Week 3 is in the books and the college football landscape is becoming a little bit clearer than it was when things kicked off in August. Even with the bulk of the non-conference slate in the books, though, there's still plenty we don't know. With that in mind, here are 10 things from coast-to-coast that are still a little fuzzy as teams enter their league schedules looking to prove themselves.
1. Will it be best resume or best team for the Group of Five?
One team from the Group of Five conferences -- AAC, Mountain West, MAC, C-USA and Sun Belt -- is guaranteed a spot in a marquee bowl game in the new College Football Playoff system, but nobody has any idea whether the selection committee will truly be looking for the best team or if the spot will go to the team with the best resume. It used to be that a Cinderella team had to go undefeated to have a shot at a BCS game. That's no longer the case, and the committee's task is much harder than it looks after some big non-conference upsets.
Take, for example, a debate between East Carolina and Northern Illinois. The Pirates just beat Virginia Tech to pull off one of the biggest upsets of a Power Five team so far this season. They also lost by 10 to South Carolina the week prior, but that doesn't seem all that bad of a road loss considering the Gamecocks are back in line to win the SEC East. North Carolina, Cincinnati and UCF all loom on the schedule as well. Would that strength of schedule, even with a loss, be enough for the Pirates to earn the bid over a team like NIU? The Huskies already have a win over a Big Ten team (Northwestern) and have a chance to pull off an upset this week at Arkansas. If they were to end up running the table in the MAC, too, would they be more attractive than ECU even if their big wins over Power Five teams would come over squads that will likely finish near the bottom of the SEC and Big Ten?
That's to say nothing of teams like Marshall and Boise State. The Thundering Herd will pile up offensive numbers but it appears the team won't face a single top-50 squad in 2014 and should be favored to go undefeated behind quarterback Rakeem Cato and company. The Broncos lost to Ole Miss in Atlanta to open the season but still might be the best Group of Five team when it comes to talent across the board. They won't get any help from a Mountain West that looks like it's taken a step back from the past few years. If Boise State can top BYU when they meet in late October, expect the Broncos to be putting up as many points as they can to build a claim that they're the best team even if their resume might not look more impressive than those of ECU and NIU.
2. Does BYU really have a chance at the playoff?
As an independent, the Cougars have no guaranteed access to a major bowl game, unlike Notre Dame. It's entirely possible BYU will go undefeated and end up playing against an AAC team in the first ever Miami Beach Bowl. It's a nice destination, but not quite the game the fan base is looking forward to with expectations so high right now.
The biggest obstacle on the docket at the moment appears to be a Friday night trip to Boise State on Oct. 24. If the Cougars can win that game behind Heisman darkhorse Taysom Hill, they would have a shot at running the table and capturing wins over three Power Five teams and four wins over Mountain West and AAC title contenders.
However, even with an unblemished record, sneaking into the final four seems unlikely. Still, landing in a New Year's Eve/Day bowl game is a possibility if the team can look as impressive as it was in a 41-7 win at Texas in Week 2. Remember -- the Cougars' competition is one- or two-loss SEC, ACC and Pac-12 teams and the committee will have a tough time trying to fit the Cougars in over somebody like Texas A&M, LSU, Clemson or the loser of the Pac-12 title game.
3. How good is the ACC's middle class?
The ACC's biggest conference game takes place this week as Clemson visits Florida State for what will likely be the de facto league title game once again. The Seminoles opened as huge favorites in the game and have a spot in just about everybody's projections for the College Football Playoff. However, after those two programs, the ACC's middle class of teams is both large and largely unknown.
In the Coastal Division, Pitt is 3-0 heading into a game against Iowa but struggled mightily against a terrible FIU team on Saturday. Virginia looks much improved but still doesn't have much of an offense. Georgia Tech needed a favorable replay call to beat Georgia Southern and Duke hasn't been tested at all. Throw in unknowns like Miami and North Carolina, and the division is once again a toss-up this year. Virginia Tech, owner of the ACC's best win (at Ohio State), lost to ECU on Saturday and doesn't appear as far ahead of its division foes as once thought.
In the Atlantic Division, Louisville, coming off a loss to Virginia, might not be as good as we thought after they looked impressive against Miami on Labor Day. N.C. State is 3-0 because it has played the worst non-league slate in the country and Boston College might have ran over USC, but Pitt ran over B.C. the week prior.
The ACC middle class behind FSU and Clemson appears to be filled with as many as nine teams that could either go .500 or make a little run and finish in the top 20.
4. Can Amari Cooper keep this up?
The Alabama star and potential first-round draft pick has started off hot this season in part because new coordinator Lane Kiffin has been determined to get Cooper the ball early and often. The junior is averaging 151 yards receiving per game and leads the country in catches (33). The schedule will start to get tougher as SEC teams pop up -- starting with Florida on Saturday -- but one has to wonder if he can continue to be this big of a focal point in the offense as better defenses shift even more attention to him.
5. Where art thou Jacob Coker and O.J. Howard?
Coker was supposed to be the savior at quarterback for the Crimson Tide this season, but he's only seen time in mop-up duty so far. Is the quarterback battle really over between him and senior Blake Sims or are Nick Saban and Kiffin just bringing Coker along slowly? It appears that's to be determined at this point, but the play of Sims has been an early-season surprise.
Also, where has Howard been? The Tide tight end is a freak of nature and matchup nightmare but doesn't have a single catch through three games after averaging nearly 20 yards a catch as a freshman. The easy answer is to blame Kiffin's play calling and focus on Cooper, but one does have to wonder how Howard has become a non-factor in the passing game.
6. How will the Pac-12 South race shake out?
The SEC West might take home honors as the toughest division in college football, but the most difficult to sort out might be the Pac-12 South. UCLA is likely still the favorite, but the offensive line issues and quarterback Brett Hundley's injury make the team very vulnerable. USC appeared to be making a move but was exposed at Boston College. Arizona State might be without quarterback Taylor Kelly for a key game against the Bruins on Sept. 25. Arizona has looked impressive on offense and Utah might be the most improved team in the country. Throw in Colorado showing some improvement, and the Pac-12 South is one jumbled division right now.
7. How good is the SEC West?
Half of top 10 teams in the The Associated Press poll come from the SEC West, but there's a growing sense that we still don't know how good each of those teams really is at this point in the season. With the exception of Mississippi State, each squad has a good non-conference win (or in the case of Texas A&M, an SEC win) but has shown some issues that need to be fixed as league play ramps up. It certainly seems highly unlikely that so many teams from the division will continue to be so highly ranked. Are Ole Miss and A&M really contenders? Can Alabama and Auburn run the table? Will Les Miles fix things on offense to keep LSU in the race? We're about to find out, so buckle up.
8. Is Penn State's play sustainable?
The news that the NCAA had lifted its bowl ban against Penn State seemed to be a huge lift to the Nittany Lions, but they didn't exactly play inspired ball at Rutgers on Saturday. Sure, the defense looked good, but the play of quarterback Christian Hackenberg and the offense is something to keep an eye on. The Nittany Lions have been talked about as a possible Big Ten East winner, but their play on the field says they're not quite ready to take that leap, even if the league isn't a world-beater by any stretch of the imagination.
9. Will Myles Garrett continue at his record pace?
The Texas A&M freshman has lived up to the hype as a former No. 1 overall recruit coming out of high school. He's been a bright spot on defense for the Aggies and is just 2.5 sacks shy of matching Jadeveon Clowney's SEC freshman record for sacks in a season. Can he keep this up against tougher competition? He'll have a chance to set the record against SMU on Saturday given the Mustangs' struggles, but maintaining his current pace will be a tough task as SEC play picks up.
10. Is there still a Heisman surprise in store?
After back-to-back redshirt freshmen came out of nowhere to win the award, one has to wonder what off-the-radar or fringe candidate is going to make a run at the Heisman Trophy in 2014. Is it BYU's Taysom Hill? Or can Trevor Knight continue his good play for Oklahoma? At this point, it's looking like Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota's award to lose.
Stat of the week
The Big Ten fell to 1-10 against Power Five opponents and is just 14-13 against FBS non-conference competition. Conference teams have seven more losses against FBS teams than the next closest Power Five league.
Stats to chew on
» Oregon's Marcus Mariota passed Billy Volek as the NCAA's career leader in interception percentage with just 10 picks in 793 attempts.
» Former Michigan State quarterbacks went 3-0 in the NFL on Sunday with Brian Hoyer, Kirk Cousins, who came on in relief of Robert Griffin III, and Drew Stanton all earning victories.
» Washington State posted just the sixth game of 600-plus yards passing by an FBS team in the past 10 years. Mike Leach has been head coach of four of the six teams to accomplish the feat.
» Auburn will be just the second ranked non-conference opponent Bill Snyder has played at home in 23 seasons at Kansas State (USC in 2002 was the other).
» Cincinnati quarterback Gunner Kiel set an American Athletic Conference single-game record with six touchdown passes in his collegiate debut against Toledo.
» Nebraska's victory on Saturday ended Fresno State's 13-game win streak at Bulldog Stadium, ending the nation's longest home winning streak. It was the third straight week in which the nation's longest home winning streak was broken (South Carolina and Stanford prior to Fresno State). Northern Illinois and Baylor now hold the active streak at 12 games, but neither play at home in Week 4.
» Bowling Green ran 113 plays against Indiana, the most this season and only two shy of BYU's 115 against Houston last season.
» Washington's Danny Shelton leads the nation with six sacks. Not far behind him is fellow Huskies defensive lineman Hau'oli Kikaha, who's tied for third with five.
» Stanford has allowed fewer than 30 points in 26 straight games and is working on an 11-game streak of allowing fewer than 20.
» Texas Tech lost to a non-conference opponent (Arkansas) at home for the first time since 2002.
» J.T. Barrett's six touchdown passes against Kent State tied Kenny Guiton's Ohio State record and his 312 yards were officially the most since Troy Smith in 2006. Doug Lesmerises points out, Terrelle Pryor's 334-yard performance in 2010 was vacated from the record book.
» USC dropped 48 spots in the NCAA rushing defense rankings after playing Boston College. Tyler Murphy had the second most yards rushing (191) by an ACC quarterback in league history.
Quote of the Week
"I haven't talked to Josh since he got on campus, and we are going to keep it that way," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said, referring to Moutaineers kicker Josh Lambert, who hit a game-winner against Maryland. "I know his name. I know who he is, but other than that, we're taking a hands-off approach."
Sound from Saturday
Florida held on, barely, to beat Kentucky for the 28th straight time and Gators radio man Mick Hubert gets excited as Matt Jones puts the game away in the third overtime.
Tweet of the Week
Sideline standouts
Gold medal:Boston College's Steve Addazio, who didn't just upset USC but brutalized the Trojans with that rushing attack.
Silver medal:UCLA offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone, who was playing without Brett Hundley and had a terrible offensive line but still managed to score 17 points after halftime with backup Jerry Neuheisel.
Bronze medal:ECU offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, who directed an attack that put up 21 points in the first quarter against Virginia Tech and called an impressive game-winning drive with quarterback Shane Carden.
Pre-snap read
Clemson at Florida State: The final score ended up lopsided, but Clemson did play Georgia to a three-point game in the fourth quarter before the wheels fell off in the opener. The Tigers will need to play a lot better if they're to beat a No. 1 team for the first time in school history because Florida State is loaded with talent and might be looking to make a statement after a so-so first couple games this season.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
