Six biggest surprise teams in college football after Week 3

After three weeks of college football, much of the sports has been as expected, but there have been some surprise stories. For every Ohio State or Georgia, there's a Florida State or a Missouri that has made an unexpected run toward the elite levels of college football. Here's a quick look at six teams that have already surprised in 2025.

Florida State

Yes, everyone understood that the Seminoles were unlikely to put up another 2-10 dog of a season. But at the same time, few would have expected a top 10 ranking after a two-touchdown beatdown of Alabama. Yes, it's a long way yet to go and the Seminoles might slide back a bit. But in a fairly top-heavy ACC, FSU has positioned itself well to potentially reach 10 wins and a CFP spot. Few expected that in 2025.

Vanderbilt

Sure, a seven-win 2024 season with Diego Pavia was a nice feel good story. But the SEC media picked the Commodores 13th in the SEC preseason poll. The 3-0 Commodores are No. 20 nationally and could well end up topping last season's performance. The works Vanderbilt and CFP selection would rarely be expected in the same sentence, but it's a possibility that is getting some talk in mid-September.

California

No, the Bears aren't getting a lot of national play. But they're a potential sleeping giant. After a 3-0 opening, Cal will play San Diego State and Boston College. Win those, and it's a fairly miserable ACC slate the rest of the way home. Louisville and SMU are probably the most dangeous teams left and a 10-2 or even 11-1 season is far from impossible.

Georgia Tech

After besting Clemson to move to 3-0, the Yellowjackets are getting a little more talk. Like Cal, they drew a nice ACC schedule. Tech will miss Miami, Florida State, Louisville, and SMU. The only ranked team left on Tech's schedule is Georgia in the non-conference finale. No wonder ESPN gives Tech almost better odds than Florida State of claiming a CFP bid.

Iowa State

The Cyclones came in fairly highly regarded, but between a 4-0 start and a soft back half of the schedule, ISU is a major surprise team. There's no ranked opponent on the schedule and the toughest games are probably BYU and Arizona State, with both coming at home. Iowa State is ranked 12th and might end up climbing even higher.

Missouri

Missouri was 12th in the SEC preseason poll, one spot above Vandy. Now they're No. 23 in the nation off a 3-0 start. Yes, it's the SEC, so there's still some heavy lifting ahead... but No. 10 Texas A&M in Columbia is the toughest game left on Mizzou's regular-season slate. ESPN gives Missouri a better shot at a CFP bid than LSU-- which is certainly an impressive jump from the preseason.