College football Week 3: Top 25 schedule and predictions – Can BYU upset USC?

Week 3 of the college football season is the first week without two ranked teams facing off, but there still are potential upsets on the horizon this weekend.

The rankings changed dramatically following an eventful Week 2 in college football as LSU squeaked out a win against Texas as well as Maryland obliterating Syracuse earning inclusion into the Top 25. Syracuse now will look to save its season with an upset victory over No. 1 Clemson at home. Rival games between Penn State and Pittsburgh as well as Iowa State and Iowa could set the stage for some bubble teams to move closer to a Top 25 bid.

College football Week 3 schedule and Top 25 predictions (winner in bold)

Friday, Sept. 13

• No. 20 Washington State at Houston 9:15 p.m., ESPN

Saturday, Sept. 14

• Arkansas State at No. 3 Georgia 12 p.m., ESPN2
• No. 6 Ohio State at Indiana 12 p.m., FOX
• Pittsburgh at No. 13 Penn State 12 p.m., ABC
• No. 21 Maryland at Temple 12 p.m., CBSSN
• New Mexico at No. 7 Notre Dame 2:30 p.m., NBC
• No. 2 Alabama at South Carolina 3:30 p.m., CBS
• Stanford at No. 17 UCF 3:30 p.m., ESPN
• No. 24 USC at BYU 3:30 p.m., ABC
• No. 19 Iowa at Iowa State 4 p.m., FS1
• Idaho State at No. 11 Utah 4:15 p.m., PAC12
• Kent State at No. 8 Auburn 7 p.m., ESPN2
• No. 9 Florida at Kentucky 7 p.m., ESPN
• Lamar at No. 16 Texas A&M 7 p.m., ESPNU
• No. 1 Clemson at Syracuse 7:30 p.m. ABC
• Northwestern State at No. 4 LSU 7:30 p.m., SECN
• Hawaii at No. 23 Washington 7:30 p.m., PAC12
• Florida State at No. 25 Virginia 7:30 p.m., ACCN
• No. 5 Oklahoma at UCLA 8 p.m., FOX
• No. 12 Texas at Rice 7:30 p.m., 8 p.m. CBSSN
• Portland State at No. 22 Boise State 10:15 p.m., ESPN2
• Montana at No. 15 Oregon 10:45 p.m., PAC12

Just by looking at the games this week, expect a lot of chalk when it comes to the ranked teams.

It was hard to find some possible upsets with all the favorable matchups for ranked teams, but look out for BYU over No. 24 USC, Iowa State over No. 19 Iowa and Hawaii over No. 23 Washington as potential surprise victories in Week 3.

Hawaii has a fast-paced offense that can put up points in a hurry, something that Washington struggled to do against Pac-12 opponent California in a surprise loss last week. If the Huskies want to rebound, its defense will have to slow down junior quarterback Cole McDonald.

USC continues to kill our record when it comes to these picks as the team knocked off Stanford last week even with JT Daniels sidelined with a torn ACL. Nebraska also ended up losing a thriller against Colorado in another unexpected upset last week.

The game of the week should hopefully be a close contest between Clemson and Syracuse. Tommy DeVito and the Orange need a win to get back on track, but with Dabo Swinney’s Tigers looking as dominant as ever a week ago against ranked Texas A&M, the likelihood is extremely small.

Overall record this season: 39-6