Josh’s College Football Rankings 2024–Week 3

Not much changes in the rankings. There were some very good games this week, but there were also a bunch of byes. Plus, there are still plenty of non-conference games, so you get lots of lopsided scores. We were close to getting an upset in two of those three games I mentioned last week. 

1.  Georgia (3-0)–#1–W 13-12 Kentucky. This is the Bulldogs mulligan. Plus, it was on the road against a conference rival. Also…Georgia has a habit of coming out and destroying opponents after a close game the week before (last year after the Mizzou game? They beat Ole Miss 52-17. The year before they struggled in Kentucky, but then crushed GT, followed by LSU in the SEC title game.) They have a bye next week, and then face Alabama.
2. Alabama (3-0)–#2–W 42-10 Wisconsin. I thought maybe the Badgers could make it a game. I was wrong.
3. Texas (3-0)–#3–W 56-7 UTSA. Quinn Ewers leaves the game with an injury, but Arch Manning steps in with four touchdown passes and one rushing TD.
4. Ohio State (2-0)–#4–BYE
5. Missouri (3-0)–#5–W 27-21 #22 Boston College. Mizzou won a tough game against BC. I contemplated jumping them over Ohio State, but I am not sure the Tigers are quite at the Buckeyes level.
6. Ole Miss (3-0)–#6–W 40-6 Wake Forest. The Rebels continue to rack up points and wins. They have a favorable schedule this season. They only play three ranked teams (LSU, Georgia, Oklahoma). They have some games against those good SEC teams (Kentucky, South Carolina), but that is about it. Ole Miss could face Georgia at home as an undefeated team in November.
7. Penn State (2-0)–#7–BYE
8. Oregon (3-0)–#8–W 49-14 Oregon State. The Ducks offense woke up. Destroyed their rival.
9. Tennessee (3-0)–#9–W 71-0 Kent State
10. USC (2-0)–#10–BYE
11. Miami (3-0)–#11–W 62-0 Ball State. Fun fact: Ball State and Kent State play each other on October 12th, one of those teams has to win that game. The Hurricanes obviously had no trouble with the Cardinals of the MAC.
12. Utah (3-0)–#12–W 38-21 Utah State
13. Oklahoma (3-0)–#15–W 34-19 Tulane. The Sooners would have won by a larger margin if Arnold avoided that pick-6 in the 4th quarter.
14. Michigan (2-1)–#14–W 28-18 Arkansas State. The Wolverines running game scored some touchdowns today. They needed that after last week.
15. Kansas State (3-0)–#19–W 31-7 #16 Arizona. The Wildcats played well against the Wildcats. Sorry, this game felt out of hand early, so I watched Kansas/UNLV instead.
16. Louisville (2-0)–#17–BYE
17. Clemson (1-1)–#18–BYE
18. Oklahoma State (3-0)–#24–W 45-10 Tulsa
19. LSU (2-1)–#21–W 36-33 South Carolina.This was also an exciting game. I thought South Carolina was going to pull out the win, but nope, the Tigers managed to score in the last minute. Tough road win.
20. Illinois (3-0)–#24–W 30-9 Central Michigan
21. Syracuse (2-0)–#25–BYE
22. Arizona (2-1)–#16–L 31-7 #19 Kansas State. I still think the Wildcats are a decent team. I am not ready to drop them from the Top 25.
23. Northern Illinois (2-0)–#23–BYE
24. Boston College (2-1)–#22–L 27-21 #5 Missouri. BC could have laid down and taken a beating, but they fought and came away with a tough loss. Thomas Castellanos played well, just threw a couple of crappy interceptions.
25. Notre Dame (2-1)–HM–W 66-7 Purdue. I know, people will accuse me of some kind of Notre Dame bias. They bounced back from that loss to NIU by absolutely destroying the Boilermakers.

Honorable Mention
Texas A&M (2-1)–HM–W 33-20 Florida. More on this game in a moment.
UCF (3-0)–HM–W 35-34 TCU. Another really good game.
Duke (3-0)–HM–W 26-21 UConn. Come on Manny Diaz, you gotta do better against a team like the Huskies.
Nebraska (3-0)–NR–W 34-3 Northern Iowa. I am not ready to jump on the Cornhusker bandwagon quite yet.
California (3-0)–HM–W 31-10 San Diego State. I really like this Cal team, they are fun to watch. Fernando Mendoza is a solid quarterback to keep an eye on. 

Watch List
Pitt (3-0)–NR–W 38-34 WVU. The Panthers won the Backyard Bowl, time to pay attention to them.
Duke (3-0)–HM–W 26-21 UConn. Come on Manny Diaz, play better against a team like the Huskies!
UNLV (3-0)–NR–W 23-20 Kansas. A very exciting game, the Rebels are for real.
Bowling Green (1-1)–NR–BYE. I should have paid more attention to BG being on a bye when I mentioned them last week. They face Texas A&M this week. Will they give the Aggies the same trouble as Penn State?
Toledo (3-0)–NR–W 41-17 Mississippi State. The MAC is for real this year. 

Week four looks like there will be a few games between ranked teams: #10 USC heads to the Big House to face #14 Michigan. #12 Utah is at #18 Oklahoma State. But the big game in my opinion is #9 Tennessee at #13 Oklahoma. This is a big test for the Vols, if they can go on the road and put up a ton of points on the Sooners, it would be hard to not bump them up a few spots.

There are also some second tier games. Ranked teams versus bubble teams. #20 Illinois at Nebraska, Georgia Tech at #16 Louisville, and NC State at #17 Clemson. You could see a few upsets in that batch. But the game I am really excited for? Florida at Mississippi State. Florida lost to Texas A&M, while Mississippi State took a beating from Toledo. Both teams are mediocre, and it could end up being a stupid, fun game. A bunch of turnovers, sloppy play. 

Coaching Hot Seat
I did not mention Billy Napier because he was too obvious after that Miami game, but getting beat badly at home against Texas A&M…and getting booed by your own crowd? Not good. How bad has he been as the Gators HC? 12-16. 2-11 against ranked teams. He is 2-2 against lower or unranked teams. I just cannot imagine him surviving the entire season. I would imagine if Florida loses to Mississippi State, Napier could be fired before the plane lands in Gainesville. 

Awful Losses
UNLV over Kansas 23-20. The second time the Rebels have shown up on this list. They are 2-0 against the Big XII.
Memphis over Florida State 20-12. The Seminoles are 0-3. That is crazy.
Georgia State over Vanderbilt 36-32. Vandy was 2-0. Just win this game and they are 3-0 for the time in probably 300 years.
Toledo over Mississippi State 41-17. Did the MAC become one of the best conferences in college football???