That’s more like it! After two weeks with a few upsets and a whole lot of blowouts, we were treated to some excellent football Saturday in Week 3 of college football.
College football rankings: Big Ten has top 2 in new AP Top 25, but what do computers say?
Combining the two big human polls with two others gives us a pretty interesting top 10.
Ohio State and TCU had relative struggles with unranked Northern Illinois and SMU, while Alabama and USC both lost for the first time this season (to Ole Miss and Stanford, respectively). Notre Dame survived its first post-Malik Zaire test, beating Georgia Tech by a touchdown, while UCLA beat BYU, 24-23, (and yes, it once again came down to the last play for the Cougars).
The biggest story coming into Sunday’s poll unveiling: how high would the SEC’s two biggest performers rise? Ole Miss has a legitimate claim to the No. 1 spot after its terrific first three weeks, while LSU molly-whopped Auburn, 45-21, on the legs of new Heisman frontrunner Leonard Fournette.
Well, here we are, with advanced statistics and a giant collection of other ratings also included:
| Composite ranking | Change | Average ranking | |
| 1 | Ohio State | 1.25 | |
| 2 | Ole Miss | +8 | 3.5 |
| 3 | Georgia | +3 | 4.75 |
| 3 | Michigan State | +2 | 4.75 |
| 5 | TCU | -2 | 5 |
| 6 | Alabama | -4 | 7.25 |
| 6 | LSU | +8 | 7.25 |
| 6 | Notre Dame | +7 | 7.25 |
| 9 | Baylor | -5 | 8 |
| 10 | Florida State | -2 | 8.5 |
| 11 | UCLA | -2 | 10.25 |
| 12 | Clemson | 11.5 | |
| 13 | Oregon | -3 | 13 |
| 14 | Oklahoma | +2 | 14.25 |
| 15 | Texas A&M | +3 | 15 |
| 16 | USC | -9 | 17.5 |
| 17 | Georgia Tech | -3 | 18 |
| 18 | Stanford | NR | 19 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | +1 | 20.75 |
| 20 | Utah | +1 | 22 |
| 21 | Arizona | +1 | 23.5 |
| 22 | Northwestern | NR | 23.75 |
| 23 | Mississippi State | NR | 25 |
| 24 | West Virginia | +1 | 25.5 |
| 25 | BYU | -2 | 25.75 |
| AP | Coaches | F/+ | Massey | |
| 1 | Ohio State | Ohio State | Alabama | Ohio State |
| 2 | Michigan State | TCU | Ohio State | Ole Miss |
| 3 | TCU (tie) | Michigan State | Georgia | Georgia |
| 4 | Ole Miss (tie) | Baylor | Ole Miss | Alabama |
| 5 | Baylor | Ole Miss | LSU | TCU |
| 6 | Notre Dame | Georgia | Florida State | Michigan State |
| 7 | Georgia | Florida State | Notre Dame | LSU |
| 8 | LSU | Notre Dame | Michigan State | Notre Dame |
| 9 | UCLA | LSU | Oregon | UCLA |
| 10 | Florida State | Clemson | TCU | Baylor |
| 11 | Clemson | UCLA | Clemson | Florida State |
| 12 | Alabama | Alabama | UCLA | Oklahoma |
| 13 | Oregon | Oregon | Baylor | Texas A&M |
| 14 | Texas A&M | Oklahoma | USC | Clemson |
| 15 | Oklahoma | Texas A&M | Stanford | Georgia Tech |
| 16 | Arizona | Arizona | Oklahoma | Stanford |
| 17 | Northwestern | Utah | Georgia Tech | Oregon |
| 18 | Utah | USC | Texas A&M | Utah |
| 19 | USC | Northwestern | Wisconsin | USC |
| 20 | Georgia Tech | Georgia Tech | Arizona State | Northwestern |
| 21 | Stanford | Wisconsin | Boise State | Wisconsin |
| 22 | Wisconsin | Oklahoma State | Virginia Tech | West Virginia |
| 23 | BYU | Missouri | Mississippi State | Kansas State |
| 24 | Oklahoma State | Stanford | Kansas State | Arizona |
| 25 | Missouri | Auburn | Tennessee | BYU |
The four rankings we use:
The Associated Press Top 25: The longest-running and best-respected human poll. Didn't have any official bearing on the latter years of the BCS, and won't have any official bearing on the Playoff. Expect it to set the course for the committee, however, as most outlets (including SB Nation) will use the AP's rankings as the standard until the committee takes over in November. Usually comes out on Sundays about 2 p.m. ET.
The USA Today Coaches Poll: Formerly part of the BCS, and now just a poll. It tends to be more conservative than the AP's. Though polling athletic departments in order to rank other athletic departments is dubious, we still want multiple human polls in here, and it's the other big one. Releases early Sunday afternoons.
The Massey computer composite: A collection of ... every rating out there, that will be included as soon as it is updated. By including it here, we're giving extra weight to the two human polls, since they're already two of the dozens of ratings included in the Massey. It changes over the course of the week as more rankings arrive.
Football Outsiders' F/+ rating: A synthesis of ratings by smart persons Bill Connelly and Brian Fremeau and our personal go-to overall team stat. It tends to come out later than the others, and also will be added as soon as it is updated.
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SB Nation presents: Ole Miss and Ohio State games highlight Week 3 action
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