Takeaways from Week 3 of the 2025 College Football Season + Predictions for Week 4

“College football has never been better. Interest has never been higher.” – Joel Klatt

I hope this past week really puts that into perspective, and at least affirms such words. There were two games that arguably had a case for game of the year, with Texas A&M getting a massive top-10 win at Notre Dame, and Georgia coming back from 14 points down to down Tennessee.

Ohio State has the win of the season so far taking down preseason number 1 in Texas, and LSU’s opening win over Clemson has lost its roar after Clemson lost a second time by falling at Georgia Tech. Keep in mind that I had Clemson as a preseason playoff team, and that looks like it is a major miss. Instead, the Bayou Bengals are staking a claim to be that set of tigers to crash the playoff party.

I already felt that there was significant doubt to my preseason playoff picks so I was already reflecting that by picking Georgia Tech last week. I mentioned Clemson looked overrated, and last week affirmed that. Coach Swinney has some major work to do, though I don’t believe the right thing to do is for him to step aside. He’s still a great coach, and Clemson is the defending conference champion. Clemson and Florida State have won the last three ACC titles, just saying, and Florida State is the highest ranked team in the conference too. Just don’t count Clemson out, especially as Florida State has to travel to Clemson. Maybe that will be a College Gameday destination this season. Bring back Lee Corso as the guest picker! Joking aside, it’s best to let the legend enjoy his retirement.

Notre Dame’s chances are slim also, now that they have lost two games by a combined 4 points. They absolutely have to win out to get a shot at returning despite close losses. Otherwise they are left for dead in my opinion. The only 3 loss team that made it last year was a conference champion (Clemson).

An additional factor that leads me to think Clemson will face their death knell for the playoff: The last time they started 1-2 was in 2014, and in that season, they lost to an SEC team out of conference, Georgia Tech, and Florida State. Florida State ended up making the playoff (we’ll see if they do so this time again as an undefeated conference champion).

Week 3 record: 58-12

Record through Week 3: 159-30 (.841)

Week 4 picks

September 18 (1 game):

Rice (-2.5) def. Charlotte, 31-21

September 19 (2 games):

Oklahoma State (-13.5) def. Tulsa, 38-24
Iowa (-2.5) def. Rutgers, 34-20

September 20 (59 games):

16) Utah (-3.5) def. 17) Texas Tech, 35-28
Arkansas (-7.5) def. Memphis, 38-31
Maryland def. Wisconsin (-8.5), 31-26
Clemson (-17.5) def. Syracuse, 38-17
Virginia Tech def. Wofford, 42-7
TCU (-6.5) def. SMU, 41-34
Louisville (-26.5) def. Bowling Green, 31-17
UNLV (-2.5) def. Miami (OH), 27-24
North Texas def. Army (-1.5), 38-31
South Florida def. South Carolina State, 45-17
15) Tennessee (-39.5) def. UAB, 52-14
Central Michigan def. Wagner, 41-14
6) Oregon (-35.5) def. Oregon State, 45-10
7) Florida State (-44.5) def. Kent State, 63-7
11) Oklahoma (-6.5) def. 22) Auburn, 31-20
13) Ole Miss (-11.5) def. Tulane, 41-20
21) Michigan def. Nebraska, 35-21
24) Notre Dame (-26.5) def. Purdue, 38-14
UCF (-6.5) def. North Carolina, 35-21
Ball State def. UConn (-20.5), 34-28
James Madison (-9.5) def. Liberty, 30-23
Eastern Michigan def. Louisiana (-2.5), 34-30
Buffalo (-6.5) def. Troy, 28-24
Toledo (-13.5) def. Western Michigan, 31-21
Ohio def. Gardner-Webb, 48-20
NC State def. Duke (-3.5), 34-31
Mississippi State (-21.5) def. Northern Illinois, 41-21
18) Georgia Tech (-23.5) def. Temple, 45-10
Idaho def. San José State, 28-27
West Virginia def. Kansas (-11.5), 36-31
Florida International (-5.5) def. Delaware, 34-27
Arkansas State (-6.5) def. Kennesaw State, 27-24
Akron def. Duquesne, 51-17
23) Missouri (-13.5) def. South Carolina, 35-21
Jacksonville State def. Murray State, 41-38
Marshall (-2.5) def. Middle Tennessee, 29-24
Missouri State def. UT Martin, 38-24
Western Kentucky (-10.5) def. Nevada, 41-17
Boise State (-10.5) def. Air Force, 31-24
Georgia Southern def. Maine, 45-31
South Alabama (-14.5) def. Coastal Carolina, 35-14
4) Miami def. Florida, 38-24
9) Illinois def. 19) Indiana (-3.5), 31-28
20) Vanderbilt (-26.5) def. Georgia State, 37-16
Washington (-20.5) def. Washington State, 41-17
Stanford def. Virginia (-10.5), 29-26
Arizona State def. Baylor (-2.5), 34-27
BYU (-7.5) def. East Carolina, 30-27
Louisiana Tech def. Southern Mississippi, 27-25
3) LSU def. Southeast Louisiana, 52-7
8) Texas (-41.5) def. Sam Houston State, 49-3
Utah State def. McNeese, 42-14
Texas State def. Nicholls, 48-20
UTEP (-4.5) def. UL Monroe, 27-23
UTSA (-4.5) def. Colorado State, 30-28
Colorado (-12.5) def. Wyoming, 31-17
California (-12.5) def. San Diego State, 33-14
25) USC (-17.5) def. Michigan State, 41-20
Fresno State (-2.5) def. Hawaii, 30-23

One thing I hope gets noticed is that with the ongoing changes in landscape since 2024 with the supersized conferences, that there is more parity in the sport. As a result, I am picking more underdogs than before even though I still miss quite a few of them.