HTR's Top 25: Week 3

Previous dubious assertions: HTR's Official Meaningless Preseason Top 25, Week 1, Week 2

via LSUfreek, obviously

Another week of college football came and went, and although we are still stuck in the mostly barren wasteland that is non-conference play, there were more than a few upsets this week. Virginia Tech somehow fell to a horrific Pitt team, Michigan State fell at home to Notre Dame, USC took a loss in Palo Alto, Ohio State almost lost to a seemingly mediocre Cal squad, and Utah bounced back from their loss against Utah State to pick off BYU in the Holy War in what was a mostly nonsensical finish.

We're still approximately a week or two away from these rankings not being a completely formless sea of shifting tectonic plates, but for now this will have to do.

Rank	Team
1	Alabama
2	LSU
3	Oregon
4	West Virginia
5	Georgia
6	Florida State
7	Stanford
8	USC
9	Texas
10	South Carolina
11	Clemson
12	Oklahoma
13	Notre Dame
14	Ohio State
15	Florida
16	TCU
17	Michigan State
18	Kansas State
19	Michigan
20	UCLA
21	Louisville
22	Arizona
23	Northwestern
24	Missouri
25	Nebraska

Out: Virginia Tech, Tennessee
Idle: Oklahoma, Oregon State, Colorado (JUST KIDDING they played, allegedly)

• With a powerful running game (forced to dip into secondary options once the starter got dinged up) and a staunch defense and special teams, they completed their third victory in a row against BCS competition this season. Who is this defensive/running game juggernaut of which I speak? Alabama?LSU, maybe? Of course, I am talking about none other than the Northwestern University FIGHTIN' FITZGERALDS. The Wildcats have been a shining light amid a sea of darkness for the Big Ten thus far this season; with games against South Dakota and Indiana coming up, a 5-0 start is all but assured for the warrior poets from Evanston. The Wildcats have gone with the Brady/Henson arrangement at QB with Kain Colter and Trevor Siemian, and there's a good chance that Siemian will eventually be "the guy." Anyway, bask in the warm glow of the Warrior Poets' battle hymn: 


• Elsewhere in the Big Ten. Ohio State, following the "hey let's make the quarterback do everything" style of play that Michigan has perfected the past three seasons, required a 72-yard strike from Miller to Devin Smith in the late stages to finally put away a Cal team with a loss to Nevada to its name. Wisconsin continues to be Bizarro Wisconsin, with nary a running game to be found; they required a missed field goal to beat the Aggies of Utah State in the final seconds. That's not a good look. Indiana did what Indiana does, and by that I mean lose to Ball State. Michigan State could not do much of anything against an Irish team that might actually be rounding into a legitimate team that could do some real damage if not for a brutal schedule the rest of the way. Otherwise, everything else went okay: Penn State got its first win, Minnesota is now 3-0, a Burkhead-less Nebraska team dealt with Gus Malzahn's Arkansas State squad, Purdue decidedly did not respect The Process en route to a thumping of EMU, and Iowa lost another tailback in an ugly win against their buddies from Cedar Falls. WOO, FEEL THE EXCITEMENT OF BIG TEN FOOTBALL. 

• Hey Alabama: maybe chill out a bit, okay. This is all just for fun. I did not watch this game, but this is pretty much the definition of the game that you can consume via osmosis. "Oh, did you hear about Arkansas?" *exchange of uncomfortable looks* "Yeah..." Sure, Arkansas was without Tyler Wilson, but if the relevant picture in this SMQB "Agony and Ecstasy" post is any indication, Wilson probably dodged a bullet by not participating in this one anyway. 

• "I'll be deep in the cold, cold ground before I recognize Missourah!"Actually, not really. I like Missouri and think they should be just fine in the SECE, last week's game against UGA notwithstanding (which was a ballgame until the curious fake punt call by Pinkel). James Franklin (not the Vandy HC) was out, leaving the door open for backup Corbin "Most Likely Name For a Birkenstock Enthusiast" Birkstresser, who did alright against an Arizona State defense that inceptioned many nightmares into the brains of Illinois' backup quarterbacks. He only went 21-41 with a YPA of 4.8 and 1 INT, but he did pitch in a TD on the ground. Who knows if ASU is any good at all, but Mizzou held serve at CoMo and that's all that matters. Having a +3 turnover margin and holding your opponent to 2-12 on third down is a pretty easy path to a W. 

• Thomas Jefferson ain't walkin' through that door. Another team/coach that I was a fan of coming into the season: UVA and Mike London. Unfortunately, that mostly irrational liking has taken a bit of hit thus far this season. The Cavs were fairly lucky to beat Penn State, and this past Saturday's 56-20 loss at Georgia Tech...is not a good luck. I bought into the Mike London hype train and decided to mostly ignore the fact that UVA would have to replace quite a few starters, but oh well. You're going to completely misread at least a few teams each season, and UVA definitely falls under this category for me. Still, they're 2-1, so all is not lost.