College football Week 4: 5 teams on upset alert

1. Alabama Crimson Tide

Rank: 1, Opponent: Vanderbilt Commodores

There’s no questioning the greatness of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Nick Saban has done what the head coach always does, replaced the immense amount of talent that he lost to the NFL Draft with another round of highly touted recruits that are more than ready to fill the void. And with that, there’s no doubt that they should be favored in every matchup in which they play. However, it feels like no one is giving the Vanderbilt Commodores the respect they deserved heading into their Week 4 matchup.

Vanderbilt also enters this matchup at 3-0. And before you start to think that they’ve played cupcakes and skated by, that’s not wholly been the case. In their opener, they beat a quality Middle Tennessee State team and stifled a good offense in the process. While Alabama A&M was indeed a pushover, their Week 3 opponent in Kansas State was far from it. However, the Commodores welcomed the then-ranked Wildcats and toppled them with a tough 14-7 victory.

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The Commodores finally have a viable star at quarterback in Kyle Shurmur, who should be in the national conversation more than he is. What’s more, with only 13 points allowed over three games, their defense is clearly legitimate. While they are going to be overmatched in terms of overall talent when playing Bama, they should be able to push them and challenge them. An upset is far from certain, but it’s more in the cards than some might lead you to believe.