College Football Predictions Week 3: Top 25 Teams on Upset Alert

This weekend boasts a full slate of games with upset potential. Plenty of top 25 teams are hitting the road to take on tough opponents. 

With conference play starting next week for some of the teams on this list, it wouldn’t be surprising if they were overlooking this week’s games. 

This weekend, we’ll find out which teams were focused during practice this week and which teams took a week off. 

Here are six top 25 teams that need to be extra careful this weekend. Then, we’ll take a look at five top 25 teams that will cruise to victories this weekend.

No. 22 Arizona State (at Illinois)

Illinois isn’t a great team, but they are 2-0 and can’t be ignored.

If Arizona State is either reveling in the win over Missouri or looking ahead to USC next weekend, they could be in for a surprise in Champaign.

Ron Zook and company will be looking for a big-time victory to get the Illini on track for a good bowl game.

Nathan Scheelhaase is a legitimate dual-threat QB who can challenge the Sun Devils in a lot of ways. Arizona State better not take the Illini lightly.

No. 18 West Virginia (at Maryland)

West Virginia has gotten off to slow starts in its first two games against Marshall and Norfolk State.

If they can’t get going right away against Maryland, they might find themselves in too deep of a hole to dig out of.

Geno Smith and company need to play like they played in the second half for the entire game. Otherwise, their days in the top 25 are numbered.

No. 17 Ohio State (at Miami (FL))

The Buckeyes had a lot of trouble beating Toledo last weekend, winning by only five points.

The Hurricanes will be their first true challenge, and I don’t think they are ready for it.

Even with all the suspensions and controversy swirling around Miami, they have a legitimate shot of defeating the Buckeyes.

No. 15 Michigan State (at Notre Dame)

The Fighting Irish have been moving the ball at will against their opponents, but they find themselves 0-2.

That’s going to change sometime. Eventually, Notre Dame will stop shooting themselves in the foot late in games and pick up a victory.

If they can stop Michigan State RB Edwin Baker, they’ll be in a very good spot to beat the Spartans.

And, they’ll be watching out for the fake field goal if the game goes to overtime.

No. 7 Wisconsin (vs. Northern Illinois)

The Huskies of Northern Illinois were nationally ranked for a brief time last season.

That’s no easy task for a MAC team, so they are the real deal.

Wisconsin can probably wear down the Husky defense with running backs James White and Montee Ball, but they shouldn’t take this game for granted.

If they aren’t prepared and focused when the game starts, they could find themselves playing catch-up.

No. 1 Oklahoma (at No. 5 Florida State)

This is by far the biggest game of the college football weekend.

The winner will continue on the path to the BCS title game while the loser will be left wondering where it all went wrong.

E.J. Manuel and company will be looking for the Seminoles’ first signature win in a long time.

They are currently averaging nearly 380 yards passing per game and the defense looks stout.

Of course, we won’t really know how good Florida State is until Saturday night. It’s the Sooners’ first true test too, so it should be fun to watch.

5 Top 25 Teams That Will Cruise to Victory

1. No. 2 Alabama (vs. North Texas)
2. No. 4 Boise State (at Toledo)
3. No. 8 Oklahoma State (at Tulsa)
4. No. 9 Texas A&M (vs. Idaho)
5. No. 12 Oregon (vs. Missouri State)