One week was all it took not only for this season's biggest storylines to emerge, but also to see who the contenders and pretenders are for the 2021 College Football Playoff.
As always, that starts with Alabama, which looked every bit the No. 1 team in the nation after demolishing No. 14 Miami 44-13. First-time starting quarterback Bryce Young showed no significant dropoff from Mac Jones in his debut, and the defense looked better than it has in years. But the Crimson Tide aren't the only powerful team this year.
No team scored a more impressive resume-building win than Georgia, which, ranked No. 5 at the time, downed No. 3 Clemson in a neutral-site game in Charlotte. The Bulldogs didn't get much done against the Tigers offensively, but their defense — which sacked D.J. Uiagalelei seven times and scored the game's only touchdown on an interception return — was all Georgia needed to secure a 10-3 victory.
BENDER: Week 1 takeaways, from Bryce Young to Texas
Week 1 wasn't entirely kind to college football's preseason ranked teams. No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 7 Iowa State and No. 11 Oregon all suffered significant scares against vastly inferior opponents in Tulane, Northern Iowa and Fresno State, respectively; Heisman contender Sam Howell couldn't stop Virginia Tech from upsetting No. 10 North Carolina on the road; Chip Kelly got perhaps the biggest win of his UCLA career by downing No. 16 LSU; and No. 10 Washington lost a shocker to FCS opponent Montana.
Here's how Week 1 of college football action affected the AP Top 25 and Coaches polls heading into Week 2 of the season:
MORE: The biggest college football takeaways from Week 1
College football rankings for Week 2
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team | Points (No. 1 votes) |
| 1 | Alabama | 1,571 (59) |
| 2 | Georgia | 1,507 (4) |
| 3 | Ohio State | 1,437 |
| 4 | Oklahoma | 1,374 |
| 5 | Texas A&M | 1,288 |
| 6 | Clemson | 1,231 |
| 7 | Cincinnati | 1,136 |
| 8 | Notre Dame | 1,070 |
| 9 | Iowa State | 1,045 |
| 10 | Iowa | 942 |
| 11 | Penn State | 908 |
| 12 | Oregon | 883 |
| 13 | Florida | 842 |
| 14 | USC | 789 |
| 15 | Texas | 683 |
| 16 | UCLA | 668 |
| 17 | Coastal Carolina | 384 |
| 18 | Wisconsin | 376 |
| 19 | Virginia Tech | 359 |
| 20 | Ole Miss | 335 |
| 21 | Utah | 334 |
| 22 | Miami | 229 |
| 23 | Arizona State | 222 |
| 24 | North Carolina | 198 |
| 25 | Auburn | 83 |
Others receiving votes: TCU 80; N.C. State 69; UCF 61; Liberty 57; LSU 57; Michigan 52; Oklahoma State 39; Indiana 37; Michigan State 28; Nevada 23; Kansas State 13; Louisiana 12; BYU 10; Boston College 8; Ball State 7; Maryland 6; Arizona 5; UAB 5; Florida State 4; Kentucky 3; Texas Tech 2; Army 2; Appalachian State 1.
Coaches Poll
| Rank | Team | Points (No. 1 votes) |
| 1 | Alabama | 1,624 (64) |
| 2 | Georgia | 1,537 (1) |
| 3 | Ohio State | 1,491 |
| 4 | Oklahoma | 1,397 |
| 5 | Texas A&M | 1,334 |
| 6 | Clemson | 1,239 |
| 7 | Notre Dame | 1,197 |
| 8 | Cincinnati | 1,113 |
| 9 | Iowa State | 1,045 |
| 10 | Florida | 1,068 |
| 11 | Oregon | 920 |
| 12 | Iowa | 914 |
| 13 | Penn State | 872 |
| 14 | USC | 828 |
| 15 | Texas | 653 |
| 16 | UCLA | 538 |
| 17 | Wisconsin | 384 |
| 18 | Utah | 294 |
| 19 | Coastal Carolina | 289 |
| 20 | Ole Miss | 285 |
| 21 | Virginia Tech | 274 |
| 22 | North Carolina | 252 |
| 23 | Oklahoma State | 243 |
| 24 | Miami | 186 |
| 25 | Arizona State | 181 |
Others receiving votes: Auburn 123; Michigan 99; LSU 95; N.C. State 81; Liberty 78; BYU 65; Indiana 58; TCU 49; UCF 48; Florida State 34; Michigan State 33; Kentucky 28; Pitts 20; Kansas State 19; Louisiana 19; Boston College 19; Appalachian State 15; SMU 14; Rutgers 11; Arkansas 11; Maryland 9; Tennessee 7; Nevada 7; Army 7; Fresno State 7; Tulane 6; Ball State 5; Virginia 5; Missouri 5; San José State 5; Marshall 3; Air Force 2; UAB 2; Charlotte 1.
