What will the AP Poll look like next week? I’ve got the answer for you. Each week we’ll be predicting what each ranked team will do in the upcoming games and how that will impact their rankings. Then, we’ll compare these predictions against what actually happened as the season progresses.

It’s been a decade since the last time we saw a regular season game between #1 and #2 in both major polls. The game itself was a disappointment as the Longhorns couldn’t muster anything on offense against the new Buckeye defense and Ohio State rolled in Austin 24-7. I definitely blew that pick. These nine new starters on defense for Ohio State are going to do just fine, thank you very much.

Let’s see how the rest of my picks turned out. Below is a table showing how I had predicted the poll to look last week lined up against how it looks in reality today. I’ve also added this week’s opponent for each team to the table.

Aside from picking the Longhorns to beat the Buckeyes, my worst pick was taking the Gamecocks over Georgia. Dawg fans feel bad for the injured Joe Tereshinski III, but their sympathy is outweighed by the hope they have that Matthew Stafford can be their next savior. Spurrier was shut out for the first time since he was coaching in Durham, NC. We won’t get to find out if UGA is for real for a few more weeks, but the Tennessee – Georgia game in Athens should be fun to watch.

I also was wrong about Clemson going on the road to beat Boston College. The Eagles blocked a Tiger extra point attempt in double overtime to win it. This dropped Clemson from the poll altogether which left a spot open for the Eagles to take. I was also wrong about Cal losing at home to Minnesota. This may legitimize the Tennessee Volunteers because of the huge win they had over the Golden Bears in week 1.

So far, I’m not doing great on my upset picks but things could be worse. Let’s take a stab at Week 3 and what the poll will look like a week from today. Things are bound to get better.

There will be eight ranked teams that lose this weekend and only one of these losers will lose to an unranked team. The highest ranked team to lose will be LSU. Auburn’s going to win the SEC West and they won’t leave much doubt about this fact when they beat LSU at home this Saturday. Another highly ranked team to lose on the road to a higher ranked opponent will be Michigan, who will lose in South Bend to Notre Dame. The Big Ten is starting to look bad early in the season….outside of Columbus, that is.

Miami will stop the trend as they beat a higher ranked team on the road in Louisville. With Michael Bush, the Cardinals may have been able to keep their offense on the field long enough to outlast the Canes. Without him, they don’t stand a chance. In the second best SEC game of the week, Florida will take care of business on the road and have people in Knoxville scared that a repeat of last year’s 5-6 record is in the cards. Remember that the Vols won in Baton Rouge last September and couldn’t escape it. Don’t get too excited about the win over Cal yet!

Everyone’s been waiting for Oklahoma to collapse since Rhett Bomar was released from the team. It happens this week when the Sooners go to Autzen Stadium and lose to the Oregon Ducks. Autzen is small, but supposed to be one of (if not the) loudest places to play in the nation. Oklahoma will find this out the hard way. As I mentioned earlier, there will be only one team to lose to an unranked opponent and this team will lose at home to an in-state rival. The Iowa State Cyclones have owned the Iowa Hawkeyes in recent years and the Hawkeyes needed overtime to win in the Carrier Dome over an awful Syracuse team. Yuck!

I’m really looking forward to the primetime ABC matchup this week. Bill Callahan takes his Nebraska Cornhuskers down to L.A. to play the USC Trojans. Nebraska will make a good showing, but USC is very good. The Trojans will send the Huskers down the poll, but pollsters tend to reward teams for losing to very good opponents. Lastly, Texas Tech will beat TCU at home which may or may not be an upset. Both teams are ranked in the bottom five of the top 25 but the Red Raiders are still putting up passing yards that rank among the nation’s best.

Here’s what the entire poll will look like: