College Football Rankings Week 3: Big Names That Won't Stay Ranked

We've already seen five teams drop out of the top 25 in the first two weeks of the college football season: Notre Dame, Georgia, USC, Missouri and Penn State.

I expect the trend to continue once all is said and done in Week 3.

There are three teams currently teetering in the rankings who have not lived up to being dubbed a top 25 by the AP. Against some threatening foes in Week 3, they will fall and fall hard.

Here are three teams that will be unranked by the end of the third week of the college football season.

3. West Virginia (No. 18)

The West Virginia Mountaineers have been helped at the beginning of the season by playing some poor competition—the Marshall Thundering Herd and Norfolk State Spartans.

Obviously the Mountaineers have the talent to be a top 25 team, led by quarterback Geno Smith, a lot of options in the receiving corps and a solid defense.

But the fact of the matter is it took the Mountaineers until the second half to really get going against the Spartans in Week 2 and they actually trailed at the half, 12-10.

The Mountaineers face the Maryland Terrapins on Saturday, an underrated team who were overshadowed by their dreadful uniforms against the Miami Hurricanes.

The Terrapins defeated the Hurricanes in Week 1, 32-24, behind the play of sophomore QB Danny O'Brien, who passed for 348 yards, one touchdown and one interception. O'Brien passed for 22 touchdowns to just eight interceptions last season as a freshman.

The Terrapins defense also forced four turnovers against Miami.

If the Mountaineers don't pick it up, I see the Terrapins upsetting them and the Mountaineers dropping in the rankings.

2. Texas (No. 24)

The Texas Longhorns simply haven't looked like a top 25 team thus far.

They may be 2-0, but they've won against Rice and BYU. And they barely edged out BYU, a team that has no place contending with a legitimate top 25 team.

The Longhorns are already in flux, with starting quarterback Garrett Gilbert getting pulled in the second quarter against the Cougars in Week 2. Case McCoy, Colt's younger brother, looked good in limited action, but there's also a reason he was kept on the bench to start the season. He's not going to regularly complete 87 percent of his passes.

The Longhorns were actually trailing BYU at the half, 13-3. They only won by one point, 17-16, when all was said and done.

Their next opponent is UCLA. The Bruins aren't a top 25 team, but they do have some talent, led by quarterback Richard Brehaut (409 yards passing, four total TDs in two games) and running backs Johnathan Franklin (32 carries for 209 yards, two TDs) and Derrick Coleman (21 rushes for 152 yards, two TDs).

The Bruins have the offense to defeat the Longhorns. Even if the Longhorns win, I don't think they'll impress much, and there are a few teams on the edge of the top 25 that could take their spot at No. 24.

1. Mississippi State (No. 25)

The Mississippi State Bulldogs, ranked No. 16 in the AP poll before their Week 2 matchup at Auburn, have dropped all the way to No. 25.

Part of their loss to the Tigers was because the defending champs looked really good even without Cam Newton. But the Bulldogs also saw their run defense fall apart, giving up 235 yards rushing on just 36 total carries, good for 6.3 yards allowed per carry.

Things, of course, don't get any easier for the Bulldogs in Week 3. They have the pleasure of facing the No. 3 LSU Tigers, a team that shocked the Oregon Ducks to start off the season, 40-27.

Barring a miracle, the Bulldogs will lose to LSU and fall out of the rankings in the process.