Forget about the ranked-on-ranked marquee matchups in college football's Week 3. Everyone and their mother will be watching No. 7 LSU vs. No. 8 Ole Miss or No. 16 SMU vs. No. 23 Louisville this weekend. The real intrigue for the national title race lies in the contests relegated to hard core fans' second and third screens.
Follow the sickos and you'll find the real treats of early regular season. There are at least half a dozen other games featuring teams from outside the Top 25 rankings that will be cited as major turning points for programs that either sneak in or are left out of the 12-team College Football Playoff. Let's dip our toes into each of them and tell you why you should be tuning in on Saturday.
Dark horse games with CFP ties
Arizona State vs. Kansas
The first college football game to take place on English soil will be hosted at Wembley Stadium in London. These two Big 12 squads are coming off humbling losses from Week 2 but the winner will be re-injected into the conference title conversation, which may be their only ticket into the playoff to begin with. Of the two, Arizona State has a positive history with the selection committee and stepping up for an overseas challenge would boost their resume in a unique way no other team in the sport (besides North Carolina) can boast.
Kansas looks like a program on the verge of taking off despite a Border War loss to No. 20 Missouri. The Jayhawks can use ASU as a launching platform to be taken more seriously in the weeks ahead and establish a positive record in the conference. If not for the implications, tune in for the clash of cultures which has gone over rather well when the NFL makes its now-annual pilgrimage across the pond.
North Carolina vs. Clemson
Dabo Swinney and Bill Belichick are coaching for their careers this year, it feels like. The former had his "the-future-is-now-old-man" moment in the 51-10 blowout loss to LSU in Week 1 and the latter needs this year to be a six-win minimum campaign to prove his best coaching days are not mostly behind him. This matchup will have major implications for the ACC title race, one most folks are ready to assume is already down to Miami, SMU and Louisville.
A 3-0 Tar Heel team, especially with wins over two power conference foes (TCU in Week 1), should find itself at least receiving votes in the next Top 25 poll. That gives it legitimacy entering the remainder of the campaign and sets the program up to play spoiler at the very least. The ACC is never a settled question until all the games have been played. Miami learned that the hard way last year and who is to say North Carolina won't be this year's Duke?
Florida vs. Auburn
While everyone's focused on Lane Kiffin's return to Oxford, SEC fans should have at least one eyeball on Auburn while two new head coaches fight to prove themselves. Both teams are 2-0 but only one is going to avoid a blemish that was entirely avoidable with the right preparation and execution. Alex Golesh was chosen by the Tigers over Jon Sumrall who gladly took employment in Gainesville and is ready to make Auburn pay for that mistake.
You could argue that's more drama than Kiffin's soap opera. Yet the winner of this game could do exactly to the SEC what North Carolina would be poised to do in the ACC. Both programs face five ranked conference foes on their remaining schedule -- all of them with CFP hopes of their own. Taking care of business against an emerging threat in Week 3 and then stealing an upset or two down the road would place that team squarely in the at-large conversation, especially with how SEC-favorable the 12-team bracket is.
Virginia Tech vs. Maryland
James Franklin has a new home and the pressure is way turned down compared to his time at Penn State. Virginia Tech is looking for a resurgence and the ACC is wide open no matter what the rankings say. Maryland is playing to prove its residency in the Big Ten isn't a joke like Rutgers. The Terrapins have no CFP hope to cling to, but they could reignite a long-lost East Coast rivalry by humbling any lofty goals the Hokies have.
If Franklin manages to get the win, you can point to it as the launching point for a potentially larger campaign. Virginia Tech won't see any ranked foes until November and if it can remain undefeated, there's a chance those games will be judged as having elimination consequences. That's a position the Hokies haven't found themselves since a 2011 trip to the Sugar Bowl.
Ranked CFP contenders on upset watch from unranked teams
No. 25 Virginia vs. West Virginia
There are a lot of folks that aren't sure why the Cavaliers are considered a Top 25 team but consider the fact that they've clung to the very last spot in the rankings for multiple weeks to start the year and now face a spoiler candidate. West Virginia isn't expected to compete for the Big 12 crown this year but head coach Rich Rodriguez is known for leading squads that bite at the ankles of any contender. Traveling to Charlottesville will set up an interesting battle and test whether Virginia deserves to stick around with the best programs in the nation.
No. 11 BYU vs. Colorado State
The Cougars are seen to be the only true threat to Texas Tech repeating as Big 12 champions this year and that could mean the team is already looking forward to conference play. Colorado State, which opened up its inaugural Pac-12 schedule with two convincing non-conference wins, gets to take a swing at a former Mountain West Conference rival who may be in line for a humbling. A loss for BYU here would put its CFP hopes on life support and catapult the Rams into the Group of Six at-large berth conversation.
No. 10 Alabama vs. Florida State
Don't expect this rematch from last season to be as dramatic or produce the same seismic upset. However, that doesn't mean the implications are any less important. Alabama needs to get revenge and take care of business against an inferior Florida State team to maintain its upward climb in the Kalen DeBoer era. Yet Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell's job is potentially on the line if his team doesn't put up a respectable enough fight. If the Crimson Tide somehow lose to FSU in back-to-back years, it may be DeBoer who is fired on the spot.
No. 3 Notre Dame vs. Michigan State
The Spartans were Big Ten basement dwellers last year but at 2-0 this season, it's tough to know how good they really are. That's the worst kind of opponent for Notre Dame to face this early in the year (remember NIU in 2024?). The Irish cannot relax against Michigan State, especially with how soft of a schedule they have. Only 12-0 will silence the haters and give the CFP Selection Committee zero reason to exclude them from the bracket. A loss should practically eliminate Notre Dame from the playoff race or at least put its chances on life support.
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