After No. 3 Ohio State defeated No. 1 Texas on Saturday, it seemed academic to most that the Buckeyes would enter Week 2 as the nation’s top-ranked team in the Associated Press Top 25.
But in what could be considered a tribute to Lee Corso, ESPN’s Heath Dinich is saying, “not so fast, my friend.”
Unsurprisingly, the first full weekend of the 2025 college football season provided significant source material for Monday’s episode of Get Up. And that included Dinich sharing her belief that LSU — and not Ohio State — should be the nation’s new No. 1 team following the No. 9 Tigers’ road victory at No. 4 Clemson.
“LSU should be the No. 1 team in the country,” Dinich said. “They went on the road — Ohio State won at home, albeit against a very good team — and they beat them soundly. They made [Clemson] one-dimensional. They exposed that.”
.@CFBHeather believes LSU will be No. 1 in the country after their win over Clemson 👀 pic.twitter.com/NHsXEOxOgf
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) September 1, 2025
Dinich proceeded to further laud the improvement of the LSU defense, which largely struggled throughout Brian Kelly’s first three seasons in Baton Rouge. She further defended her choice in a projection of the College Football Playoff top-12 on ESPN.com, writing: “Throw out the preseason rankings and everything you thought you knew about the best teams in college football. Nobody made a bigger Week 1 statement, on the road against a team capable of winning the ACC and competing for a spot in the playoff. The committee starts from scratch, and LSU showed all of the components it looks for — from a Heisman hopeful in quarterback Garrett Nussmeier to a defense that proved it can play at an elite level.”
While many on social media — especially in Columbus — were quick to accuse Dinich and ESPN of pro-SEC bias, she wasn’t alone in her analysis. In fact, Big Noon Kickoff‘s Chris “The Bear” Fallica is also of the mind that LSU deserves to be the nation’s new No. 1 team.
(Perhaps he didn’t get the memo that college football coverage is the new cable news)
If I had an AP vote this week. Gotta be willing to move teams a good bit this early in the season to reward a win, yet not overreact too much to a loss to a good team.
1 LSU
2 Ohio State
3 Georgia
4 Miami
5 Texas
6 Florida State
7 Penn State
8 Oregon
9 Clemson
10 Notre Dame— Chris Fallica (@chrisfallica) September 1, 2025
Regardless of your opinion of Dinich and Fallica’s stance, all of this largely speaks to the silliness of preseason rankings. Ohio State’s win over the nation’s current No. 1 team is based on voting that took place before a single game was was played this season, which will still shape at least the earliest narratives.
It’s also worth noting that Dinich is viewing all of this through the eyes of the College Football Playoff selection committee, which attempts to rid itself of such priors when issuing its own rankings. And it’s not crazy to think that the committee would also favor LSU’s victory over Ohio State’s because the Tigers’ win was just as dominant as the Buckeyes’ and also came on the road.
Ultimately, plenty will change between now and when the CFP committee releases its first rankings on Nov. 4, let alone when the actual 12-team field is selected following the regular seson. Still, it’s a Monday and we need something to argue about, so debating who should be the nation’s No. 1 team one week into a three-month college football season will have to suffice.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.