College football’s third full weekend brings three games in which both teams are ranked in the top 25 of at least one of the AP, Coaches or SP+ systems. The action begins Friday with a ranked Big 12 opener in Lubbock, continues Saturday with an ACC measuring stick and finishes with Lane Kiffin’s charged return to Oxford.

Rankings reflect the polls released Sunday, September 13. SP+ is a predictive efficiency rating rather than a résumé ranking. AP and Coaches polls, SP+ rankings

Matchup	AP	Coaches	SP+
Houston at Texas Tech	Houston 22, Texas Tech 13	Houston 23, Texas Tech 12	Houston 31, Texas Tech 15
SMU at Louisville	SMU 16, Louisville 23	SMU 16, Louisville NR	SMU 19, Louisville 23
LSU at Ole Miss	LSU 7, Ole Miss 8	LSU 7, Ole Miss 9	LSU 8, Ole Miss 20

No. 22 Houston at No. 13 Texas Tech

Friday, September 18 — 7 p.m. CT — FOX/FOX Sports app
Galaxy Stadium, Lubbock, Texas
Wednesday line: Texas Tech -7.5; total: 53.5 at DraftKings via the LineTerminal odds feed

Houston and Texas Tech enter their Big 12 opener at 2-0, but they arrive with different Week 2 stories. Houston scored on its first 11 possessions in a 77-6 demolition of Southern, its largest margin of victory since 1989. Starter Conner Weigman threw three touchdown passes before the Cougars turned the game over to their depth, and the rushing attack finished with 388 yards. Texas Tech needed two fourth-quarter touchdowns to escape Oregon State 35-24; Will Hammond threw for 189 yards, while J’Koby Williams supplied the steadier element with 116 rushing yards. Houston–Southern recap, Texas Tech–Oregon State recap

The central matchup is strength against strength. Houston averages 308 rushing yards per game and has allowed only 10 per game. Texas Tech has held seven consecutive opponents below 100 rushing yards and is surrendering 65 per game this season. Those figures are inflated by a tiny sample and uneven competition, but they identify the likely hinge: Makhi Hughes and Re’Shaun Sanford II must keep Houston out of obvious passing downs against A.J. Holmes, Ben Roberts and a talented Red Raiders front. Texas Tech’s official preview also notes a nine-game home winning streak during which it has allowed no more than 18 points in any game. Texas Tech game preview

Availability tilts the other way in the secondary. The Big 12’s Tuesday report listed Texas Tech cornerbacks Ashton Hampton and Amier Boyd out, safeties Mikal Harrison-Pilot and Oliver Miles III doubtful, and receiver Kenny Johnson, tight end Terrance Carter Jr., edge rusher Trey White and safety Brenden Jordan questionable. Hammond, still returning from an ACL tear, was a full participant Tuesday. Texas Tech availability report

That makes Weigman’s matchup with Amare Thomas especially important. Thomas had 133 yards in Houston’s 33-20 opening win over Oregon State, and Tech’s depleted back end cannot afford to overcommit to the run. Conversely, Houston allowed Oregon State to throw for 376 yards, giving Hammond and Coy Eakin a clear route to explosives if the Red Raiders protect well. Texas Tech has won seven straight in the series, including 35-11 last year, but Houston is better equipped to dictate tempo now. The winner will probably be the team that forces the opposing quarterback to win on third-and-long.

What decides it: Whether Houston’s run game controls the box before Texas Tech’s front can make the Cougars one-dimensional.

No. 16 SMU at No. 23 Louisville

Saturday, September 19 — 2:30 p.m. CT — ESPN2
L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky
Wednesday line: Louisville -1.5; total: 59.5 at DraftKings

This is the cross-poll matchup of the week. Louisville is No. 23 in the AP poll and SP+ but sits just outside the Coaches Top 25, while SMU is No. 16 in both human polls and No. 19 in SP+. The market’s narrow home-field lean reflects two capable offenses and an early ACC game that could matter deeply in a tiebreaker race.

SMU followed a tense 27-24 win at Florida State with a 56-10 rout of UC Davis. Kevin Jennings needed only one half to throw for 337 yards and five touchdowns, and 16 Mustangs caught at least one pass. SMU has exceeded 500 yards in both games and already has seven touchdown drives lasting less than two minutes. Jennings’ preseason finger injury has not limited his production; the school lists him with 21 wins as a starter and 8,476 career passing yards. SMU game notes

Louisville’s Lincoln Kienholz has been just as dangerous. He threw for 332 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more in a 59-13 win over Villanova, one week after the Cardinals amassed 469 yards in a 41-38 loss to Ole Miss. Kienholz gives Jeff Brohm the mobility and vertical passing threat that were missing when SMU routed Louisville 38-6 last November. The concern is self-inflicted damage: Louisville’s roughing-the-kicker penalty and bad snap directly helped Ole Miss in the opener, and penalties remained an issue against Villanova. Louisville–Ole Miss recap, Louisville–Villanova recap

Running back Keyjuan Brown is the main availability question. Brohm said he was hopeful Brown could play after leaving the Villanova game with an undisclosed issue; no final ACC game-day report was available Wednesday morning. SMU had not announced a comparable new absence among its core offensive players. Brown update

The chess match belongs in the middle of the field. SMU has produced 129 sacks since 2023, the most in the FBS over that span, and Louisville must prevent Brandon Booker and the Mustangs’ pressure packages from speeding up Kienholz. Louisville, meanwhile, needs to tackle SMU’s receivers immediately; one missed fit can become another two-minute touchdown drive. SMU is 4-0 all-time against Louisville, but the Cardinals now have the quarterback play and home environment to make this the tightest game on Saturday’s ranked slate.

What decides it: Louisville’s ability to keep Kienholz clean and avoid the penalties and special-teams errors that spoiled its opener.

No. 7 LSU at No. 8 Ole Miss

Saturday, September 19 — 6:30 p.m. CT — ABC/ESPN app
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, Mississippi
Wednesday line: LSU -3; total: 58.5 via Action Network market consensus

The Magnolia Bowl already carried playoff weight before Lane Kiffin became LSU’s coach. His first trip back to Ole Miss turns it into the weekend’s defining event. Both teams are 2-0, ESPN’s College GameDay is headed to Oxford, and Ole Miss has increased security for a return that athletic director Keith Carter expects to produce an unusually charged crowd. That is reported context; the football question is whether LSU can keep emotion from magnifying its turnover problem. Kiffin return and security plans

LSU looked dominant in a 51-10 opening win over Clemson, then much less composed against Louisiana Tech. Sam Leavitt threw three first-half interceptions and LSU committed four turnovers before pulling away 45-14. Leavitt still passed for 344 yards and ran for three scores, but the Tigers’ early run blocking was uneven. The more stable unit has been the defense: LSU recorded 11 sacks through two games and held Louisiana Tech to minus-three rushing yards and one offensive touchdown. SP+ ranks the Tigers second nationally in defensive efficiency. LSU–Louisiana Tech recap, LSU performance review

Ole Miss followed its 41-38 escape against Louisville with a cleaner 41-9 win over Charlotte. Trinidad Chambliss completed 23 of 26 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns, while Kewan Lacy ran for 87 yards and two scores. Lacy had left the opener with a leg bruise, but his full workload against Charlotte is the clearest availability signal entering Wednesday. The concern for new head coach Pete Golding is pass defense: Louisville threw for 307 yards, and Golding acknowledged after Week 2 that the secondary remains unsettled. Ole Miss–Charlotte recap, Lacy injury report

Ole Miss beat LSU 24-19 last season and has won three of the past five meetings. Its upset formula starts with Lacy preventing LSU’s rush from treating every snap as a dropback and Chambliss attacking when the Tigers bring extra pressure. LSU’s answer is to make Ole Miss defend the full width of Kiffin’s offense, then isolate Trey’Dez Green against linebackers and safeties. The market expects points, but LSU’s defensive front can change that game script quickly. If Leavitt protects the ball, the Tigers own the deeper margin for error. If he gives Ole Miss short fields, the crowd and the history surrounding Kiffin’s return could become tactical factors rather than background noise.

What decides it: Turnovers—especially whether Leavitt responds to last week’s three-interception first half with a controlled road performance.

Week 3 offers a tidy progression: a Friday night Big 12 collision built around the run game, an ACC quarterback duel and a top-10 SEC rivalry loaded with playoff stakes and personal history. LSU–Ole Miss will command the largest audience, but Houston–Texas Tech and SMU–Louisville could prove just as important when conference championship races tighten in November.