Another week of college football has come and gone, and the same storylines from the first couple of weeks remain prevalent in this young season. Several top teams continue to struggle and play down to inferior competition. While early season slumps are fairly normal, you’d figure the elite of college football would be back to dominating by Week 3 but that has not been the case. 

Oklahoma, Clemson and Ohio State continued to show flaws, all winning ugly in Week 3. Oklahoma struggled with Nebraska, making it their second one possession win in three games to start out this season. The good news for Oklahoma is the rest of the Big 12 has struggled, and the Sooners still appear to be one of the most balanced teams in the nation. The same cannot be said for Clemson and Ohio State, who each have been held back by one side of the ball. For the Tigers, the offense has been a huge liability being unable to reach 15 points against an FBS opponent. D.J. Uiagalelei has been off so far this season and his development (or lack thereof) will determine if Clemson’s offense can get back on track. Clemson was lucky to escape with a win against Georgia Tech after a late goal line stand and have been carried by a defense that has yet to give up a TD this season. Ohio State on the other hand has been held back by a defense that just gave up 500 yards to Tulsa. The Buckeyes’ run defense has been atrocious and was the main culprit for their loss to Oregon. Unlike Oklahoma and Clemson, the Buckeyes are in a tough conference with teams that can exploit their weaknesses. The Bucks still have in division matchups against Michigan, Michigan State, and Penn State, who have all looked excellent so far this season. 

On the flip side of top teams underperforming, we have had several teams exceed expectations in these first few weeks and emerge as potential dark horses for this season. It is still very early in the year and a lot of teams can look great against a weak out of conference schedule early in the season. Several teams have jumped into the AP Top 25 rankings such as BYU, Arkansas, Michigan, Michigan State and Fresno State, with each team starting their respective seasons 3-0. BYU made a statement last Saturday night by beating Arizona State and picking up their second ranked win in three games. Michigan State looks legit in year two under Mel Tucker after routing Miami 38-17. Jake Haener and Fresno State stunned UCLA after dark and looked like the best team in the Mountain West. Time will tell if these squads are for real or if they are pretenders who will get exposed as the season goes on. 

Alabama and Georgia remain the class of college football and are the clear cut top two teams in the nation. Don’t panic, because Alabama only beat Florida by two points; this is a young team with a quarterback making his first true road start in one of the most hostile environments in the nation. Going on the road and beating a borderline top ten team is not a bad mark on any team. We all expect Alabama to roll everyone but forget how many key pieces they lost from last season’s undefeated squad. I said in my preseason rankings that the Crimson Tide would likely take a step back from last year. Georgia has looked like the most complete team in the country so far even with several key players still out due to injury. 

College Football Top 25 Rankings 

1.Alabama Crimson Tide (3-0) W vs Florida 31-29, last week-1 

2.Georgia Bulldogs (3-0) W vs South Carolina 40-13, last week-2

3.Iowa Hawkeyes (3-0) W vs Kent State 30-7, last week-4 

4.Oregon Ducks (3-0) W vs Stony Brook 48-7, last week-5 

5.Penn State Nittany Lions (3-0) W vs Auburn 28-20, last week-11

6.Oklahoma Sooners (3-0) W vs Nebraska 23-16, last week-3 

7.Texas A&M Aggies (3-0) W vs New Mexico 34-0, last week-6

8.Cincinnati Bearcats (3-0) W vs Indiana 38-24, last week-7 

9.Clemson Tigers (2-1) W vs Georgia Tech 14-8, last week-8 

10.Ohio State Buckeyes (2-1) W vs Tulsa 41-20, last week-9 

11.Florida Gators (2-1) L vs Alabama 31-29, last week-10 

12.Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (3-0) W vs Buffalo 28-25, last week-12

13.Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-0) W vs Purdue 27-13, last week-14

14.Iowa State Cyclones (2-1) W vs UNLV 48-3, last week-15 

15.Ole Miss Rebels (3-0) W vs Tulane 61-21, last week-18

16.Wisconsin Badgers (1-1) Bye Week, last week-16 

17.TCU Horned Frogs (2-0) Bye Week, last week-20 

18.Arkansas Razorbacks (3-0) W vs Georgia Southern 45-10, last week-21

19.BYU Cougars (3-0) W vs Arizona State 27-17, last week-24 

20.Michigan State Spartans (3-0) W vs Miami 38-17, last week-unranked

21.North Carolina Tar Heels (2-1) W vs Virginia 59-39, last week-22

22.Michigan Wolverines (3-0) W vs Northern Illinois 63-10, last week-23

23.Fresno State Bulldogs (2-1) W vs UCLA 40-37, last week-unranked

24.UCLA Bruins (2-1) L vs Fresno State 40-37, last week-13 

25.Auburn Tigers (2-1) L vs Penn State 28-20, last week-unranked

Dropped out of rankings- Arizona State, Virginia Tech, Miami