Tampa, Florida – Abundant unexpected upsets have been what has defined College Football in the first two weeks. The 8th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide went down to a Florida State team that went 2-10 last year and Mississippi State, who won two games as well last season, beat the 12th ranked Arizona State Sun Devils. There were two upsets by a particular team who rocked college football over the last two weeks, the South Florida Bulls. On Thursday of week one Aug. 28, the 25th ranked Boise State Broncos traveled down to Tampa, Florida and got smashed with a 27 point loss to USF 34-7. In week two, the Bulls shocked the nation even more, since South Florida went to Gainesville, Florida and beat the 13th ranked Florida Gators 18-16, catapulting the Bulls up to 18 in this week’s AP poll. USF has not won a game against a power five opponent since Dec. 2023 when they beat Syracuse 45-0 in the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl. The Bulls have two impressive wins under their belts entering week three and are the current favorites to get the group of five playoff auto-bid according to ESPN’s FPI. They have a tough schedule ahead of them. This Saturday, the Bulls head down to Miami to face the 8th ranked Miami Hurricanes, their third ranked opponent in a row and have the chance to take another step closer to the College Football Playoffs. 

While the Bulls have been dominating the state of Florida, other groups of five teams have been making their case for the playoffs, as well as losing ground. The Liberty Flames out of C-USA looked spotty week one against Maine in a 28-7 win and left Jacksonville State this past Saturday with a 34-24 loss almost ensuring they will be out of College Football Playoff contention. The Flames schedule does them no favors lacking a power five opponent and have one of the worst strengths of schedule in College Football. The James Madison Dukes on the other hand have had a good case so far, with a 45-10 smackdown vs. Weber State, and the Dukes played a hard fought game against the Louisville Cardinals which they lost 28-14, despite leading the Cardinals at halftime. JMU has a week off to prepare for a road game in Lynchburg, Virginia where they will face Liberty in a highly anticipated game.

This week there are plenty of low profile games that will have a massive impact on the race for the group of five playoff spots. The 2-0 Memphis Tigers out of the American Conference will face a Troy team that had Clemson on the edge, setting up an interesting game at Noon on Saturday that could get one of the teams closer to USF. Appalachian State’s Quarterback A.J. Swann, who has 662 yards, five touchdowns and one interception through two games, will be leading the Mountaineers facing the Southern Mississippi Eagles. The game in Hattiesburg, Mississippi at 7:00 p.m. Saturday in a game that has huge potential to shape the Sun Belt title race. Three more group of five games that are worth following include: the Temple Owls hosting the 13th ranked Oklahoma Sooners at 12:00 p.m.; Old Dominion heading to Blacksburg, Va. to face Virginia Tech at 7:00 p.m.; and at 8 p.m. Duke heads to New Orleans facing the 2-0 Tulane Green Wave. Week three will surely be as crazy as the last and the upsets are not likely to stop.