Every time college football fans declare a given week to have a low-quality slate, the sport ends up providing anyway. That's what happened in week two, and we saw it once more in week three.
Most of us expected the opening game between LSU and South Carolina to be a slugfest, but it turned into a high-drama shootout. Many thought UGA would easily dispense with Kentucky, but that one came down to the wire too.
Now, there were a few duds. The Civil War ended up lopsided. So did A&M and Florida. But for every one of those games, we also got an Apple Cup, or UAB almost beating Arkansas.
So, what did we learn from week three, and how does it affect the College Football Playoff predictions from last week? Let's take a look.
Rank | Team | Why they are here | Previous rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ohio State | B1G Champ | 2 |
2 | Georgia | SEC Champ | 1 |
3 | Miami (FL) | ACC Champ | 3 |
4 | Utah | Big 12 Champ | 4 |
5 | Tennessee | At-Large | 7 |
6 | Ole Miss | At-Large | 5 |
7 | USC | At-Large | 8 |
8 | Penn State | At-Large | 6 |
9 | Alabama | At-Large | 11 |
10 | Clemson | At-Large | 10 |
11 | Oregon | At-Large | NR |
12 | Northern Illinois | MAC Champ | 12 |
We've got a new number one in the projections this week, as the Ohio State Buckeyes have risen to the top of the heap. The reason for this is pretty simple: as of right now, I think there's just a better chance for OSU to go undefeated than there is for the Georgia Bulldogs to do so.
Winning the SEC championship will be a feather in the cap of the Bulldogs, no doubt, but I think it's more likely they enter at 12-1 than do the Buckeyes, who I've got at 13-0. OSU has looked pretty unstoppable so far this year, boasting a dominant defense and a much-improved offense thus far.
Tennessee has made a move up as they continue to wow watchers every week. Penn State's game with USC should decide what order those two come in in these rankings. Finally, I've still got Northern Illinois as the G5 team that makes it this year.