A week ago, the college football world celebrated Notre Dame’s away win at Texas A&M as one of the toughest of the weekend. Given the remaining schedule, the Irish were considered one of the favorites to reach the College Football Playoff.

So, about that schedule…

Week 2 brought us a few Saturday hangovers, none bigger than Notre Dame’s loss at home to Northern Illinois. Whew! Penn State was a bit lame, too. The Nittany Lions trailed Bowling Green for most of the game before pulling out a seven-point win.

That wasn’t the case for the Irish, who lost another puzzling game under Marcus Freeman. Remember the losses to Stanford and Marshall his freshman year, and the blowout at Louisville last year? The loss to UNI may be the worst of them all.

For the MAC Huskies, it’s their first top 10 win in school history and lands them in our own Top 10!

What else happened in week 2?

Let’s start with Texas, which marched into Ann Arbor and defeated Michigan in one of the most dominant and impressive performances so far this year. Pitt and Oklahoma State came back from double-digit deficits to beat Cincinnati and Arkansas. And Kansas State needed a controversial offensive pass interference call to survive Tulane.

Did you see what happened at Jordan-Hare Stadium? Cal — yes, Cal of the ACC — made the cross-country trip to Auburn and won 21-14. The SEC is 5-6 against other power leagues in the non-conference slate.

Additionally, we scored two last-second field goals to secure victories in Iowa City (Iowa State vs. Iowa) and College Park (Michigan State vs. Maryland).

Enough said. On to the Top 10!

A reminder about our rankings: We don’t take preseason polls or results from previous seasons into account. What happened in the past is, well, past. What matters is who you beat and how you beat them!

Ohio State, which has played teams like Western Michigan and Akron, is not in our poll. Nor is Ole Miss, which opened with Furman and Middle Tennessee. This system normally rewards teams with tougher opponents early in the season, but it also creates an unusual group in the first few weeks.

1. Georgia Bulldogs

This week: defeated Tennessee Tech 48-3

Next week: at Kentucky

Trevor Etienne made his Georgia debut back from suspension in the season opener, rushing for 78 yards on just five carries, including a 45-yarder. It highlighted UGA’s blowout of the FCS Eagles. Even Carson Beck’s backup, Gunner Stockton, had his way, going 10-for-12 for 90 yards. The Bulldogs remain our best team with that neutral-site win over Clemson in Week 1.

2. Texas Longhorns

This week: Michigan defeated 31-12

Next week: against UTSA

If the hype surrounding this Texas team and QB Quinn Ewers wasn’t high before, it is now. The Longhorns have taken Michigan by storm and further exposed the Wolverines’ offensive ineptitude. Sheronne Moore needs to fix some big things in Ann Arbor. Meanwhile, Steve Sarkisian looks to have a championship-caliber team led by a projected first-round QB. Ewers has three touchdowns and 246 yards in the Big House.

3. Hurricanes in Miami

This week: Florida A&M defeated 56-9

Next week: vs. Ball State

The Hurricanes rolled over the FCS Rattlers. The season-opening win at Florida may not look like a huge win by the end of the season, but it’s enough to keep the Canes in our top five. Have you seen their schedule? You should check it out. Miami doesn’t play a ranked team until October 19th in Louisville, which could also be their toughest test of the regular season.

4. USC Trojans

This week: Utah State defeated by a large margin

Next week: Day

No hangover for the Trojans after their Week 1 win over LSU. The new defense has looked sharp as hell the first two weeks of the season, which bodes well for a future Big Ten slate that includes Michigan, Penn State and Nebraska. Miller Moss and his plethora of receivers are dangerous, but Lincoln Riley showed on Saturday that the Trojans can run the ball just as well.

5. Volunteers from Tennessee

This week: NC State defeated 51-10

Next week: vs Kent State

Under offensive line coach Josh Heupel, the Vols offense gets a lot of attention, but what about the defense in this game? DC Tim Banks’ unit held the Wolfpack to 143 yards, forced three turnovers, and had three sacks. The unit was responsible for a key play just before halftime. With NC State inside the UT 20 and needing a touchdown to tie, Tennessee DB Will Brooks intercepted Grayson McCall and returned him for a score of 85 yards and a game-high 14-point swing.

6. Penn State Nittany Lions

This week: defeated Bowling Green 34-27

Next week: Day

James Franklin told reporters last week that the country didn’t talk enough about the Nittany Lions defense. Well, they’ll talk about it now – not in a good way. Penn State trailed the MAC Falcons for most of the game, and that PSU defense gave up nearly 400 yards. Bowling Green converted seven of 13 third downs! Franklin’s group remains in our Top Ten with that win over West Virginia, but a few more performances like Saturday’s will send them packing.

7. North Carolina Tar Heels

This week: Charlotte defeated 38-20

Next week: vs NC Central

In their first game without QB Max Johnson, the Tar Heels relied on a pair of tailbacks, Davion Gause and Omarion Hampton, who rushed for 269 yards in Charlotte. UNC’s season opener against Minnesota wasn’t exactly pretty, but it was an away win in the power conference, and those are rare things this early in the season.

8. Northern Illinois Huskies

This week: Notre Dame defeated 16-14

Next week: against Buffalo

Give it to UNI defensive coordinator Nick Benedetto and his Huskies defense. They held the Irish to just three third-down conversions and 286 total yards. Coach Thomas Hammock is free of hot seat buzz after pulling off an emotional win. Hammock grew up just around the corner in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

9. Cyclones in the state of Iowa

This week: Defeating Iowa 20-19

Next week: Day

The Cyclones trailed 19-7 with 4 minutes left in the third quarter before scoring a touchdown and getting 46- and 54-yard field goals from Kyle Konrardy, the latter with 9 seconds left, to win this annual rivalry game for the second time in nine years. ISU QB Rocco Becht and WR Jaylin Noel connected on five carries for 133 yards, and Matt Campbell’s defense smothered Iowa in the second half (three straight three-and-outs in a crucial third-quarter stretch).

10. Vanderbilt Commodores

This week: Alcorn State defeated 55-0

Next week: at Georgia State

For the second straight week, the Commodores find themselves in our Top Ten, a product largely coming off their Week 1 win over Virginia Tech. Clark Lea’s team has a good chance to reach 3-0 next week before traveling to Missouri on Sept. 21 to open SEC play. How good would a 3-0 start be? Well, the program has won that many games in a full season just once in the past four years.

Out: Notre Dame (3), Georgia Tech (6), Colorado (8), Alabama (9), TCU (10)