Pre Week 3 Polls and Week 3 Opponents

Lots of movement in the rankings this week, thanks in no small part to some big losses by Big Ten teams. This week sees lots of bye time for ranked teams and only one match-up between ranked teams. (#6 Georgia vs #24 South Carolina.) So don’t expect much in the way of movement next week unless there’s a huge upset somewhere along the way.

(Ranks on the left are those of the AP/Coaches Top 25/CBSSPORTS.COM 128 Polls as reported by CBSSports.com. NR = Not Ranked)

1/1/1 Florida State (2-0) The Seminoles will have this weekend off.

2/4/2 Oregon (2-0) The Ducks will host the Wyoming Cowboys (2-0). No contest as the Ducks run (and pass) away with this one.

3/2/3 Alabama (2-0) The Tide will host the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (1-1). Another “W” for the Crimson Tide.

4/3/7 Oklahoma (2-0) The Sooners will host the Tennessee Vols (2-0). Tennessee has shown some improvement this year, but the Sooners will be too much to handle.

5/5/5 Auburn (2-0) The Tigers will be idle this week.

6/6/4 Georgia (1-0) The Bulldogs head to South Carolina to face the #24 Gamecocks (1-1). Sure it’s on the road, but that running attack!?! Bulldogs put the hurt on the Gamecocks.

7/8/9 Texas A&M (2-0) The Aggies host the Rice Owls (0-1). Another big win for what’s-his-name and company.

8/7/8 Baylor (2-0) The Bears head northeast to play the Buffalo Bulls (1-1) on Friday night. Hoo-boy! Talk about big numbers! Bears should be stopped by a mercy rule.

9/10/14 Southern California (2-0) The Trojans travel east to take on the Boston College Eagles (1-1). Should be easier than the Cardinal.

10/9/13 LSU (2-0) The Tigers host the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (2-0) in an intrastate contest. Tigers prevail.

11/11/17 Notre Dame (2-0) The Fighting Irish host the Purdue Boilermakers (1-1). Two things the Irish are known for? Fighting and drinking. The guys from Notre Dame should enjoy this one.

12/12/12 UCLA (2-0) The Bruins head down to Texas to face the Longhorns (1-1). Bruins win big on the road.

13/13/6 Michigan State (1-1) The Spartans will have this weekend to lick their wounds.

14/15/18 Ole Miss (2-0) The Rebels of Ole Miss host the Ragin’ Cajuns of UL-Lafayette (1-1). Rebels all the way, I’m afraid.

15/16/10 Stanford (1-1) The Cardinal host the Black Knights of Army (1-0). Stanford should rebound nicely…if they can keep from shooting themselves in the foot.

16/14/19 Arizona State (2-0) The Sun Devils head north to face the Colorado Buffaloes (1-1). And come home with a win.

17/19/NR Virginia Tech (2-0) The Hokies host the East Carolina Pirates (1-1). Va Tech continues to rise.

18/17/20 Wisconsin (2-0) The Badgers are staying home this weekend.

19/20/16 Kansas State (2-0) The Wildcats are also off this week.

20/22/NR Missouri (2-0) The Tigers host the Knights of UCF (0-1). Tigers should prevail, but the Knights just might give them a royal tussle.

21/NR/NR Louisville (2-0) The Cardinals head east to face the Virginia Cavaliers (1-1). Louisville wins.

22/18/11 Ohio State (1-1) The Buckeyes host the Kent State Golden Flashes (0-2). Man, I would NOT want to be a Golden Flash this week.  

23/24/23 Clemson (1-1) The Tigers have this weekend off.

24/23/24 South Carolina (1-1) The Gamecocks host the #6 Georgia Bulldogs (1-0). They get run over.

25/NR/NR Brigham Young (2-0) The Cougars host the Houston…well, Cougars (1-1) on Thursday night. BYU will prevail in this intraspecies contest.

NR/21/15 Nebraska (2-0) The Cornhuskers head west to play the Fresno State Bulldogs (0-2). If they hadn’t gotten a big scare in their close win last week, I’d caution the Huskers not to take this game lightly. BUT, they had the bejeesus scared out of them last week so this week should be a rout –in the Huskers’ favor.

NR/25/NR North Carolina (2-0) The Tar Heels have this weekend off.

NR/NR/21 Iowa (2-0) The Hawkeyes will host the Iowa State Cyclones (0-2) in another intrastate rivalry. Hawkeyes wear the state crown after this one.

NR/NR/22 Marshall (2-0) The Thundering Herd host the Ohio Bobcats (1-1). Another pelt for the Herd.

NR/NR/25 Florida (1-0) The Gators will host the Kentucky Wildcats (2-0) this week. Chomp!

The Scarlet Knights of Rutgers (2-0) will be hosting the Penn State Nittany Lions (2-0) on Saturday night. Neither team looked particularly sharp in one or more aspects of their game last week. RU still needs to improve in the defensive secondary although they do seem to have found a pass rush which may help. They showed a balanced offensive attack for the second straight week and unveiled Paul James as a receiver as well as a runner. (A 63-yard screen pass? Seriously?) RU blocked a punt and a field goal as special teams proved to be special once again. Penn State’s offense sputtered last week but they put enough on the board to win thanks to a strong defense. RU will have to crack that PSU run defense to help Gary Nova’s passing attack. Should be a good, close game that may be decided by which team forces the most mistakes.