Week 2 of the college football season provided a series of close games and, specifically, one or two results that crossed the line of near-surprises. But with the exception of No. 11 Tennessee and No. 15 Kansas State, the top 25 teams mostly got the job done this week, even if it wasn’t always pretty.
So let’s dive in and break down the projected top 25 rankings after the third week of college football action. There’s no better place to start than with the four best teams in the country: Georgia (24-14 win over South Carolina), Michigan (31-6 win against Bowling Green), State of Florida (31-29 victory over Boston College) and finally Texas (31-10 win over Wyoming).
It’s unlikely any of the top four spots will change, even with the No. 6 spot. Ohio State completely passing Western Kentucky 63-10 and No. 7 State of Pennsylvania defeating Illinois 30-13.
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch/Sunshine; USA TODAY NETWORK
Let’s start with the projected top 10 after Week 3:
- 1. Georgia (3-0)
- 2. Michigan (3-0)
- 3. Florida State (3-0)
- 4. Texas (3-0)
- 5. USC (3-0)
- 6. Ohio State (3-0)
- 7. Pennsylvania State (3-0)
- 8. Washington (3-0)
- 9. Notre Dame (4-0)
- 10……
This is where things get a little interesting. Nick Saban and Alabama They were expected to go to South Florida and destroy USF, but they proceeded to win 17-3 thanks to two second-half touchdowns. Their offense seemed completely non-existent at times, and I’m not sure they can crack the No. 10 spot.
One step further, number 11 Tennessee lost to Florida 29-16, followed by expected results prior to No. 15 Kansas State falling (again), this time at the hands of Missouri.
Time to look at the rest of the list here, going back to No. 10 and assessing how it will look after Alabama’s ugly win.
- 10.Utah (3-0)
- 11. Oregon (3-0)
- 12. LSU (2-1)
- 13.Alabama (2-1)
- 14.Tennessee (2-1)
- 15. Oregon State (3-0)
- 16. Old Miss (3-0)
- 17.Oklahoma (3-0)
- 18. Colorado (3-0)
- 19. North Carolina (3-0)
- 20. Duke (3-0)
- 21. Miami (FL) (3-0)
- 22. Washington State (3-0)
- 23. Kansas State (2-1)
- 24.UCLA (3-0)
- 25. Iowa (3-0)
Some things to keep in mind:
Dropping Kansas State from 15th to 23rd is a small drop, but evaluating what the eight teams that passed them did this week or the previous wins they have to stay undefeated was too much to overlook. Yeah UCLA and Iowa had slightly stronger wins, it would have been difficult not to leave the Wildcats in 25th place.
Clemson, Kansas and TCU They all made a strong case for returning to the top 25, but it didn’t make sense this week. The same can be said for Florida after its impressive win over Tennessee, but they should be in contention with those three teams out there waiting to pounce.
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