AP Top 25: Where is Ohio State football on Nathan Baird’s Week 3 ballot? College rankings

COLUMBUS, Ohio Part of the magic and/or Madness of the AP Top 25 Poll is the permanent benefit, or handicap, of a temporary mis-evaluation.

Notre Dame, as it turns out, is not one of the five best teams in the country. Not on collective talent, and certainly not on rsum after falling to 0-2 with a home loss to Marshall. Yet Ohio State will be able to call its season-opening Victory over the Fighting Irish a top-five win all season.

On the flip side, Alabama had a close call against Texas, a team unranked by the consensus. Yet I had the Longhorns in my top 20 last week, so through my lens, the Crimson Tide found a way to win a top-20 road game.

Which is why, in a very close call, Alabama stays ahead of OSU, behind No. 1 Georgia, on my ballot.

A few other notes:

Michigan is moving forward with JJ McCarthy as quarterback and my preseason Skepticism about the Wolverines is decreasing.

Easy to get caught up in circular logic here. Why does Marshall get credit for beating a Notre Dame team that I dropped out of the top 25 altogether? What is the difference between the quality of a team and the quality of a teams rsum? The best answer is preseason Talent assessment does still bleed into these rankings, but that influence decreases each week moving forward.

Boy was I wrong about Wisconsin, which I voted No. 10 last week. Well find out Saturday if I am similarly out over my skis on Penn State, which plays at Auburn. The Tigers just struggled to beat unremarkable San Jose State at home, but I don’t assume it will be an easy trip for the Nittany Lions.

NATHAN BAIRDS WEEK 3 AP TOP 25 BALLOTS

1-Georgia (2-0)

2-Alabama (2-0)

3-Ohio State (2-0)

4-Michigan (2-0)

5-Arkansas (2-0)

6-Kentucky (2-0)

7-Tennessee (2-0)

8-Penn State (2-0)

9-USC (2-0)

10-Clemson (2-0)

11-Oklahoma (2-0)

12-BYU (2-0)

13-Oklahoma State (2-0)

14-Michigan State (2-0)

15-NC State (2-0)

16-Miami (2-0)

17-Florida (1-1)

18-Pitt (1-1)

19-Texas (1-1)

20-Utah (1-1)

21-Cincinnati (1-1)

22-Marshall (2-0)

23-Oregon State (2-0)

24-North Carolina (3-0)

25-Kansas State (2-0)

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