One of the most-frequent complaints about the state of college football is that only a handful of teams have a shot at the national championship.
Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Georgia have combined for 23 of 28 possible College Football Playoff appearances, and those teams dominated the 2021 preseason rankings.
That won't change too much in Week 3. All of those schools except the Irish are in the top 10 in the Associated Press poll (ND is at No. 12), but that wasn't the underlying theme of Week 3.
BENDER: Week 3 takeaways, from Alabama's close call to a 'White Out' classic and more
Those national championship-caliber teams have faults, and it could lead to that much-needed chaos over the next 10 weeks.
Chaos, you say? Alabama (3-0) has won 17 straight games. The Crimson Tide beat Florida 31-29, but they struggled to run the ball. The Gators were a two-point conversion away from tying the game. Arkansas, Texas A&M and Ole Miss are among the unbeaten teams in the SEC West that could at least make it tough on the Crimson Tide to go unbeaten in the regular season. There will be less "rat poison" for Alabama coach Nick Saban to contend with, at least for a week.
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Oklahoma (3-0) held off Nebraska 26-19 in a revisitation of their classic Big 12 rivalry, but the Sooners have had close calls at home against the Huskers and Tulane in non-conference play. There could be a landmine or two in Big 12 play for a program that will be headed to the SEC soon. Remember, Lincoln Riley has yet to negotiate the conference schedule with an unbeaten record.
Notre Dame (3-0) has a point differential of +20 through three games, the lowest of these six schools. The Irish have struggled to run the football, too, and they face Wisconsin at Soldier Field in Week 4. After that, Notre Dame will likely be the lower-ranked team when Group of 5 buster Cincinnati comes to Notre Dame Stadium. Coach Brian Kelly has work to do.
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Clemson (2-1) needed a goal-line stand to avoid a potential overtime with Georgia Tech after a near two-hour rain delay. The Tigers won 14-8 on a game-saving stop by linebacker James Skalski (they were leading 14-6 at the time, then surrendered a safety in the closing seconds). Quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei still needs to develop, but coach Dabo Swinney's iron-grip on the ACC could be tested.
Ohio State (2-1) still has major holes on its defense and was in a one-score game with winless Tulsa before a late fourth-quarter eruption. With five teams still unbeaten in the Big Ten East, including Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State, this could be the toughest path for a Big Ten championship for third-year coach Ryan Day.
That leaves Georgia (3-0), which has the victory against Clemson and has allowed just 23 points through three weeks. There is a case to be made for the Bulldogs to be No. 1, but everybody in Athens knows that isn't really true until Georgia takes out Alabama once and for all. The other five schools have multiple CFP appearances.
Does that mean long-awaited parity is on the horizon? Not necessarily. When the first CFP rankings are released in November, there is a good chance at least five of these schools are in the top six. But there is hope for the Pac-12, which hasn't made the CFP since 2016. Oregon (3-0) has that win against the Buckeyes in hand. Cincinnati will get their Group of 5 spotlight in two weeks. Penn State, Iowa and Texas A&M are among those teams that haven't made the playoff that have to feel like there is a chance now.
Through three weeks, nobody looks untouchable. Not even Alabama.
With that, there cannot be too many complaints.
