiah Smith No. 2, Leonard Moore No. 3, and Dante Moore No. 7. The board is a pre-Week 1 baseline, so it measures where the players stood before Saturday's games. 7
| Prospect | Week 1 evidence | Dated evaluation or board reading |
|---|---|---|
| Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State | Eight catches, 151 yards and two touchdowns in a 56-3 win. 3 | Athlon called Smith the consensus No. 1 overall prospect and said his Week 1 game matched the preseason hype. 8 |
| Arch Manning, Texas | 305 passing yards and four touchdowns in a 59-7 win. 3 | Tice ranked Manning No. 1 entering Week 1. His four-touchdown opener gives that ranking a strong hold. 9 |
| Dante Moore, Oregon | 28-for-37, 388 yards and three touchdowns against Boise State. 4 | Tice ranked Moore No. 7 entering Week 1. Moore's performance is a positive game signal, while Oregon's narrow escape keeps the team-level read mixed. 9 |
| Charlie Becker, Indiana | Four catches, 64 yards and two touchdowns against North Texas. 5 | Athlon wrote that Becker could become a top-15 pick; the Week 1 game reinforced that early view. 8 |
| Julian Sayin, Ohio State | 320 passing yards and three touchdowns against Ball State. 3 | The Sep. 2 board left Sayin outside its top 31. ESPN's Mel Kiper praised Sayin's accuracy before the season, while the Week 1 performance gives evaluators a new game to study. 910 |
The clearest game-to-stock connection belongs to Smith. Smith already held the No. 2 spot on Tice's board, then caught eight passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns in Ohio State's 56-3 win. The Athlon evaluation called the performance a statement and kept Smith in the consensus No. 1 overall conversation. 89
The next board update matters because Tice's ranking puts Manning first and Smith second before the games. Week 1 gave Smith the louder statistical line; Week 1 also gave Manning four touchdown passes. The season has supplied a comparison, while the board still needs a new dated list before either player can be called a numerical riser.
The next checkpoint
The AP Top 25 is due Tuesday. The poll will supply the first official rises, drops, new entries and dropouts of the season. 1
The next ranked tests arrive Saturday, Sept. 12: No. 1 Ohio State visits No. 5 Texas, and No. 10 Oklahoma visits No. 16 Michigan. Those two games will put the preseason hierarchy and the first ballot under immediate pressure. 11
References
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- 7Arch Manning, Jeremiah Smith and 2 more QBs in the top 10
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- 9Arch Manning, Jeremiah Smith and 2 more QBs in the top 10
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