Suddenly, we're one-third of the way through the 2018 college football season. What do we know for sure already? Plenty, we think. Let's take a quick look.
Alabama is so dominant that Nick Saban is pleading with the press not to compliment his team so much: "I would sort of appreciate it if you would … sort of look at some of the things we didn't do well," he said after a 22-point win over Texas A&M.
Kentucky is worth watching. The Wildcats make their Power Rankings debut after a 28-7 win over Mississippi State. Give me Benny Snell Jr.'s ability and personality anytime. It is one of five new entries in this week's top 25 of the Power Rankings.
All is not lost in the Pac-12. Stanford is the conference's top team, solidly in the top 10 and has a quarterback in K.J. Costello to go along with quick-strike tailback Bryce Love.
Notre Dame has introduced itself as more than a fringe College Football Playoff contender because of a dynamic quarterback named Ian Book. What is it about Brian Kelly not finding the right No. 1 guy at the beginning of the season? (See: DeShone Kizer, 2016.)
The CFP Selection Committee already has something to think about. Let's say it's a choice between Oklahoma and … anybody. The Sooners fell into the trap of chasing Army's option all over the field. It almost cost the Sooners in a 28-21 overtime win that avoided one of college football's biggest upsets in years.
We are set up for our first Big Ten mega-matchup of the season: Ohio State at Penn State. The winner has the inside track in the Big Ten East … and a playoff berth.
Yup, even one-third of the way into the season.
Let's take a look at the latest Power Rankings.
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | For the first time this season, Bama failed to score 50 points. Texas A&M had the audacity to hang around until the second quarter. Anybody out there in Bama Nation panicking? Didn't think so. You may have missed the fact Alabama will be a double-digit favorite against every remaining opponent. | -- | 12-2 |
| 2 |  | It never rains in Tiger Stadium, but sometimes things don't go as planned. Louisiana Tech made a surprising run after being down 24-0. LSU committed its first turnover of the season (Joe Burrow interception) and Ed Orgeron grumbled. "Obviously, we're not happy," Coach O said of a 17-point win over the Bulldogs. Up next: An interesting SEC West battle with Ole Miss. | -- | 10-3 |
| 3 |  | The Return of Urban Meyer looked a lot like Ryan Day never left. The Buckeyes slammed Tulane in a tune-up for a season-defining trip to Penn State. Just don't let me hear anything about "redemption" for the sitting coach. The Athletic reported Saturday a plan is forming to make Day the coach-in-waiting. | 1 | 11-2 |
| 4 |  | Trevor Lawrence seems to have become the starting quarterback without starting. That was the takeaway from a four-touchdown win over Georgia Tech. Lawrence came off the bench to complete 13 of 18 for 173 yards. But you can't just put Kelly Bryant on the bench ... can you? | 1 | 9-4 |
| 5 |  | The Dawgs are vulnerable to the run! That's one way of looking at it after a two-touchdown win at Missouri. Here's another: Georgia already has four non-offensive touchdowns this season. | -- | 13-1 |
| 6 |  | The Tigers don't play a true road game until Oct. 6 at Mississippi State. They'd better take care of business. An unremarkable win over an unremarkable team (34-3 over Arkansas) keeps the Tigers in the SEC West hunt. | 1 | 6-7 |
| 7 |  | The Cardinal may have just become the Pac-12's best playoff hope. A stunning comeback at Oregon made it so. After Justin Herbert missed on only two throws in regulation, the Stanford D forced him into five incompletions in overtime. | 2 | 3-9 |
| 8 |  | Looks like Brian Kelly has himself a quarterback. Ian Book threw for 325 yards in a rout of Wake Forest. Irish are suddenly back in the playoff race with Stanford coming up. | -- | 10-3 |
| 9 |  | Did OU really run only 40 plays? Did Army almost beat its first top five team in 55 years? Yes to both. The Sooners just weren't ready for the Black Knights' clock-eating option. That's why OU gets nicked here moving down three spots. | 3 | 10-3 |
| 10 |  | In a somewhat easy win over Kansas State, Bill Snyder may have provided the quote of the day: "I can't coach a team that can't get six inches on a play." Sure the Wildcats failed in a first-half, fourth-down gamble, but that wasn't the main reason the Mountaineers dominated 35-6. | -- | 9-4 |
| 11 |  | Hey, here's a new one. Jake Browning was steady in a 27-20 win over Arizona State. Browning became the second Huskies quarterback in history to top 10,000 career passing yards in a 27-20 win over Arizona State. Linebacker Ben Burr-Kiven had 20 tackles. | -- | 14-1 |
| 12 |  | I'll say it again: The Knights can play with anyone in the country. The offense under McKenzie Milton is explosive. FAU couldn't keep up in a 56-36 loss. The Knights are one of nine teams to average at least 50 points this season. Power Five chance this week with Pittsburgh coming in. | 2 | 6-7 |
| 13 |  | Goodness, that was a boat race in the second half Friday at Illinois -- 32 total plays on six possessions produced 291 yards and six touchdowns. Nice message to send the Buckeyes. | 2 | 10-3 |
| 14 |  | The N'Kosi Perry era may have begun. The celebrated redshirt freshman threw for 224 yards in place of Malik Rosier. Miami beat FIU, and now Mark Richt says he has a decision to make at quarterback before Thursday's game with North Carolina. | 4 | 7-6 |
| 15 |  | Go ahead and celebrate, Kentucky. The Wildcats are 2-0 in the SEC for the first time since 1977. A shutdown of Mississippi State sends a message for athletic directors everywhere: Patience. Mark Stoops may be turning the corner in Year 6. | NR | 7-6 |
| 16 |  | All that nostalgia from 1997? Forget it. Any similarity between Nebraska and its last national championship is an LSD-induced flashback. Michigan sent the Huskers to their first 0-3 start since 1945. | 3 | 15-0 |
| 17 |  | What would you expect of the Badgers after the BYU bummer? A workmanlike 28-17 win at Iowa seemed about right. Alex Hornibrook rebounded nicely completing 17 of 22 for 205 yards and three touchdowns. The Badgers continue to control their destiny in the Big Ten West. | 6 | 7-6 |
| 18 |  | Are the Longhorns back? Yes! Back in the polls, at least. Tom Herman's biggest win since becoming Texas coach (over TCU) will have reverberations around the Big 12. One of them: The Texas-Oklahoma game on Oct. 6 just became a lot sexier. | NR | 12-2 |
| 19 |  | The Ducks may never forget this one. Up 24-7 at home, they watched Stanford methodically claw back to win in overtime 38-31. Bad clock management and questionable play calling allowed Stanford to tie it in regulation. | 3 | 12-2 |
| 20 |  | A tune-up win against McNeese State went about as expected. A visit to Washington is next. Kalani Sitake got an opportunity to empty the bench a bit on Saturday. | NR | 5-7 |
| 21 |  | The rain, the Wildcats and Benny Snell. In less-than-ideal conditions the Bulldogs were exposed at Kentucky. Snell, the SEC's leading rusher, ran for four touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter, to seal the upset. | 4 | 5-7 |
| 22 |  | Bye. Sorry, you don't play, you're at the mercy of being moved around Buffaloes. Down two spots this week. CU hosts UCLA on Friday. | 2 | 4-8 |
| 23 |  | As much as the world likes to unload on Kliff Kingsbury's defensive sensibilities, the win at Oklahoma State was one of the biggest of his career. The Cowboys were shut out in the second half at home in a 24-point loss. The Red Raiders (3-1) are undefeated under freshman QB Anthony Bowman. Their only loss is to Ole Miss. | NR | 7-6 |
| 24 |  | Pick up the pieces and get ready for Kansas. The 24-point loss to Texas Tech was Mike Gundy's worst (by margin) since the 2016 Sugar Bowl loss to Ole Miss. | 11 | 10-4 |
| 25 |  | The Aztecs have one of the most physical teams in the nation. Without its starting quarterback and after blowing a two-touchdown lead at home, SDSU beat a stubborn Eastern Michigan in overtime. | NR | 4-8 |
Out: Virginia Tech, TCU, Texas A&M, Arizona State, Boise State
