Power Rankings after Week 3
1. Alabama 3-0 (1st)
2. Oklahoma 2-0 (2nd)
3. LSU 3-0 (3rd)
4. Florida State 2-1 (4th)
5. Texas A&M 2-0 (5th)
6. Boise State 2-0 (6th)
7. Oregon 2-1 (8th)
8. Stanford 3-0 (9th)
9. Wisconsin 3-0 (10th)
10. South Carolina 3-0 (7th)
11. Oklahoma State 3-0 (11th)
12. Arkansas 3-0 (12th)
13. Florida 3-0 (15th)
14. Nebraska 3-0 (13th)
15. Texas 3-0 (NR)
Out: Ohio State (14th).
Explanation: My top 6 remained the same this week, despite the fact that my #4 team lost at home. South Carolina took the biggest tumble in the rankings, dropping 3 spots from 7th to 10th. Florida climbed 2 spots in this week’s rankings. Ohio State was the only team to drop out of the top 15, while Texas jumped back into the rankings.
1. Alabama: 3-0 (won vs. North Texas, 41-0). Bama stays as my top team, as they shutout North Texas 41-zip. The Tide opens conference play against Arkansas (#12 in my rankings) and then goes to Gainesville for a tricky road contest against Florida (#13 in my rankings) the next week.
2. Oklahoma: 2-0 (won at FSU, 23-13). Oklahoma remains #2, as they got the biggest win of week 3, outlasting the Seminoles on the road in Tallahassee. I considered moving the Sooners into the top spot but decided to stay with the best team from the SEC. The Sooners play a decent Mizzu team this week but they are home and are favored by 3 TD’s.
3. LSU: 3-0 (won at Mississippi State, 19-6). LSU stays at #3, as they earned a tough road win over Miss State. The Tigers are off to a very impressive start but they face yet another road challenge this week, as they must play West Virginia in Morgantown.
4. Florida State: 2-1 (lost vs. Oklahoma, 13-23). FSU stays at #4, despite losing their showdown with the Sooners. It seems weird not to move a team down after a 10-point loss at home, but the Sooners aren’t the average opponent, and the Noles played most of the game without injured QB EJ Manuel. Strangely, we may actually find out what FSU is made of this week, as they face Clemson in Death Valley (South Carolina version).
5. Texas A&M: 2-0 (won vs. Idaho, 37-7). A&M took care of business against Idaho and they stay at #5. They have a huge game this Saturday, at home against Oklahoma State (#11 in my rankings).
6. Boise State: 2-0 (won at Toledo, 40-15). Boise State won easily on the road against Toledo to get to 2-0 and remain #6. Toledo nearly upset Ohio State on the road, and the Broncos whipped them by 25 on the road. This week Boise State plays a solid Tulsa team, but they’ll be at home, and Tulsa will almost certainly be without their top 2 players, including their QB.
7. Oregon: 2-1 (won vs. Missouri State, 56-7). Oregon demolished an FCS opponent last week and they moved up a spot to #7 in my rankings. They play on the road against Arizona this week but should have no problem.
8. Stanford: 3-0 (won at Arizona, 37-10). Stanford moves up a spot to #8 this week, as they went to Arizona and hammered them by 27 points. They are off this week, but after that they should reel off 4 more wins against conference opponents, and they really should win each by double digits (home games against UCLA, Colorado, and Washington; and a road game against Wazu). The hard part of the schedule will begin in the last weekend of October when they face the Trojans in LA.
9. Wisconsin: 3-0 (won vs. NIU [Chicago], 49-7). Wisconsin moves up a spot to #9 this week, as they demolished another opponent, this time whopping up on NIU on a neutral field. The Badgers haven’t played much of a schedule, but at least they’ve been smoking their competition. They should destroy another weak opponent this week, as FCS South Dakota comes to Madison for a beat down.
10. South Carolina: 3-0 (won vs. Navy, 24-21). South Carolina falls 3 spots this week from 7th to 10th, taking the biggest tumble of any team in my power rankings this week. The Gamecocks were once again not quite as impressive in winning as expected. Hosting Navy, SC had to come up with a defensive stop late in the 4th just to hang on for a 3-point victory. Not only has Stephen Garcia continued to be Stephen Garcia at times, but the defense hasn’t played the way we have come to expect South Carolina’s defense to play. Still, South Carolina should end up starting 6-0, as they have home games against Vandy, Auburn, and Kentucky coming up over the next 3 weeks.
11. Oklahoma State: 3-0 (won at Tulsa, 59-33). Oklahoma State holds onto the #11 spot, as they trounced Tulsa on the road in the early morning hours last Sunday. I still have some questions about the defense, although sometimes I think that team just loses focus, as they know they can score at will. The Cowboys have their first major test of the season this Saturday against A&M (#5 in my rankings) in College Station.
12. Arkansas: 3-0 (won vs. Troy, 38-28). Arkansas stays put at #12, as they won in less than totally convincing fashion against Troy at home last week. After crushing an FCS team and New Mexico at home in the first couple games, the level of completion was raised a bit last Saturday, and the Hogs struggled to put the Trojans away. This week there will be a much, much more drastic rise in the level of competition, as Arkansas must square off against Bama (#1 in my rankings) in Tuscaloosa.
13. Florida: 3-0 (won vs. Tennessee, 33-23). Florida climbs 2 spots this week to #13, the biggest jump of any team in my power 15 this week. The Gators once again defeated the Vols with relative ease, moving to 3-0 on the season, and folks are starting to take Florida seriously. They go on the road for the first time this Saturday, but they are favored to beat Kentucky by about 3 TD’s (and that seems rather conservative). Following the game at Kentucky this weekend, the Gators will go through one of the toughest 3-week gauntlets any team will face this season, as they’ll host Bama (#1 in my rankings), play LSU (#3 in my rankings) on the road, and then face Auburn on the road in consecutive weeks.
14. Nebraska: 3-0 (won vs. Washington, 51-38). Nebraska dropped a spot in my rankings this week to #14. It’s the 2nd straight week that the Cornhuskers have fallen in my rankings, despite the fact that they hold a 3-0 record on the year. Nebraska just isn’t winning the way I expected them to, although to be honest, they haven’t been the sort of team that wins impressively over the last few years. They went 29-12 over the 3 previous seasons, but during those 3 years they were just 23-18 ATS. They have another automatic win this weekend at Wyoming, before they get a rude awakening in week 5 with a trip to Camp Randall to play the Badgers (#9 in my rankings).
15. Texas: 3-0 (won vs. UCLA, 49-20). Texas climbs back into the rankings this week at #15. To be frank, the Longhorns are in this spot basically by default. I thought the Horns would bounce back this season, and they are 3-0 so far, but their victories haven’t been all that impressive. We’ll see how the younger McCoy does now that the QB job is his alone, with Garrett Gilbert out for the season with an injury. Texas is off this week and has a road game at Iowa State in week 5. After that the Longhorns have the Red River thingy against Oklahoma, and then a home game against Ok State the following week.
Teams Falling Out of the Rankings
Ohio State: 2-1 (lost at Miami, 6-24). Ohio State falls out of the rankings from #14 this week. Their attempt to ride out the loss of Pryor, the loss of Tressel, the suspensions, and the controversy came to a crashing end last week, as the Buckeyes were dominated by what would appear to be a relatively average Miami team. Many younger fans had probably never seen a performance like that in the regular season by an Ohio State team.
As awful as Ohio State played, I did contemplate keeping them in the rankings, as they are clearly going to be a stronger team when the suspended players come back in a few weeks. However, they are just screwed at QB. Also, I don’t really know why, I just have a feeling that the loss of coach Jim Tressel has to this point been underappreciated, and over the weeks to come people will begin to understand just how big of a hit this program took in losing the Sweater Vest.
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