College Football Rankings 2011: Surefire Wins and Losses for Top Teams in Week 3

After an exciting second week of the college football season, it looks like week three is going to offer up an equal amount of action-packed games.

We’ve got a great slate on tap for this weekend, starting off with No. 3 LSU at No. 25 Mississippi State on Thursday night, and ending with the biggest game of the weekend: No. 1 Oklahoma at No. 5 Florida State on Saturday night.

We’re sure to see some shakeups in the top 25 poll once all the dust settles.

Some ranked teams have easy cakewalks, while others have tough challenges to prepare for.

Let’s take a look at which teams are guaranteed a win and which teams should be on upset alert.

Surefire Win: No. 2 Alabama vs. North Texas

Alabama’s defense looked nasty against Penn State on Saturday, and the good news for the Tide is that QB A.J. McCarron is starting to take some steps towards maturing into an offensive leader.

The Tide will need a big effort out of McCarron if they want to go toe-to-toe with Arkansas’ offense in week four, and, luckily, he’ll have one more game to get out of all the kinks when Alabama hosts the 0-2 North Texas Mean Green on Saturday.

McCarron should find plenty of room to throw the ball against a North Texas secondary that ranks 88th in the country.

Upset Alert:: No. 17 Auburn vs. Clemson

After that pitiful effort against Utah State on opening weekend, nobody really seems ready to trust this Auburn team just yet, even though the Tigers managed to pull off a big 41-34 win over Mississippi State this past weekend.

Now we get to see how this inexperienced team will handle a tough road trip, when the Tigers head to Clemson this weekend.

Stopping speedy RB Andre Ellington is going to be a tough task for the Auburn defense.

Surefire Win: No. 7 Wisconsin vs. Northern Illinois

After blasting Oregon State 35-0, QB Russell Wilson, RB Montee Ball and the rest of the Badgers will head over to Chicago’s Soldier Field to take on Northern Illinois this Saturday.

The Huskies have a stud at quarterback in Chandler Harnish, but this team should be no match for Wisconsin’s big, overpowering offensive line, and the Badgers should be able to run up and down the field on Dave Doeren’s defense.

Upset Alert:: No. 17 Ohio State vs. Miami

Toledo put a scare into Ohio State this past weekend, and it helped reveal some of the deficiencies that this Buckeyes team has.

QB Joe Bauserman is barely a starting caliber quarterback, and you have to wonder if he can handle going down to Miami and taking on a Hurricanes secondary that is loaded with talent.

Miami QB Jacory Harris played terrible in last year’s match up, throwing four interceptions, but he should be pumped up to make his comeback to the team this week.

Surefire Win: No. 9 Texas A&M vs. Idaho

With so much talent on offense, Texas A&M looks like the real deal this year, and QB Ryan Tannehill, RB Cyrus Gray and WR Jeff Fuller are going to put some fireworks on display when the Aggies host Idaho this week.

The Vandals have a pretty strong secondary but they’re weak up front, so Gray and his backfield counterpart Christine Michael should have a field day.

Upset Alert: No. 15 Michigan State vs. Notre Dame

This Notre Dame team is in dire need of a win, and the Irish will have their backs up against the wall when they host Michigan State on Saturday.

The Spartans have a great one-two punch at running back with Edwin Baker and Le’Veon Bell, and they won’t be easy to contain. If coach Kelly can figure out a way for his team to cut down on the turnovers, the Spartans could be in some serious trouble in South Bend. 

Surefire Win: No. 14 Arkansas vs. Troy

The Arkansas offense is averaging 51 points and 549 yards per game through the first two weeks of the season.

That’s not good news for a Troy team that currently ranks 110th in the nation in total defense.

There’s a good chance this one gets ugly.

Upset Alert:: No. 24 Texas vs. UCLA

After benching Garrett Gilbert, Texas now has some uncertainty surrounding the quarterback position, and that’s never something you want right before a big west coast trip.

I have a feeling that UCLA still remembers that 34-12 whooping that they put on the Longhorns last year, so the Bruins shouldn’t lack confidence.

If dangerous RB Johnathan Franklin gets going early, UCLA has a great shot to knock Texas out of the polls.

Surefire Win: No. 11 South Carolina vs. Navy

Since South Carolina is coming off a big conference win, and has to face a tough team to prepare for like Navy, this smells like a bit of a letdown game. The Gamecocks should have too much talent to stumble in this one, though.

Steve Spurrier should be able to keep his team focused after their big win over Georgia last week.

Upset Alert:: No. 18 West Virginia vs. Maryland

Can you say trap game?

All throughout the offseason, West Virgina has been hearing about how big the game against LSU on Sept. 24th is, but the only problem is, the Mountaineers will have to make a trip out to face a rested Maryland team first.

The Terrapins have a difference maker on both sides of the ball in QB Danny O’Brien and LB Kenny Tate, coach Randy Edsall knows a thing or two about preparing for the Mountaineers, considering he beat West Virginia last year when he was at Connecticut.

Surefire Win: No. 19 Baylor vs. Stephen F. Austin

After a sensational showing in week 1, we’ll finally get to see what Baylor QB Robert Griffin III can do for an encore.

If the Baylor offense is capable of putting up 50 points and 564 yards on TCU’s defense, just think about what the Bears are going to do to a Stephen F. Austin defense that just gave up 34 points to Northern Iowa last week.