Joel Klatt ranks top ten teams in college football after Week 2

Week 2 is in the books for the college football season. Now, Fox analyst Joel Klatt is back and shared who he believes the Top 10 teams are in college football to this point in the season.

Klatt looked to rank teams based on what they’ve accomplished to this point in the season. That’s not predictive of what could happen in the future. Rather, it’s a snapshot of where they sit in this moment. So, it’s not a surprise that the top 10 is filled with teams who are coming off big wins or have been generally dominant. On top of that, only two teams with a loss made it into these rankings.

With that in mind, here’s how Joel Klatt thinks the top teams in college football work out through two weeks. That starts with last season’s national champion, the Ohio State Buckeyes.

1. Ohio State Buckeyes

The Ohio State Buckeyes opened Week 1 with the premier game in college football. Klatt was there in person to call the game for Big Noon Saturday. There, the Buckeyes thrived on defense, shutting down the vaunted Texas offense and adding the biggest win of the season so far.

In their follow-up, the Buckeyes took care of business against Grambling State. That was never close, with the Buckeyes winning 70-0. Now, they’ll ramp back up in competition against Ohio before getting into Big Ten play.

2. LSU Tigers

The LSU Tigers, like Ohio State, opened the season with a massive win. They hit the road and went to Clemson. There, LSU was resilient and won in a very tough road environment for a massive Week 1 win.

Klatt would acknowledge that LSU had a bit of a letdown in Week 2. The Tigers would struggle at times against Louisiana Tech, but got the win anyways. Given that the game was between the Clemson win and SEC play kicking off against rival Florida, it’s understandable to have a slight letdown.

3. Oregon Ducks

The Oregon Ducks don’t have a marquee win just yet. However, the Ducks do have their two dominant performances, pushing them up Klatt’s rankings. That included beating a good FCS team, Montana State, and a Big 12 team, Oklahoma State.

Between the two wins, Oregon scored 128 points and allowed just 16. That’s winning games 64-8 on average. Interestingly, the Ducks were even more impressive against Oklahoma State. So, they’ve hit their stride going into Big Ten play.

4. Penn State Nittany Lions

The Penn State Nittany Lions opened the season with a pair of forgettable wins over Nevada and FIU. In that time, the defense has continued to look elite. However, at times, the offense hasn’t quite lived up to what the team wants it to be this season.

In particular, Klatt would note that Penn State was frustrated by its own performance against FIU. In particular, the offense struggled during the first half of that game, and the Nittany Lions went into halftime winning just 10-0. That game would finish 34-0, but the slow start led to some hesitation for Klatt.

5. Georgia Bulldogs

The Georgia Bulldogs were a team that Joel Klatt admitted he almost dropped further down than this. Through two games, the Bulldogs are unbeaten, but have only played G5 and FCS competition. On top of that, like Penn State, there have been some uninspiring efforts in those games. In particular, the offense had issues against Austin Peay, only scoring 28 points.

Injuries have become a concern for Georgia, particularly along the offensive line now. So, the Bulldogs need to find solutions quickly. SEC play begins next week on the road against Tennessee.

6. Texas Longhorns

The focus of Texas’ season this year has been on quarterback Arch Manning. He struggled against Ohio State but bounced back against San Jose State. Of course, that came with a massive drop off in talent that he was competing against. It also came as he winced multiple times throwing the ball, leading to some concerns.

Going forward, Manning will remain a massive topic of conversation. However, this is clearly a very talented team overall. There’s no reason why the Longhorns can’t compete for the SEC once again in 2025.

7. Miami Hurricanes

The Miami Hurricanes opened the season with a massive win over Notre Dame. That game saw the Hurricanes jump out to a big lead, force multiple turnovers, and dominate the line of scrimmage. Still, the Irish came back to tie it, but the Hurricanes didn’t slip up and would go on to win with a late field goal and defensive stop.

Adding a win over Bethune-Cookman, Miami looks to be in a good position moving forward. Still, they’re going to be immediately tested with an interesting game. USF, now ranked after opening with wins over Boise State and Florida, is coming to town for a big test of both teams.

8. Florida State Seminoles

There were low expectations for Florida State coming into the season. After all, the Seminoles are coming off a 2-10 season in 2024. Now, they’ve already been impressive enough for Klatt to put them in his top 10 rankings.

It makes some sense, of course. Florida State opened with a massive win over Alabama, who was expected to be excellent in 2025. They’d go on to dominate an FCS opponent, East Texas A&M. With that, there’s plenty of excitement around college football around the Seminoles.

9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The only team to make it into Klatt’s Top 10 rankings without having a win this season is Notre Dame. The Irish opened with their loss on the road to Miami. With a first-time starting quarterback and a tough road environment, that was forgivable. Then, Notre Dame went into a bye week.

Week 3 will be revealing for Notre Dame. The Irish are set to host a tough Texas A&M team that has plenty of talent. Getting back on track there would put Notre Dame back on the path it wants to be on. A loss, however, would send their season distinctly in the wrong direction.

10. Oklahoma Sooners

The Oklahoma Sooners looked to completely rebuild their offense during the offseason. Through Week 2, that seems to have worked. In particular, John Mateer has been phenomenal for the Sooners and gotten them off on the right foot. That included a big win over Michigan.

It’s a difficult path from here for Oklahoma. The Sooners will have another non-conference game next week against Temple. After that, the Sooners begin SEC play against Auburn. All eight SEC teams Oklahoma plays are currently ranked in the AP Poll. That includes LSU and Texas, who Klatt has in his Top 10.