College Football Week 3 Overreactions and Underractions

College Football Week 3 featured some important matchups, including those with implications for the College Football Playoff and SEC conference seeding. The new AP poll reflects some of the reactions seen below. Notre Dame, Clemson, and LSU are the biggest surprises this week. Notre Dame manages to remain in the Top 25 despite a 0-2 start. Then, Texas held on to a Top 10 spot without any major wins. The Big Ten didn't see much love, likely a reflection of their weak early-season schedule.

Photo by Andrew Gearhart on Unsplash

College Football Week 3 Overreactions

Overreaction 1: Georgia Tech Is Really Good!

Props to Georgia Tech for the big victory over Clemson. It's not necessarily fair to take credit away from Georgia Tech, but Clemson looks like the most overrated team in College Football this year. Many prognosticators had Clemson as their pick for the National Champion: swing and a miss. The ACC is deeper than it has been in years, but beating Clemson still holds more weight in AP voters' minds than it should.

Overreaction 2: Vanderbilt Is Still a Fluke

Vanderbilt has historically been the SEC's "Free Win" matchup. Not anymore. Some will claim Vanderbilt's success is still a fluke. Still, after beating Alabama and South Carolina over the past year and competing against Texas and Missouri, they have secured a spot in the conference's middle tier.

Overreaction 3: Texas Remaining in the Top 10

Texas hasn't shown that it deserves to be a top 10 team. Expectations and Arch Manning (who will still be good) have elevated them ahead of teams with better resumes. Texas's loss to Ohio State is carrying a lot of weight for them, but they haven't looked dominant in their non-conference schedule of cupcake games. Vanderbilt defeated 11th-ranked South Carolina, Oklahoma beat 15th-ranked Michigan, and Texas A&M took down 8th-ranked Notre Dame.

College Football Week 3 Underreactions

Underreaction 1: Notre Dame Can Still Make the Playoffs!

Notre Dame's season isn't over, but its playoff hopes should be. Notre Dame has one ranked opponent remaining on its schedule: USC, which has matchups with 9 Illinois and 21 Michigan before their October 18th matchup. In a year of unprecedented depth in the SEC, the Big Ten, and the ACC, Notre Dame's path to the playoffs seems impossible. Currently, it appears that there is one spot available for the Big 12 and another for a non-power four team. The ACC could arguably grab two. So, that's eight spots left. It will be difficult to argue the SEC and Big Ten out of at least four apiece.

Underreaction 2: LSU's Wins Aren't That Impressive

LSU's Week 1 victory over Clemson grabbed them a lot of attention. Clemson has struggled since then. They won against Florida, yes, but Florida hasn't looked great either. Rivalry games sometimes have unexpected results, but Brian Kelly's Tigers have not lived up to the hype. Their conference schedule is on the easier side for the SEC, but it should provide more clarity on whether they've been overrated.

Underreaction 3: Clemson Is In Trouble

Clemson is the only program whose playoff hopes have had a larger nosedive than Notre Dame's. Notre Dame lost to other top programs. Clemson nearly lost to Troy last week and then lost to Georgia Tech this week. As noted above, the ACC's bottom has risen. Clemson is no longer the only dog in the conference, but the ACC is still not strong enough to overcome two early-season losses. Without an upset against Florida State, their path to the playoff is all but closed.

Best Games

Georgia's 44-41 Victory Over Tennessee

Some questioned Georgia last week, dropping them in the AP Poll. A big win in Knoxville proved them wrong.

Texas A&M's 41-40 Win Over Notre Dame

Texas A&M gets a signature win and jumped up to 10 as a reward.

Georgia Tech's 24-21 Upset Over Clemson

The ACC is no longer Clemson and the rest. The rest have caught up and passed Clemson.

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