College football Top 25 schedule, games to watch for Week 3

We're in Week 3 of the 2026 college football season, and after some fantastic matchups in the first two weeks, Week 3 brings far less intriguing matchups, as many teams play their final tune-up games before conference play.

A few top-tier Top 25 matchups remain, including a big-time Big 12 game to kick off the weekend on Friday evening. The headliner, however, is the return of Lane Kiffin to Oxford as No. 9 Ole Miss hosts No. 7 LSU. Most top-25 teams, however, are playing lower-level teams as they gear up to begin conference play.

Let's dive into every top-25 matchup this weekend, sorted by tier of opponents. All 25 teams are in action this week.

All times are Mountain and scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 19, unless otherwise noted. Rankings are from the US LBM Coaches Poll.

Ranked matchups

• No. 12 Texas Tech vs. No. 23 Houston (Friday, 6 p.m)
• No. 7 LSU at No. 9 Ole Miss (5:30 p.m)

Only two games make this category this week, but both are headliner matchups and must-see television.

Top 25 Power Four vs. Power Four matchups

• No. 5 Miami at Wake Forest (Friday, 5:30 p.m)
• No. 2 Georgia at Arkansas (10 a.m)
• No. 8 Texas A&M vs. Kentucky (1:30 p.m)
• No. 10 Alabama vs. Florida State (1:30 p.m)
• No. 11 USC at Rutgers (1:30 p.m)
• No. 16 SMU at Louisville (1:30 p.m)
• No. 3 Notre Dame vs. Michigan State (5:30 p.m)
• No. 25 Virginia vs. West Virginia (5:30 p.m)

The best matchup of this group is far and away SMU's trip to Louisville to open up ACC play. Louisville is ranked No. 23 in the AP Poll and is favored by 1 1/2 points.

Power Four vs. non-Power Four matchups

• No. 18 Oregon vs. Portland State (Friday, 8:30 p.m)
• No. 15 Penn State vs. Buffalo (10 a.m)
• No. 6 Ohio State vs. Kent State (10 a.m)
• No. 17 Utah vs. Utah State (1:30 p.m)
• No. 19 Michigan vs. UTEP (1:30 p.m)
• No. 4 Indiana vs. Western Kentucky (2 p.m)
• No. 20 Iowa vs. Northern Iowa (2 p.m)
• No. 22 Missouri vs. Troy (5 p.m)
• No. 24 Washington vs. Eastern Washington (5:15 p.m)
• No. 13 BYU at Colorado State (5:30 p.m)
• No. 21 Oklahoma vs. New Mexico (5:30 p.m)
• No. 14 Tennessee vs. Kennesaw State (5:45 p.m)
• No. 1 Texas vs. UTSA (6 p.m)

While your neutral fans won't like that this category is the most loaded of the week. BYU at Colorado State should be the closest, but other than that, you are looking at four touchdown favorites.

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This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: College football Top 25 schedule, games to watch for Week 3