9:00 AM ET Pack your bags, No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Florida State and No. 3 Ohio State. It’s time to enter hostile territory. According to ESPN Stats & Information, this is the first week in the history of the Associated Press poll that the top three teams will each play a true road game against a ranked opponent. How difficult is it to beat a fellow ranked team on the road? Consider this: Since 2012, AP-ranked teams have a 39.4 win percentage (67-103) in road games against ranked Power 5 teams. By contrast, AP-ranked teams have won 78.3 percent of their road games (199-55) against unranked Power 5 teams in that span. Week 3 falls into the category of danger zone, with four top-25 teams facing ranked opponents. Here’s a look at the most challenging road games of Week 3, in order of their playoff implications. No. 1 Alabama at No. 19 Ole Miss: Ole Miss is the team that could be eliminated from the playoff conversation with a loss, but the pressure is on Alabama because the Tide have lost their past two games against the Rebels. The winner of this game will likely become the early favorite…
Continue Reading: GameDay Kickoff: Playoff contenders hit the road in key Week 3
