It’s our third poll since the season began and each week a new No. 1 has ascended to the top spot of our rankings. We’ve seen two prospective title contenders (FSU & OSU) lose early and yet the top of the poll still feels fresh and fun as ever.
Top 11
1 Clemson (+2, 3-0, 47-21 W at Louisville)
Largely neutralized Lamar Jackson and likely killed his Heisman hopes. Louisville probably won’t be a great team but this was an impressive road win coming off a victory over Auburn.
2 Oklahoma (-1, 3-0, 56-14 W vs. Tulane)
Started slowly against the Green Wave then stuck it into 4th gear for an easy win.
3 Alabama (-1, 3-0, 41-23 W vs. Colorado State)
Just another typical lackluster win over a non-league opponent that will predict nothing for the future.
4 USC (+1, 3-0, 27-24 2OT W vs. Texas)
Survived a huge scare! Overall, probably not a great sign but perhaps a sign of a team that will just keep winning?
5 Oklahoma State (+3, 3-0, 59-21 W at Pitt)
The score doesn’t do this justice. The Pokes come back east and hand Pitt their worst-ever loss at Heinz Field.
6 Penn State (E, 3-0, 56-0 W vs. Georgia State)
Used only 53 plays to gain 526 yards. This offense might be too explosive for the Big Ten.
7 Washington (+2, 3-0, 48-16 W vs. Fresno State)
Quietly lurking early in the season, with Browning up there among the most productive QB’s in the nation.
8 Michigan (-4, 3-0, 29-13 W vs. Air Force)
A very lackluster offensive performance featuring one offensive touchdown drops the Wolverines down the rankings.
9 Mississippi State (NR, 3-0, 37-7 W vs. LSU)
Dan Mullen back to Doing Good Things™ out-gaining LSU by almost 200 yards.
10 Ohio State (+1, 2-1, 38-7 W vs. Army)
The Buckeyes remain our highest 1-loss team in the rankings following a thorough win over the Black Knights.
11 Georgia (-1, 3-0, 42-14 W vs. Samford)
The Dawgs trade places with OSU if for no other reason than it’s because I wanted to do it.
Next 2
Auburn (E, 2-1, 24-10 W vs. Mercer)
Hanging on for dear life after a sub-par performance as Jarrett Stidham hasn’t taken flight yet.
Oregon (NR, 3-0, 49-13 W at Wyoming)
Don’t look now but the Ducks appear like the high-flying program of the past so far this year.
Dropped out: LSU, Florida State
G5 Top 3
San Diego State (+2, 3-0, 20-17 vs. Stanford)
The best program since 2016 that no one talks about now with back-to-back wins over Pac-12 opponents.
Houston (-1, 2-0, 38-3 W vs. Rice)
The Cougars have looked like they still belong on this list so far in 2017.
Memphis (NR, 2-0, 48-45 W vs. UCLA)
The Bruins got #bodyclocked in Tennessee for a noon start. Too many saw this coming!
Dropped out: South Florida
You Were Bad
Pittsburgh
You can check the stats Oklahoma State scored touchdowns on their first 19 drives.
BYU
Paying the price for a ridiculous independent schedule. Shellacked by Wisconsin and out-scored 86-19 over their last 3 games.
LSU
The Bayou Bengals throw up a huge bellyflop in Starkville.
East Carolina
Actually led Virginia Tech 17-7 in the 1st quarter. They’d lose 64-17 dear Lord.
Kansas State
Quietly lost 14-7 at Vanderbilt while being ranked.
Tennessee
The Vols allow another Hail Mary to lose in excruciating fashion to Florida.
Nebraska
Lost to a MAC team for the first time in school history.
Baylor
Now an amazing 0-3 after being thoroughly outplayed by Duke.
Missouri
The world’s easiest underdog cover of the week came via Purdue crushing Missouri 35-3.
Western Kentucky
Mike Sanford lost for the second straight week, this time to Skip Holtz.
Nevada
Brian Polian is probably happy to be out of Reno, they just lost to Idaho State.
Week 4 Preview
Enemy Watch
Temple (+20.5) at #21 South Florida
NC State (+10.5) at #12 Florida State
Boston College (+33.5) at #2 Clemson
#5 USC (-16.5) at California
Toledo (+13.5) at #14 Miami
Wake Forest (-4.5) at Appalachian State
Duke (-2.5) at North Carolina
Miami
Cincinnati (+11.5) at Navy
UCLA (+7.5) at Stanford
College football comes at you fast, Temple. They’re staring at a near 3 touchdown underdog game which can only mean one thing, a big dumb classic upset. Unlikely, I know.
We finally get to see Florida State back in action since week one. That’s a long time to gameplan for NC State’s tough defensive line.
Notre Dame is responsible for driving up that Boston College spread by at least 7 points.
Man, the smart money has to be taking Cal this weekend as USC is coming off an exhausting win and the Bears have been sneaky decent.
Toledo is 12-4 dating back to last year and isn’t terrible. Miami is coming off a long break and can’t take this game lightly at all.
UCLA’s defense has been as leaky as it gets but with Rosen you’d think they can hang with Stanford and make it a lot closer than the spread suggests.
Too Close for Comfort
#1 Alabama (-18.5) at Vanderbilt
As mentioned above, the Commodores just upset Kansas State and appear to have a stingy defense. I’m feeling a very admirable loss for Derek Mason.
Upset Pick of the Week
UCF (+3.5) at Maryland
We haven’t seen enough of Maryland and I kind of like Scott Frost’s offense having 3 weeks to prepare.
National Spotlight
Texas Tech (+5.5) at Houston
#16 TCU (+11.5) at #6 Oklahoma State
#8 Michigan (-9.5) at Purdue
#17 Miss State (+6.5) at #11 Georgia
#7 Washington (-10.5) at Colorado
This should be Houston’s last big test for a while and a chance for a second Power 5 win.
I’m all aboard the Oklahoma State bandwagon but even I’d be a little concerned about a cover with the natural wide open Big 12 game. Then again, TCU lost this game by 25 points last year.
Everyone in the world is hoping Jeff Brohm can upset Michigan.
It’s a tough turn around for Miss State to dispatch LSU and then travel to Georgia. Being almost a touchdown underdog should provide plenty of ammo for the Bulldogs in maroon.
Washington’s schedule is really easy and this trip to Boulder might be their only challenge until early November.
Duke didn’t help, but those body bag game losses to Liberty and UTSA are killers for Baylor. Baylor has arguably been by far the weakest scheduler among “name” P5 programs over the last several years, trying to get three cupcake wins to get momentum before the conference schedule.
That backfired big time now and they could be looking at an 0-8 start to the year – they host Oklahoma this weekend, then they travel to Kansas State and Okie State, then they host Texas and West Virginia. Their road game at Kansas in game 9 is the next time they face a team that on paper is clearly weaker.
I feel for the kids on the team, but I can’t pretend to have any sympathy for the institution.
I only feel for Matt Rhule. I still think he’s a good coach and seems like a decent human being. He deserved better than Baylor.
He chose Baylor after everybody already knew how bad it was. It was such a strange decision to me.
Yeah, I’m with MikeyB here. I don’t feel that bad for him, he knew what he was getting into. I don’t think he’s a bad guy necessarily, but it’s not like he was blindsided. He made an informed decision. Frankly I’m a little disappointed that he hitched his wagon to them, but I still won’t attach the sins of the stepfather, as it were.
I feel for my friends that are Baylor alumns. Everyone that I talk to about it that is connected to the school is absolutely ashamed by the Briles regime. They are all really good God-fearing people, intelligent, compassionate Christians and they are honestly appalled by what happened there.
That’s good to hear. I don’t know anybody down in Texas, so my only viewpoint has been the reaction of the administration; and they just did a terrible job. It seems like many of them view Briles/coaching staff/athletic department as the true “victims” there, which is absolutely despicable. It’s nice to hear the alums aren’t doing the same crap.
Upset prediction:
Purdue beats Michigan at Ross-Ade.
BoilerUP!!!!
I WOULD have been going to the game but I have a wedding to go to. Three years in a row of someone I know have a wedding in the fall on a Saturday. I’ll be in Brown County, Indiana so reception is a 50/50 shot at best.