Week 3: After the Technical Difficulties

Oy. From the almost complete lack of defensive stats at Yahoo Sports after Week 1 to the realization that LSU's strength of schedule was getting dinged for playing McNeese State despite, you know, not actually playing McNeese State, there's been a lot to fix. Luckily, I set my crack IT guy (read: brother-in-law) on it. It was fixed just in time for me not to have any time to write up Week Two. Mea culpa. Without further delay, here are Your Top 25:

Rk	Δ	Team	Pts
1	+2	Georgia	65.5

With so many other teams losing or otherwise underperforming last week, Georgia rises to the number one spot after handily beating South Carolina 52-20. QB Greyson Lambert went 24/25, setting an NCAA completion percentage record, and the Bulldogs currently sit atop the SEC East.

2

+6

Ole Miss

65.2

Ole Miss leads the nation in points scored per game and has beaten Bama two years in a row now. Did head coach Hugh Freeze sell his soul to the devil at a Delta crossroads? You be the judge:

3

+4

Florida State

60.7

The Seminoles sit at 3-0 and might actually have a great defense this year: Florida State has allowed 10.0 points per game thus far (6th in the FBS) compared to a 30th-best 23.0 papg last year. QB Everett Golson has impressed in a way that he did not at Notre Dame, and RB Dalvin Cook has averaged over 150 rushing yards per game, including 266 yards two weeks ago against South Florida.

4

+5

LSU

59.0

LSU has been a pleasant surprise so far this season. The Tigers finished 8-5 last year, just about in the middle of the SEC West, but have already notched two conference wins this year, against Mississippi State and a struggling Auburn squad.

5

0

Notre Dame

59.0

While Hugh Freeze covets his lucky monkey's paw, Notre Dame has smashed Texas in Week 1 and followed up with hard-fought wins against Virginia and Georgia Tech. Perhaps the Irish were inspired by Pope Francis's upcoming visit to the States?

6	-4	Ohio State	58.9
7	-6	Alabama	56.8
8	+2	UCLA	54.8
9	+2	Oklahoma	54.2
10	+3	TCU	52.2
11	+14	Northwestern	52.0
12	+2	Michigan State	51.1
13	-7	Georgia Tech	50.5
14	+15	Arizona	49.4
15	+3	Baylor	49.4
16	+3	Texas A&M	49.3
17	+11	Clemson	49.1
18	+3	Memphis	49.0
19	+7	Utah	48.4
20	-4	Florida	48.3
21	+3	Miami (FL)	47.5
22	-5	Temple	46.3
23	0	Kansas State	46.2
24	+20	NC State	45.3
25	+12	Wisconsin	43.2

See full rankings here.

Teams falling out of the Top 25:

• (29) USC
• (30) BYU
• (31) Boston College
• (33) Air Force
• (41) Duke

Teams worse than the average FCS team: None

Largest improvement in rank: +31 North Carolina The Tar Heels crushed Illinois 48-14 in a game the Math expected them to lose by five.

Largest drop in rank: -36 Ohio only beat FCS Southeastern Louisiana by 21 and were out-rushed by 33 yards.

Conference Rankings

Conference	Average
SEC	42.36
ACC	38.03
Pac-12	37.35
Big 12	36.77
Big Ten	36.60
American	27.19
Conference USA	21.22
Mountain West	20.26
MAC	20.25
Sun Belt	18.42

Games to watch this week:

(8) UCLA at (14) Arizona (8 PM ET, ABC)

After USC's loss to Stanford last week, UCLA and Arizona look like the two best teams in the Pac-12 South. Arizona has yet to play anyone of consequence, while UCLA managed to vanquish serial upsetter BYU last week. Expect this game, along with Utah-Oregon (see below), to set the tone for the Pac-12 title race.

Line: UCLA by 3.5

(39) Tennessee at (20) Florida (3:30 PM ET, CBS)

The Vols-Gators matchup is the most interesting SEC game this week. Tennessee had great expectations at the start of the season before blowing a 17-point lead in a double-overtime loss to Oklahoma two weeks ago. Florida has meanwhile quietly gone 3-0, including an SEC win, albeit against lowly Kentucky. A Tennessee win may start a turnaround for the Vols; a Florida win will likely be greeted with a shrug. For now.

Line: Florida by 2

(19) Utah at (45) Oregon (8:30 PM ET, Fox)

Utah is a potentially upcoming team that has pulled off good-looking wins against Michigan, Utah State, and Fresno State. Oregon is potentially on the decline now that Marcus Mariota is playing for the Tennessee Titans; the Ducks have lost to Michigan State and won less than convincingly against Eastern Washington and Georgia State. This game will corroborate or refute those storylines as both teams commence their Pac-12 season.

Line: Oregon by 1.5

(30) BYU at (40) Michigan (Noon ET, ABC)

I have no idea what will happen in this game. Michigan is rebuilding under One True God Jim Harbaugh (blessed be thy khakis), while BYU pulled off spectacular come-from-behind wins against Nebraska and Boise State before UCLA gave them a taste of their own medicine last week. No, I have no idea what will happen in this game. That's why I want to watch.

Line: BYU by 0.5