2018 Couch Power 10, Week 3
Well, well, well. What looked like another dud of a week ended up sparking a little bit of life into the college football season. BYU set the Week 3 tone early by stunning Big Ten contenders (and Couch preseason playoff pick) Wisconsin in Madtown. From there, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and Washington had to fight off stiff challenges from unranked opponents, and the two biggest games of the day did not disappoint. To the Power 10!
1. LSU (LW: #2)
Give it up for LSU, who won the first "Tiger Bowl" of the year! And did so in thrilling fashion, coming from 11 down (no small feat against SEC defenses) on the road at Auburn, and ultimately winning on a last-second field goal. Look, is LSU better than Alabama? No chance. But they're in Week 3 and already have two impressive Top 10 wins under their belt, they've got immense grit, and they finally appear to have a competent quarterback. For right now, life is good in Baton Rouge.
2. Alabama (LW: #1)
The Tide get demoted to the 2 spot for playing nobody of importance yet. They're still gonna win it all. Don't believe me? Ask Ole Miss, who just watched their opponents score 62 unanswered points on their own turf.
3. Ohio State (LW: #10)
Ohio State faced their first true test of the year on Saturday, and it was a big one against TCU in Dallas. It can't be considered a true road test, considering the number of Buckeye faithful that packed out Jerry World, and to be honest, they spent much of the game looking second best. But when it mattered, the offense, defense and special teams all stepped up, turning an 8-point deficit into a 12-point lead in a matter of minutes. It showed this side's going to be tough to beat no matter how you slice it.
4. Georgia (LW: #5)
Georgia returned to playing nobody (read: Middle Tennessee) but gets the 4 spot by virtue of looking slightly more put-together than Clemson thus far.
5. Clemson (LW: #3)
Clemson returned to playing nobody (read: Georgia Southern) but gets the 5 spot by virtue of looking slightly less put-together than Georgia thus far.
6. Oklahoma (LW: #6)
Oklahoma's breezy start to the season had a chance of storms last weekend in their Big 12 opener. For much of their game, Iowa State looked capable of repeating their shock win from last season, and the Cyclones hung around until almost the very end. Ultimately, though, Kyler Murray continued his unbelievable start to the season and kept OU on track.
7. Oklahoma State (LW: NR)
Look a little down the road, though, Sooners, and you'll see your in-state rivals looking threatening once again. I wasn't drinking the Kowboy Kool-aid quite yet, given the absurd ease of their opening 2 games. But Ok State put the hurtin' on a very good Boise State last week, looking like they haven't missed a beat on offense even with the departure of Mason Rudolph.
8. Stanford (LW: NR)
Stanford returned to playing nobody (read: UC Davis), and thus moves not at all in the rankings, because they actually didn't look very good. Furthermore, their "big win" over USC looks a little different after the Trojans' debacle at Texas.
9. Notre Dame (LW: #12)
Notre Dame has had a weird three weeks. No game has been easy so far, with all coming down to the wire. That would be a problem if all were against, say, Ball State. It would be expected if all were against, say, Michigan. Yet, it's a mixture of the two, with a decent (but not very good) Vanderbilt team in between. Who knows what to make of them, but hey, the Irish are 3-0, and that's good enough for now.
10. West Virginia (LW: #11)
West Virginia, like many other coastal states, took a hurricane break last week. Nonetheless, the Mountaineers make their debut appearance in the Couch Power 10 because their Appalachian neighbors Virginia Tech don't have a signature win any more, thanks to the catastrophe that is Florida State.
Just missed: Virginia Tech, Mississippi State, UCF, Kentucky, Duke, Hurricane Florence-induced bye weeks