College Football Predictions Week 3: 10 Top 25 Teams Most Likely to Tumble

Week 3 of the college football season is upon us, and the Top 25 rankings have begun to take shape.

Naturally, however, the Top 25 as it stands now will be largely different by the end of the weekend. Some teams will win as expected, while others will lose to unranked or lower-ranked opponents in truly disappointing fashion. It happens every week. 

Speaking of, we now must move onto the arduous task of predicting which Top 25 teams will take a tumble down the rankings this weekend. 

Below are some criteria for the list of teams predicted to lose this weekend—a list which you'll predictably pick apart in the comments section, as you should. 

1. It's important to look at the opposition that teams have played so far leading up to Week 3. It's no secret that atrocious matchups are scheduled every week in college football, and levels of competition must be taken into account. 
2. Alongside the opposition the Top 25 have played are the outcomes of the first two games. Did a Top 25 team win against a solid opponent by an inch or a mile? On the contrary, did a good team beat a bad team by a little or a lot? For better or worse, point spreads are an integral part of college football and must be accounted for. 
3. At the end of the day, the best players must make plays to set up and seal victories. So, we'll look at skill-position players and the kind of impact they've had in the first two weeks of the season. 

And with that, let's get things rolling. 

No. 25 Oklahoma State Cowboys

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are a perfect fit in terms of this list's first criterion: They have yet to play a good team.

The Cowboys posted 578 total yards against the Central Arkansas Bears last week, which isn't too surprising after watching some of the highlights above—wide-open Cowboys receivers plus missed Bears tackles equals what amounts to a college football massacre. 

The Cowboys' opponents this week are the Texas San Antonio Roadrunners, who are 0-2 entering the game. 

How on earth, then, could one pick the Roadrunners over the Cowboys, especially after Texas San Antonio lost its first two games? The Roadrunners have played quality opponents in Arizona and Kansas State, while the Cowboys have met Central Michigan and Central Arkansas.

The Cowboys' schedule to date will hurt them this weekend as they face a Roadrunners team that is hungry for a win. Oklahoma State will enter this game overconfident after slaying is first two opponents and faces a tougher-than-expected Texas San Antonio offense that ranks 15th in the nation in terms of points scored. 

The Roadrunners hung in tough Week 1 against Arizona, posting 32 points in a loss to the Wildcats. Expect them to do the same against an unproven Oklahoma State team—and maybe just pull off the upset. 

No. 22 Missouri Tigers

Both Missouri and Connecticut enter Saturday's game having played mediocre opponents. The teams' offenses are also ranked close to each other in terms of passing and rushing yards.

You might be surprised that Connecticut actually has the slight edge in those areas, though. Huskies quarterback Bryant Shirreffs has thrown for 472 yards through two games, while Mizzou's Maty Mauk has thrown for 329, although he has more touchdowns (five) than Shirreffs (two). 

Last week, Arkansas State gave Missouri all the Tigers could handle; just look at the highlights above. In fact, Mizzou had to rally late for a comeback victory against the Red Wolves. It was not a convincing Tigers win against a team that had played USC and Missouri in back-to-back weeks.

Mauk and the Tigers offense will run into a well-coached Huskies defense that knows it has a chance to knock the Tigers out of the Top 25. In the highlight reel above (at the 1:47 mark), Mauk makes a terrible decision to throw out of his own end zone into a crowd of defenders. 

Expect a better Huskies defense to force turnovers and capitalize on them en route to an upset victory in front of a frenzied Missouri crowd.  

No. 16 Oklahoma Sooners

The Sooners and Tennessee Volunteers went to double overtime last weekend, which bodes well for Oklahoma's Week 3 opponent, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.

While it may seem on paper that Oklahoma is set to crush Tulsa (which has happened under Bob Stoops many times), we can't overlook that Tennessee laid out a blueprint last week on how to take the Sooners to the limit. 

Whether or not Tulsa can stick to that blueprint is another question entirely, but consider that the Golden Hurricane have posted at least 600 yards of offense in their first two games. Tulsa's first two opponents were not good teams, but quarterback Dane Evans' 745 passing yards through two games is hard to ignore nonetheless.

Expect Tulsa's defensive game plan to mimic the Volunteers' seen in the highlight video above as much as possible, as the Golden Hurricane look to pull off an in-state upset against the Sooners. 

No. 21 Utah Utes

The Utah Utes have played solid football against average opponents to get to 2-0 on the season. 

The Fresno State Bulldogs, meanwhile, are coming off a 52-point loss to Ole Miss. At first glance, it seems impossible for the Bulldogs to have any chance against Utah on Saturday. 

But sometimes a huge loss can be a wake-up call for a team, and as you can see in the highlight reel above, Utah is far from perfect. The offense relies heavily on senior quarterback Travis Wilson's dual-threat capabilities, which the team could be without come Saturday as he nurses a shoulder injury. 

The Bulldogs will play competitively after getting trounced by Ole Miss last weekend. Rarely do teams fold in such a spectacular manner two weeks in a row, so expect the Bulldogs to play solid football against a mediocre Utah team. 

No. 14 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Resiliency is an important trait for any football team, and Notre Dame showed it last week against Virginia. 

No starting quarterback with less than 20 seconds left in the game, down by a score? No problem. Fighting Irish QB DeShone Kizer slung a beautiful pass to the end zone for a last-second touchdown and the win against Virginia. 

Kizer is a freshman, which history says will not favor the Yellow Jackets on Saturday. According to ESPN.com's Ted Miller, the last three freshman quarterbacks to start at home for the Irish all won—two even beat ranked opponents.  

Neither the Irish nor Yellow Jackets have played a ranked opponent yet this season, but Notre Dame's two opponents have been higher-quality than Georgia Tech's. 

The Irish will once again show resolve and pull out a win at home against the Yellow Jackets. 

No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs

The South Carolina Gamecocks showed their own resolve in Week 1 against the North Carolina Tar Heels, managing to defeat UNC despite getting outgained on offense 440-394 total yards.

It's why they'll upset the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday. 

Consider that Georgia has played Louisiana Monroe and Vanderbilt, two low-quality opponents. South Carolina, meanwhile, has played the Tar Heels and Kentucky.

Both teams' passing games are quite similar as far as statistics are concerned. The Gamecocks' 181 passing yards per game ranks 88th in the country, while Georgia's 166.5 ranks 94th. 

Still not convinced the Gamecocks can pull off the upset? Consider this—South Carolina has won four of the past five games against Georgia. 

No. 15 Ole Miss Rebels

Ole Miss is in for its first real test of the season against Alabama this weekend, which is why the Rebels will fall to the Crimson Tide. 

It's all fun and dandy that the Rebels enter the game having posted more than 70 points in each of their first two games, but consider which teams they got to beat up on: Tennessee-Martin and Fresno State. 

At least Alabama has played and beaten Wisconsin, a ranked team. 

More importantly for Alabama, though, is the play of starting running backs Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake. In the highlights above, you can see how both of them combine for a one-two punch of power and finesse. 

With the running game going strong, the Crimson Tide will beat the Rebels by controlling the clock. 

Note, however, that the Rebels offense—specifically the passing game—has been virtually unstoppable this season. Alabama, meanwhile, has had issues in its pass defense. Don't be surprised if Ole Miss grabs an early lead in this one with the help of quarterback Chad Kelly, who has 557 yards and six passing touchdowns on the year. 

No. 13 LSU Tigers

The LSU Tigers are a good football team and have played a quality opponent in Mississippi State, defeating the Bulldogs in Week 2.

But they also didn't play in Week 1, leaving room for concern as to whether or not they'll be rusty heading into Week 3 against Auburn. 

Auburn has yet to play a ranked opponent after beating Louisville and Jacksonville State this season. 

It's hard to compare stats between two teams that have played a different amount of games, so we won't go there.

Despite LSU's potent offense, expect Auburn to capitalize on a slow start from a rusty LSU team en route to an upset in Louisiana. 

No. 10 UCLA Bruins

As you can see from BYU's Week 1 highlights against Nebraska, the Cougars don't win in pretty fashion. 

But they win nonetheless, and you can expect that trend to continue against UCLA. 

The Bruins have played UNLV and Virginia, beating both teams soundly. The Cougars have played Nebraska and Boise State and won both games as an underdog. 

The Cougars fight hard to stay in games and have capitalized on opportunities to win in both. It's that resolve we've talked about in this piece already that's going to boost BYU to a victory against an overrated UCLA team.

The Bruins' stats on offense are very good, but remember who they've played. The biggest obstacle for BYU will be the Bruins defense, which is ranked 11th in terms of points allowed.

Expect this to be a back-and-forth affair between teams that are looking to show they belong in the Top 25. 

No. 6 USC Trojans

The USC Trojans have put up 50-burgers on their last two opponents, but as you can see from the highlights, the opposition has not been very good. 

Stanford poses a threat to USC for two reasons. First, these two teams are conference rivals, which will make for a tight contest between two teams that know each other well. 

The second reason stays consistent with our criteria for the list—the Trojans are yet to play a good team, which makes their ranking of No. 6 in the country an inflated one. 

Both teams have good defenses, as Stanford and USC rank 17th and sixth in points allowed, respectively. The Cardinal defense will swarm Cody Kessler and the Trojans offense, shutting down the high-powered unit for the first time this season. 

If USC is to beat the Cardinal, it must take an early lead and keep it. If Stanford's defense comes out with a strong start, it could be too much for the Trojans to overcome.