College Football Week 1 Power Rankings

The long road from early January to late August has finally reached its end. Florida State enters the year one of the favorites to win it all as they seek to defend their national title. Also in the mix is perennial favorites Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma, and Ohio State. Not to be outdone, the SEC is again deep with half a dozen teams that could find themselves in the playoff conversation including the runner up in last year's title game, Auburn. Out west, Stanford and USC along with a reemerging UCLA should provide for excitement. The Rose Bowl winner Michigan State looks to build on last year's stellar season in the Big Ten. Notre Dame will get its quarterback this season whom led them to the national title game two seasons ago. With all that said, here is Week 1's power rankings.

1) Florida State (vs Oklahoma State)- The national champions open the season in Dallas and hope they end the season here as well.
2) Alabama (vs West Virginia)- They replace a star quarterback and other top talent as they hope to contend again.
3) Oregon (vs South Dakota)- With a Heisman contender at quarterback, is this the year the Ducks break through.
4) Oklahoma (vs Louisiana Tech)- They will look to build on their dominating win over Alabama to end last season and find themselves in this year's playoff.
5) Auburn (vs Arkansas)- They were 13 seconds away from a second national title in four years and likely will use that as motivation this season.
6) Ohio State (vs Navy)- They have lost their star quarterback and will need to depend on the rest of the team's talent to assist a young quarterback.
7) Michigan State (vs Jacksonville State)- They look to be as strong as last season and that could allow them to take another step and compete for a national title.
8) Stanford (vs UC Davis)- They have played spoiler to Oregon the last couple of seasons. Can they position themselves to via for a national title and avoid being the one getting tripped up.
9) South Carolina (vs Texas A&M)- They are without their top defender who is now in NFL but they are still positioned well to compete for an SEC crown.
10) UCLA (at Virginia)- This is their best team in a decade and in a half and with one of the top players in the country at quarterback they have a high ceiling for success this year.
11) Baylor (vs SMU)- They got slowed down by UCF in the Fiesta Bowl but do not expect that to stop them from being poised to be as dynamic this season.
12) Georgia (vs Clemson)- The health of their star running back could dictate if this team can be a national title contender and win the SEC as they look to avenge their opening game defeat from last year to start this season.
13) LSU (vs Wisconsin)- They have questions at quarterback but it might serve as an advantage as they should be quick and deep on offense.
14) Wisconsin (vs LSU)- The Badgers hope to prove their toughness and where they can go this year right off the bat against a top SEC team.
15) Notre Dame (vs Rice)- With their star quarterback returning, time will tell if this team can raise the bar to where they were in 2012.
16) Clemson (at Georgia)- They edged a tough win out against the Bulldogs last year and now have to travel to Athens as they hope some unproven players can replace a couple key players.
17) Arizona State (vs Weber State)- They are one of the wildcard teams out west this year and like UCLA could be poised to take another step towards being one of the best teams in the country.
18) USC (vs Fresno State)- They have had a couple off the field stumbles before the start of the season but a balanced team led by an explosive offense can have the Trojans thinking about going to places they haven't in a decade.
19) Texas A&M (at South Carolina)- Life with their star quarterback of two years begins, but don't be surprised in their new signal caller can conjurer some of his own magic.
20) Mississippi (vs Boise State)- They started last season very strong before hitting a brick wall against Alabama that seemed to turn their confidence. They will need to build on lessons learned last year.
21) Nebraska (vs Florida Atlantic)- They look to have rebuilt a bit more and could continue to emerge as a threat in the Big Ten.
22) Missouri (vs South Dakota State)- They will likely not be as dominant as last year but much more competitive than a couple years ago.
23) Oklahoma State (vs Florida State)- They may have some unproven guys at key positions, it would be foolish to sleep on this team in Big 12.
24) Kansas State (vs SF Austin)- They got shocked to start 2013 and have a better team in place this year that could surprise some people.
25) UCF (vs Penn State)- They lose their star quarterback and running back but still have a core group of guys who keep them in games as they will likely not drop much off from last year's amazing season.

NEXT 5
1) Texas (vs North Texas)- They begin a new era with a new coach and they hope to put a couple bad season behind them.
2) Virginia Tech (vs William & Mary)- They look to have another solid team. Might not be a title contender but definitely a viable squad each week.
3) North Carolina (vs Liberty)- Hard to tell yet but this team could shock some teams and be similar to Duke last year in the ACC.
4) Washington (at Hawaii)- They had a couple offseason issues but hope to build on the progress of the last couple seasons and start to make some noise in the deep Pac-12.
5) Michigan (vs Appalachian State)- They have had some highs and lows the last few seasons but could slowly position themselves in the Big 10 with a dynamic player at quarterback.

Most weeks tend to feature at least one ranked matchup and thus the rankings should change week to week. Wisconsin battles LSU in Houston while Texas A&M heads to South Carolina as the first weekend should provide an early preview of the exciting year ahead with the BCS gone and the playoff debuting.