Michigan Wolverines face trend in AP Top 25 early-season rankings

Ribin Peter

Michigan Wolverines face trend in AP Top 25 early-season rankings image

Junfu Han

The regular season's first AP Top 25 college football poll rankings were released on Tuesday. The Michigan Wolverines fell one spot in the poll, moving from No. 14 to No. 15, despite a 34-17 season-opening win over New Mexico.

There's a trend here: for the second consecutive year, Michigan has dropped in the AP Top-25 poll from its preseason ranking.

The latest AP Top 25 poll also saw Ohio State reclaim the No. 1 spot, with Penn State, LSU and Georgia rounding out the top four.

Here are the full AP Top 25 rankings for this week:

  1. Ohio State
  2. Penn State
  3. LSU
  4. Georgia
  5. Miami
  6. Oregon
  7. Texas
  8. Clemson
  9. Notre Dame
  10. South Carolina
  11. Illinois
  12. Arizona State
  13. Florida
  14. Florida State
  15. Michigan
  16. Iowa State
  17. SMU
  18. Oklahoma
  19. Texas A&M
  20. Ole Miss
  21. Alabama
  22. Tennessee
  23. Indiana
  24. Texas Tech
  25. Utah

The season opener was special for Michigan. Bryce Underwood, the Wolverines' new quarterback, became just the fourth freshman to start at the position in program history. In his college football debut, he recorded 21 of 31 passes for 251 yards and one touchdown.

"Honestly, I'd say it's insane, really," Underwood said of making his first start. ... "That was a surreal feeling, being in the Big House. I've been coming to the games since I was 8, 9 years old, so it's just a surreal feeling to have the Block M on my chest and to score a touchdown."

In the Week 2 matchup, Michigan will face Oklahoma on Saturday night in Norman at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Ribin Peter

Ribin Peter is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. While he started as a soccer writer, he now covers college football and the NFL. Ribin is especially captivated by the adrenaline rush that football provides and sees every play and rivalry through an unbiased lens.