College football always finds a way to deliver changes to the rankings, whether you expect them or not. In Week 3, it was Kentucky to land the first big blow, knocking down No. 9 Texas A&M. But there were plenty of others in danger, from No. 12 USC struggling to put away Rutgers to No. 10 Alabama falling behind early to Florida State. No. 19 Michigan even played with their food a bit before running away against UTEP.
Texas A&M's loss will drop them, that's for sure. The question is how far?
Projected college football rankings after Texas A&M falls to Kentucky
- Texas (vs. UTSA)
- Georgia (W, 45-17 at Arkansas)
- Notre Dame (vs. Michigan State)
- Indiana (W, 38-0 vs. Western Kentucky)
- Miami (W, 33-20 at Wake Forest)
- Ohio State (W, 59-3 vs. Kent State)
- LSU (at 8-Ole Miss)
- Ole Miss (vs. 7-LSU)
- Alabama (vs. Florida State)
- BYU (at Colorado State)
- USC (W, 42-35 at Rutgers)
- Texas Tech (W, 28-26 vs. 22-Houston)
- Penn State (W, 55-13 vs. Buffalo)
- Tennessee (vs. Kennesaw State)
- Texas A&M (L, 31-21 vs. Kentucky)
- Utah (W, 33-0 vs. Utah State)
- Iowa (vs. Northern Iowa)
- Michigan (W, 52-17 vs. UTEP)
- Louisville (W, 41-31 vs. 16-SMU)
- Missouri (vs. Troy)
- Oregon (W, 84-0 vs. Portland State)
- SMU (L, 41-31 at 23-Louisville)
- Oklahoma (vs. New Mexico)
- Virginia (vs. West Virginia)
- Houston (L, 28-26 at Texas Tech)
Down goes Texas A&M
Kentucky gave Alabama some trouble last week before fading late. So it always looked possible they'd give Texas A&M some trouble as well. They sure delivered the trouble, dropping A&M out of the Top 10 with a 31-21 win.
After giving up the opening score, Kentucky scored 28 unanswered points to take complete command in College Station. Marcel Reed's two interceptions were rough, especially compared to Kenny Minchey's 252 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers.
A&M's potential road to the College Football Playoff was hard enough with games at LSU, Missouri, Oklahoma and Alabama, along with a season finale against Texas at home. Kentucky was supposed to be a relatively routine W. This is a disastrous result that they may not recover from.
Louisville takes ACC advantage over SMU
In a potentially significant ACC matchup, Louisville beat SMU 41-31. The Cardinals get a boost from No. 23 to No. 19 while the Mustangs drop from No. 16 to No. 23. It's almost like they traded places.
Louisville scored the final 14 points of the game to secure a victory that could be the difference between making the ACC title game and staying home.
Friday night action raises questions for Miami and Houston
Four ranked teams were in action on Friday night, two of them facing each other. Texas Tech beat Houston by the skin of their teeth after Connor Weigman's two-point attempt run came a milimeter shy of the goal line.
While they've got a ranked win under their belt, it wasn't exactly an impressive one. The big takeaway from that game is that the Red Raiders don't have a College Football Playoff-level quarterback. Tommy Castellanos threw an insanely boneheaded interception on his first throw and was immediately benched. Will Hammond did lead his team to a victory, but his limitations as a quarterback were far too clear.
Facing off with Wake Forest, Miami looked like they were going to roll through another opponent, leading 31-7 in the third quarter. The Demon Deacons pushed back, cutting it to 31-20 at the start of the fourth quarter. The game was never in serious danger, but this is the first time the Hurricanes have looked vulnerable because their offense couldn't make the plays. It's just something to make a note of.
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