Week Three was as polarizing as expected. It helped establish certain teams and slammed the door shut on playoff hopes for others. The Louisville Cardinals unexpectedly blasted Florida State at home. Ohio State went into Norman and took care of the Oklahoma Sooners. The Alabama Crimson Tide made a big comeback against Ole Miss. The Texas Longhorns, Iowa Hawkeyes, and Oregon Ducks all lose. While the Georgia Bulldogs, Michigan State, and Wisconsin Badgers all win to keep their spots. This is only some of the moving and shaking that Week three brought about. It’s time to get to the W2Mnet College Football Top 25: Week Three.

W2Mnet Staff

Randy Isbelle, Football Co-Senior Editor, Co-Host of Football 2 the MAX, Host of Fantasy Football 2 the MAX

Gary Vaughan, Football Dept. Head, Co-Host of Football 2 the MAX

Sean Garmer, Editor-in-Chief, Host of Football 2 the MAX

Daniel Anderson, Games Co-Senior Editor, Football Contributor, Real Life Gamer Reviews

Brandon Biskobing, Football and Wrestling Contributor

Noah Mooney, Football and Wrestling Contributor

W2Mnet College Football Top 25: Week Three

#1 Alabama Crimson Tide

Record: 3-0

It seems like every few years a team rises up and for two or three years challenges Alabama, even beating them here or there.  First it was Auburn when Cam Newton was there, then it was LSU, and recently it has been Ole Miss.  Alabama played a close game and ended up winning this past week.  So far, Alabama is easily the top team in the nation. – Daniel Anderson

(Next Week: vs Kent State)

#2 Ohio State Buckeyes

Record: 3-0

After a two hour delay the Buckeyes stormed into Norman and gave the Oklahoma Sooners a beating, winning 45-24 on the back of J. T. Barrett and Noah Brown, who paired up for four touchdowns. – Brandon Biskobing

(Next Week: Off Week)

#3 Louisville Cardinals

Record: 3-0

Lamar Jackson made a statement to the entire nation that he is legit.  Jackson had 362 yards of total offense and five touchdowns against Florida State.  Only the #2 ranked team in the entire country and Louisville chalak the Seminoles 63-20 and it could have been by even more. Louisville becomes only the second team in FBS history to score 60 points or more in three straight games. This was a total team effort with five sacks and two turnovers forced by the defense and a punt return touchdown scored as well. – Sean Garmer

(Next Week: @ Marshall)

#4 Clemson Tigers

Record: 3-0

Clemson finally wake up from their early struggles and shut out South Carolina State 59-0.  The Tigers hang 31 of those points in the first quarter and never look back. DeShaun Watson throws three touchdowns, two of them to Ray-Ray McCloud, and the Clemson defense blasts their opponents so hard they agreed to shorten the game. Clemson looks good headed into their first game in ACC play next week. – Sean Garmer

(Next Week: @ Georgia Tech)

#5 Houston Cougars

Record: 3-0

The Houston Cougars started the college football weekend off with Cincinnati. It was a close game up until the fourth quarter. Houston pulled away in the fourth quarter on the legs of Greg Ward Jr. with two rushing touchdowns and the strength of the Cougar defense that returned two interceptions for touchdowns. Houston played a tough game, but proved in the end they are a top tier team. – Gary Vaughan

(Next Week: @ Texas State)

#6 Michigan Wolverines

Record: 3-0

The Michigan Wolverines struggled in the first quarter, trailing 21-7, but rebounded and went 38-7 in the remaining three quarters.  Despite the win and keeping their undefeated record and ranking, Jim Harbaugh needs to be worried after struggling so mightily in the first quarter against an unranked team. – Brandon Biskobing

(Next Week: vs Penn State)

#7 Stanford Cardinal

Record: 2-0

Christian McCaffrey and the Stanford Cardinal ran all over the USC Trojans on Saturday.  McCaffrey led the way with 30 carries for 165 yards and a touchdown, scoring another touchdown on four receptions and 73 yards through the passing game.  The Cardinals combined for 295 yards on the ground, and only needed to attempt 15 passes in a 27-10 beatdown over their conference rival.  Stanford takes their act on the road with back to back conference games away from home against UCLA and the Washington Huskies next. – Randy Isbelle

(Next Week: @ UCLA)

#8 Washington Huskies

Record: 3-0

The Huskies continue to take care of business against much weaker opponents.  This week it was Portland State who fell victim.  Jake Browning threw for four touchdowns, bringing his total to 12 on the season, in a 41-3 rout.  Their Pac-12 section of the schedule begins next week with the Huskies first game away from home against Arizona. – Randy Isbelle

(Next Week: @ Arizona)

#9 Michigan State Spartans

Record: 2-0

The Spartans rolled into South Bend and faced a tough Notre Dame team and came out victorious by a score of 36-28.  The Spartans had a good ground and air balance, with Tyler O’Connor throwing two touchdown passes while Gerald Holmes also ran for two touchdowns. – Brandon Biskobing

(Next Week: vs Wisconsin)

#10  Tennessee Volunteers

Record: 3-0

No one really knows what to make of this Tennessee Volunteers team.  On one hand, they are 3-0 and have faced adversity in winning.  On the other hand, two of the three games shouldn’t have been that close.  Next week at the Florida Gators will test the Vols and give us a much better idea of where the team stands. – Daniel Anderson

(Next Week: vs Florida)

#11 Wisconsin Badgers

Record: 3-0

The Badgers made it look much harder than it should have been against Georgia State, squeaking out a 23-17 win.  They lost the lead and were trailing in the fourth quarter before scoring with seven and a half minutes remaining to secure the victory against their Sun Belt Conference foe. – Brandon Biskobing

(Next Week: @ Michigan State)

#12 Georgia Bulldogs

Record: 3-0

Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs are surprising a lot of people so far this year.  They are playing well on both sides of the ball.  The next step for Georgia is facing Ole Miss.  If they can beat them, they will probably be in the top 10 next week. – Daniel Anderson

(Next Week: @ Ole Miss)

#13 Texas A&M Aggies

Record: 3-0

The Texas A&M Aggies are a hard team to figure out.  They have some good victories, but Kevin Sumlin’s team is somewhat of a mystery just because they have only faced Auburn in the Southeastern Conference and that was just this past week.  The Aggies face The Arkansas Razorbacks later this week and that will be a fun high scoring game that tells how far along the Aggies are. – Daniel Anderson

(Next Week: vs Arkansas)

#14 LSU Tigers

Record: 2-1

The Tigers proved last week was not a fluke and ended up scoring 20+ points.  They are coming into the SEC portion of their schedule, and they have a tough one.  If they can keep winning, Les Miles’ seat might cool off a bit. – Daniel Anderson

(Next Week: @ Auburn)

#15 Florida Gators

Record: 3-0

Going into this year, everyone thought that Florida would have a good defense, but the offense would be lacking.  Instead the offense is doing good while the defence would need time to adapt.  So far, the offense has been playing well.  Next week will be a tough test against Tennessee with their starting QB possibly out with a shoulder injury. – Daniel Anderson

(Next Week: @ Tennessee)

#16 Florida State Seminoles

Record: 2-1

The Seminoles walked into Papa John’s Cardinals Stadium and were able to keep things close at 14-10 into the middle of the second quarter. The problem is they were shell shocked out of their shoes after that. Inefficiency in every aspect of play and two turnovers led to a complete decimation by a Louisville team that came to play and it showed. Florida State suffers an early loss not only in the ACC Conference, but in the Atlantic Division too. The Seminoles torrid schedule does not let up in the coming weeks either. They face a frisky undefeated South Florida team next week and then the North Carolina Tarheels and Miami Hurricanes after that.  – Sean Garmer

(Next Week: @ South Florida)

#17 Arkansas Razorbacks

Record: 3-0

The Razorbacks have a good offense, but their defense is a question.  Facing the Aggies this week and Alabama in three weeks, this team will have a chance to prove what they are made of and if they deserve to be where they are. – Daniel Anderson

(Next Week: @ Texas A&M)

#18 Baylor Bears

Record: 3-0

Seth Russell lead the Baylor Bears to a definitive victory over Rice. This was a game Baylor should have won and they did. Russell had three passing touchdowns on Baylor’s path to a good win. – Gary Vaughan

(Next Week: vs Oklahoma State)

#19 Miami Hurricanes

Record: 3-0

Miami quieted all of those worried about an upset alert after the very first play from scrimmage. Mark Walton breaks through the line for 80 yards and a score, setting the tone for the rest of the day. Despite an ill-timed interception, Brad Kaaya fired back with three touchdowns, the defense held Appalachian State to 10 points and 241 total yards to go into the bye at 3-0 on the year. Miami begins ACC play against Georgia Tech in two weeks. – Sean Garmer

(Next Week: Off Week)

#20 Texas Longhorns

Record: 2-1

It was a shootout out west between Texas and California. The Longhorns showed their youth as they made more mistakes than the Bears. Shane Buechele struggled on-the-field and off it with a chest injury. In the end, California fired the last shots to give Texas their first loss. – Gary Vaughan

(Next Week: Off Week)

#21 Boise State Broncos

Record: 2-0

Boise State was off this week. Many teams in the top 25 lost, leaving Boise State room to remain in the Top 25. – Noah Mooney

(Next Week: @ Oregon State)

#22 Oklahoma Sooners

Record: 1-2

The Oklahoma Sooners could not match the energy in Memorial Stadium Saturday night. The Sooners could only keep up with Ohio State up until halftime. Baker Mayfield was not good enough to keep the Sooners in the game as he threw only two touchdowns and two interceptions. Blame also has to go to the Sooner defense as they had no answers on how to stop Noah Brown who nabbed four touchdowns for the Buckeyes. Oklahoma proved they could not play up to an elite level. – Gary Vaughan

(Next Week: Off Week)

#23 Nebraska Cornhuskers

Record: 3-0

A late 34 yard touchdown run by Tommy Armstrong Jr. helped the Cornhuskers defend their home field against the formerly ranked Oregon Ducks.  Nebraska controlled the clock in an offensive slugfest that saw 564 combined rushing yards.  The Cornhuskers could watch their rankings climb as they face the softer side of the Big 10 before big match-ups against Wisconsin and Ohio State in late October and early November. – Randy Isbelle

(Next Week: @ Northwestern)

#24 Oklahoma State Cowboys

Record: 2-1

The Cowboys were able to rebound after a stunning and depressing end to their last game, when Central Michigan pulled off an incredible trick play to defeat them. To move forward from that heartbreaker, Mason Rudolph threw for 540 yards and helped Oklahoma State survive a shootout against the Pittsburgh Panthers. – Noah Mooney

(Next Week: @ Baylor)

#25 Iowa Hawkeyes

Record: 2-1

Iowa got taken down by North Dakota State, a team that quite frankly doesn’t lose to FBS teams. The game played out in typical Big Ten fashion, with two teams pounding the ball down each other’s throats to establish dominance and reign supreme. However, the Bison got the last laugh as a last second field goal squeaked through the uprights, creating an awestruck and dumbfounded audience in Iowa City. – Noah Mooney

(Next Week: @ Rutgers)

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