College football Week 3: Best games to watch this week

College football is already at Week 3 and these are the three best games of the week that you need to make sure you’re watching.

For the first time this season, there isn’t a matchup of top-five teams playing in college football this week. After fans were spoiled with No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 3 Florida state and No. 5 Oklahoma vs. No. 2 Ohio State the last two weeks, week 3 doesn’t feature a game of that magnitude, but it does feature some highly intriguing games you won’t want to miss. Below, I’ve listed the three games I’m most excited to see this weekend, including a rematch in the SEC, a rematch in the ACC and a rematch of the 2006 Rose Bowl that may be the best national championship game I’ve seen in my lifetime.

No. 23 Tennessee vs. No. 24 Florida – 3:30 – CBS

Tennessee snapped an 11-game losing streak to their SEC East rivals last year after overcoming an 18-point, first-half deficit. Now they seek a two-game winning streak in what should be a pivotal SEC East showdown. The Vols are 2-0 and have yet to play their best football. Meanwhile. The Gators are 0-1 after losing their opener to Michigan and last week’s game was canceled due to Hurricane Irma.

Quarterbacks will be the key as Tennessee has emerging starter Quinten Dormady getting more comfortable in his first year under center. The same can’t yet be said for Florida’s Feleipe Franks who looks to rebound after he was benched in favor of Notre Dame transfer Malik Zaire in the opener. Florida does have a ferocious defense that can keep them in games, but if the Gators offense doesn’t improve, the Vols could be poised to end Florida’s bid to three-peat as SEC East champions.

Texas vs. No. 4 USC – 8:30 p.m. – FOX

This marks the first time to the two programs have met since the 2006 Rose Bowl that saw Texas and Vince Young win in the final seconds to take home the national championship and effectively signal the beginning of the end of the USC Dynasty. A new one could be brewing for the Trojans, however, behind the right arm of redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Darnold. The Heisman hopeful is coming off a four-touchdown performance in the win against Stanford and has an emerging supporting cast of playmakers.

Texas may be without quarterback Shane Buechele for a second straight week. Converted receiver Jerrod Heard shifted back to quarterback last week where he added a rushing element the offense used to beat San Jose State. Tom Herman was able to use a combination of Heard and Sam Ehlinger to win last week, but Texas will need to make plays in the passing game in order to pull off what would be a titanic upset on Saturday.

No. 3 Clemson vs. No. 14 Louisville – 8:00 p.m. – ABC

Louisville came up three yards shy of upsetting the eventual national champions last year at Clemson in a 42-36 loss. This year, Lamar Jackson and the Cardinals look for revenge against the Tigers in a game that puts the winner in the driver’s seat to win the ACC. Reigning Heisman winner, Lamar Jackson, had 457 yards of offense and four touchdowns last year and has looked even better to start this year. Jackson is averaging more than 500 yards of offense per game and is coming off a six-touchdown showing vs. North Carolina.

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Clemson is coming off an impressive defensive showing in their win against Auburn that saw them sack Jarrett Stidham 11 times, including four by Austin Bryant. The Clemson defensive line may be the best in the nation but they’ll need to be better than last year’s showing in order to pull off the big road win. Look for Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant to make plays with his feet and big-strikes to Deon Cain to keep Clemson matching scores with Jackson and Louisville.

This could come down to the team that has the ball last so make sure you’re tuned in to the Game of the Week.