Only two weeks into the college football season there has already been a ton of movement at the top of the rankings. Some teams are shifting in and out of the AP Top 25 while others deal with much more significant issues, like Texas, who fired its athletic director only 22 months after hiring him. Notre Dame’s stock took a hit following a win thanks to a significant injury loss, Auburn barely survived a historic upset at the hands of an FCS opponent and Alabama is still at the best team in a conference that had three teams exit the AP Top 25 following a wild Week 2.
What is in store for Week 3? Here is a breakdown of the best bets for the four can’t miss games this weekend.
No. 18 Auburn Tigers @ No. 13 LSU Tigers
Saturday, 3:30 PM ET
Auburn entered this season as a potential College Football Playoff contender but nothing it has done on the field is deserving of a Top 25 ranking so far. If they’re a better team than what they’ve showed, now is the time to do it as they travel to Death Valley to take on LSU. Junior quarterback Jeremy Johnson clearly hasn’t lived up to the hype as a preseason Heisman trophy favorite but he isn’t the only reason Auburn tumbled 12 spots down to No. 18 in the AP poll. It took a team effort to nearly make dubious history to Jacksonville State last week and the schedule is about to get a lot tougher with LSU and Mississippi State on tap. Sophomore running back Leonard Fournette carried LSU to a 21-19 win at Mississippi State last week when he ran for 159 yards and three touchdowns, and he should get plenty of touches again this week against a leaky defense that just gave up 161 rushing yards last week against Jacksonville State.
Pick: LSU
No. 14 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets @ No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Saturday, 3:30 PM ET
After losing their star running back to a torn ACL in Week 1, the Fighting Irish watched their star quarterback go down with a fractured ankle in Week 2. Now they’ll play out the remainder of the season without both Tarean Folston and Malik Zaire. The good news is that sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer completed 8-of-12 passes for 92 yards including the game-winning score in last week’s 34-27 win over Virginia.
Also, senior running back CJ Prosise ran for 155 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. Georgia Tech has once again led the nation in rushing yards early on but the Notre Dame defense should be able to slow them down enough to get a close win at home.
Pick: Notre Dame
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Stanford Cardinal @ No. 6 USC Trojans
Saturday, 8:00 PM ET
Stanford bounced back from its tough loss to Northwestern with a complete win over Central Florida. They are going to be in tough again on the road this weekend when they visit No. 6 USC. The Trojans are coming off back-to-back blowout wins over Arkansas State and Idaho, and while that doesn’t mean much in terms of the actual overall standings or rankings. they should have no problem getting their first Pac-12 win. It’s hard to trust Stanford on the road again with the memories of Week 1 fresh in our minds.
Pick: USC
No. 15 Ole Miss Rebels @ No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide
Saturday, 9:15 PM ET
As is the case with USC, it’s hard to know for sure exactly what Ole Miss is this season until we see them meet Alabama in Tuscaloosa this weekend. Ole Miss absolutely lit up both Tennessee-Martin and Fresno State, but even with Chad Kelly playing at a high level, he hasn’t been tested by a tough defense like the Tide will bring to the table.
Alabama should be able to keep the Rebels offense in check. On the other side of things Derrick Henry looks to continue his early Heisman campaign with another strong performance on the other side of the football. Henry has rushed for 243 yards and six touchdowns through the Tide’s first two games and as long as quarterback Jake Coker can move the ball without turning it over, Alabama should be just fine at home in their first SEC showdown.
Pick: Alabama
