College Football, Week 3 Polls and Schedule

As expected, there are some big changes in this week’s poll. USC and Texas have dropped out of the Top 25 and Miami (Fla.) has popped up as #15. Other teams have been shuffled up or down depending upon how they fared against their opponents last week and the quality of those opponents.

All games being played by the Top 25+ are scheduled for Saturday except #24 TCU vs Texas Tech.  . There are games scheduled for Thursday night and Friday night if you just can’t wait, however.

The numbers on the left are the rankings in the Associated Press Poll and the Coaches’ Poll. (CBSSports does a preseason poll but then waits a few weeks to weigh in on a regular basis—or at least they did last year.) NR means the team is “Not Ranked” in that particular poll. The team’s current record is in parentheses following their name.

1/1 Alabama (1-0) The Tide head to Texas looking to avenge their only loss in 2012 against the #6 Aggies of Texas A&M (2-0). On the road against a high powered offense…A&M’s defense yields too much. Could be high scoring but ‘Bama wins.

2/2 Oregon (2-0) The Ducks host the Tennessee Volunteers (2-0). Ask any military personnel and they will tell you, “Never, never, never volunteer!” Ducks will win big…again.

3/5 Clemson (2-0) The Tigers have this weekend off.

4/3 Ohio State (2-0) The Buckeyes head to the west coast to play the California Golden Bears (1-1). Golden bears, A.K.A. grizzlies are extinct in California. While the Buckeyes may be without Braxton Miller they’ve too much talent for Cal.

5/4 Stanford (1-0) The Cardinal fly east to face the Black Knights of Army (1-1) at West Point. Army can run the ball, but can they stop the Cardinal? Probably not often enough. Stanford rolls.

6/6 Texas A&M (2-0) The Aggies host the Crimson Tide of Alabama (2-0). Manzeil may put points on the board, but his team’s defense may not make enough stops. Close, but ‘Bama wins.

7/7 Louisville (2-0) The Cardinals head down the highway to face the Kentucky Wildcats (1-1). Another intrastate game for the Cardinals that will go a long way toward proving they are the best team in Kentucky. Bridgewater gets another 4 TD passes.

8/8 LSU (2-0) The Tigers host the Kent State Golden Flashes (1-1). Tigers by a bundle as the Flashes get extinguished.

9/10 Georgia (1-1) The Bulldogs have the weekend off.

10/9 Florida State (1-0) The Seminoles play host to the Nevada Wolf Pack (1-1). If Jameis Winston is half as good as he was in the opener against Pitt, the Wolf Pack haven’t got a chance. Even if he’s only 75% there’s no way Nevada can win. FSU also showed they can stop the run (well, Pitt’s runners anyway) so pick the Seminoles.

11/12 Michigan (2-0) The Wolverines host the Akron Zips (1-1). The Wolverines zip the Zips.

12/11 Oklahoma State (2-0) the Cowboys host the Lamar Cardinals of the FCS (1-1). Can OSU post over 70 points? Maybe.

13/14 South Carolina (1-1) The Gamecocks host the Vanderbilt Commodores (1-1). Vandy plays everyone tough. They just don’t seem able to beat the really good teams often enough. They won’t this week either. SC will win by pulling away in the second half.

14/13 Oklahoma (2-0) The Sooners will host the Tulsa Hurricane (1-1). Intrastate mismatch…on paper. But the Sooners need to figure out who will/can play quarterback. Not a blowout but a double digit win for Oklahoma.

15/18t Miami (Fla.) (2-0) The Hurricanes have the weekend off.

16/17 UCLA (1-0) The Bruins head east to play the #23 Nebraska Cornhuskers (2-0). The Huskers’ will find a way to stop UCLA, but the Bruins’ defense won’t be able to stop the Huskers. Nebraska by 10.

17/16 Northwestern (2-0) The Wildcats will host the Western Michigan Broncos (0-2). Wildcats go wild.

18/20 Florida (1-1) The Gators have the weekend off.

19/23 Washington (1-0) The Huskies play on the road against the Fighting Illini of Illinois (2-0). This is a game in which the Illini could prevail. A lot depends upon the first quarter. Whichever team sets the tone then will win the game.

20/18t Wisconsin (2-0) The Badgers will head south to face the Arizona State Sun Devils (1-0) late Saturday night. The Badgers are weaker on the road but they should still win this one.

21/21 Notre Dame (1-1) The Fighting Irish will head down the road to face the Purdue Boilermakers (1-1). Rees and company need to redeem themselves after the loss to Michigan. Look for them to take it out against Purdue.

22/22 Baylor (2-0) The Bears have the weekend off.

23/15 Nebraska (2-0) The Cornhuskers host the #16 UCLA Bruins (1-0). See above for my reasons as to why Nebraska wins.

24/24 TCU (1-1) The Horned Frogs will play at the home of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (2-0) on Thursday night. There’s no Casey Pachall for this game (n injury to his non-throwing arm) but it shouldn’t matter. Trevone Boykin played the balance of last season and stepped in and performed admirably this week. TCU wins. [UPDATE: It's now been reported that Casey Pachall broke his left (non-throwing) arm and will miss at least eight weeks. It is unsure if he will seek a medical redshirt and a fifth year of eligibility. For no this is Trevone Boykin's team.]

25/25 Ole Miss (2-0) The Rebels head to Austin to play the Texas Longhorns (1-1). Texas got embarrassed by BYU this weekend (giving up 550 yards rushing). If Ole Miss was paying any attention, they should be able to run too. Could be a long season in Austin. If the Texas D doesn’t stop anyone, it doesn’t matter who plays quarterback.