The Apple Cup, Civil War, Backyard Brawl headline Top 10 college football games of Week 3

What a weirdly, intriguingly fun Week 3 slate of college football. 

It starts tonight with Arizona State at Texas State, and then we get treated to Big 12 After Dark with No. 20 Arizona at No. 14 Kansas State on Friday night. 

Saturday’s noon window is loaded with interesting games, too, from No. 4 Alabama at Wisconsin to No. 16 LSU at South Carolina and No. 24 Boston College at No. 6 Missouri 

But Week 3 also features a big batch of rivalry games. It’s not Thanksgiving Weekend, but let’s treat this is like a trial run. Like Christmas in July. It’s not the real thing, but it can still be a thing. 

There are 17 rivalry games this weekend — from the Realignment Resentment Bowls (Apple Cup and Civil War) to the Backyard Brawl to The Rocky Mountain Showdown. 

So before we focus too much on all the juicy upcoming intra-conference rivalries and battles, let’s get feud’n with the Top 10 rivalry games of Week 3.

Honorable Mentions: Utah vs. Utah State, BYU vs. Wyoming and Virginia Tech vs. Old Dominion

10. Cincy at Miami (OH)

This is a rivalry that started in 1888 and has been played annually since WWII — with the exception of the 2020 COVID season. The RedHawks hadn’t beaten the Bearcats in 17 years before a 31-24 upset (in Nippert Stadium to boot) to claim the Victory Bell last year. 

Through two games, Cincy’s offense is much-improved with Indiana transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby, but their defense remains one of the worst in the Big 12. Miami (OH) is just 0-1 with a 13-6 loss at Northwestern, but Chuck Martin’s team remains one of the favorites to win the MAC for the second straight year. I’d advice Scott Satterfield not to lose this rivalry game for a second year in a row. 

9. Florida International vs. FAU

The Shula Bowl returns after a year off in 2023, and these two teams look to be heading in opposite directions early in 2024. Despite very low expectations, FIU is 1-1 with a 52-16 romp over Central Michigan last weekend. Mike MacIntyre’s defense has already recorded five sacks and five interceptions this year — when it had six all of last season. 

Conversely, it’s been a terrible start to the 2024 season for Tom Herman’s team. Although they brought back one of the more experienced rosters in the country, they went to Michigan State and mustered just 10 points in a 16-10 loss. Then the Owls turned around and got run over at home by Army 24-7. 

8. Rice vs. Houston 

This crosstown rivalry is actually one of the more underrated bitterness bowls in college football. Rice upset Houston 43-41 in a shootout last season, ending a seven-year losing streak. This year’s Battle of the Bayou Bucket has two desperate teams in 2024, though. Rice lost to Sam Houston St. in Week 1 before housing Texas Southern last weekend. Mike Bloomgren doesn’t have the greatest job security, so a victory over a now-Core 4 rival would be a big boon in his favor. 

Meanwhile, Willie Fritz is in a Year 0 with the Cougars. They got pasted at home by UNLV in Week 1 and then fought hard but lost at No. 15 Oklahoma. If Houston doesn’t win Saturday — it could be in real danger of 0-12 season. The Cougars don’t project to be favored in a single game the rest of the season.

7. North Texas vs. Texas Tech

The Eric Morris Homecoming Bowl features a feisty Mean Green team led by the former Mike Leach disciple and Texas Tech wideout. Morris played for the Red Raiders from 2004-2008 and then was on staff at TTU with Leach from 2013-2017 as the offensive coordinator and receiver’s coach. 

The bloom is falling off the rose with current Red Raiders’ head coach Joey McGuire, who had a disappointing 7-6 in Year 2 and is just 1-1 this season after getting waxed by Washington State last weekend. If Texas Tech loses to a mid-tier AAC team? The situation could start to get uncomfortable quickly in Lubbock.

6. Maryland vs. Virginia 

This former ACC Border War has been played 79 times, with Maryland winning big 42-14 last season. The Terps’ move to the Big Ten sucked some of the thunder out of this series, but this remains an important non-conference game for both programs.

Maryland suffered an ugly loss to Michigan State last weekend where it had a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter with the ball deep in Spartans territory. And again, it lost. Virginia is off to a 2-0 start for the first time under Tony Elliott. The Hoos upset Wake Forest last weekend, and they have a chance at home to pick off another Power Conference foe Saturday. 

5. Colorado vs. Colorado State

The Rocky Mountain Showdown doesn’t carry nearly the intrigue that it did a year ago when Colorado was riding high at 2-0 with all the attention of the college football world. Now we know exactly what Deion Sanders’ team is again — two future NFL players and a bunch of mercenaries who have little chemistry and aren’t well-coached. 

CSU is bad this season, so this *should* be a get-right game for Colorado coming off last weekend’s physical beatdown at Nebraska. But a loss in Fort Collins would raise the noise around Sanders’ program to DEFCON 1 levels. 

4. West Virginia at Pitt

It’s great to have the Backyard Brawl on the schedule on an annual basis again, isn’t it? After the two border rivals didn’t play for a decade, they’ll square off for the third-straight season — with each program winning one game. WVU won an ugly slobberknocker 17-6 in 2023, but this year’s matchup figures to feature more fireworks. 

Pitt’s new OC Kade Bell has provided a much-needed offensive spark (7.2 yards per play), while West Virginia hasn’t shown much resistance on defense. With an upcoming Big 12 gauntlet of Kansas, OK State, Iowa State, Kansas State and Arizona (all Top 25ish teams), this game could be key to WVU’s bowl hopes in 2024. 

3. Purdue vs. Notre Dame 

The Battle for the Shillelagh Trophy features two teams from Indiana — one which has only played an FCS team so far this season and already had an idle date, and the other, a team who thought last weekend was a bye week and lost to a MAC team. The Irish are going through it right now, with Marcus Freeman suddenly seeing his name connected to future hot seat lists and quarterback Riley Leonard in danger of getting benched — for poor play (only FBS team without a completion of 20 yards, also zero passing TDs) or injury purposes. 

We know nothing about this year’s Boilermakers team, which blanked Indiana State 49-0 in Week 1. Hudson Card is back at quarterback, and he’ll be looking to snap Purdue’s eight-game losing streak in the series (last win in 2007).

2. Oregon vs. Oregon State

The Civil War being played in September feels mighty strange, but kudos to these programs for protecting their annual rivalry series even after Oregon bounced for the Big Ten. The home team has won the last four games, and the Beavers are out for blood after losing most of their team (and coaching staff) to the portal last offseason. 

With Jam Griffin and Anthony Hankerson (No. 5 rushing offense nationally + six touchdowns), Oregon State can really run the ball, which could be a problem for an Oregon defense that was just shredded by Boise State’s Ashton Jenty (221 yards and three scores). The other question is what will Oregon look like in the trenches on the offensive line? Have the Ducks sorted out a new starting five? Will Dillon Gabriel finally start to hit some explosive plays? After nearly losing to two teams from Idaho, this is a scary matchup for Oregon in Corvallis.

1. Washington vs. Washington State

This year’s Apple Cup is being played at a neutral site in the Seattle Seahawks’ stadium, with Jake Dickert’s team looking to exact a bit of revenge after putting a serious scare on the No. 4 Huskies in a 24-21 loss last season. Jedd Fisch takes over a UW program in serious transition, and while the Huskies are around a 6-point favorite Saturday, the Cougars did just blast Texas Tech (37-16) and might have the quarterback advantage in John Mateer over Mississippi State transfer Will Rogers. 

Considering Washington left its in-state rival in the dust for the Big Ten, helping precipitate the collapse of the Pac-12, methinks most casual fans will be rooting for the folks from Pullman in this one, too.