Week Three NATIONAL College Football Previews:

#7 LSU Visits #8 Ole Miss In “Lane Kiffin Bowl,”
#5 Miami-Wake, #16 SMU-#23 Louisville In ACC
(DG’s Weekly CFB YouTube Show = Below)

By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Sept. 16, 2026)

The 2026 college football campaign continues Thursday through Saturday with a compelling Week Three schedule, highlighted by the so-called “Lane Kiffin Bowl,” with LSU traveling to Ole Miss in a battle between the provocative coach’s current program and the one he left in controversial fashion last November.

The three most prominent games nationally — each previewed below — include a prime-time Atlantic Coast Conference matchup between #5 Miami (2-0) and Wake Forest (2-0) on Friday night (7:30 p.m., ESPN), a showdown between ACC contenders as #16 SMU (2-0) visits #23 Louisville (1-1) on Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m., ESPN2) and then the much-anticipated prime-time clash between the #7 Tigers (2-0) and the #8 Rebels (2-0) on Saturday night (7:30 p.m., ABC).

Meanwhile, all seven Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams are in action in the state of North Carolina’s loaded lineup this week, with Appalachian State, Duke, UNC and Wake Forest all having a chance to improve to 3-0, and East Carolina and NC State hoping to turn their seasons around with challenging road victories.

Here are more details on our “Three To See” selections from this week’s national schedule:

National “Three To See,” Game One

#5 Miami (2-0) at Wake Forest (2-0), Fri., 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

This game figures to be Miami’s biggest September challenge, although that may not be saying much, given the Hurricanes’ 45-6 road trouncing of Stanford, their 77-7 home annihilation of Florida A&M, and their matchup next week against Central Michigan.

Nevertheless, Wake Forest is again playing very good defense under second-year head coach Jake Dickert and his second-year coordinator Scottie Hazelton, and the Demon Deacons appear to have a more balanced and dangerous offense than they had during last year’s 9-4 campaign.

On the defensive side, it’s important to remember that Wake was pounding Akron 38-3 before some garbage-time scores, and the Deacons held Purdue to just 23 points in regulation on their way to that 38-36 double-OT win. Final game statistics can be misleading that way.

What makes this contest extra-scary for Wake, though, is that only one quarterback completely dissected the Demon Deacons’ defense last year, and his name is Darian Mensah. In 2025, of course, Mensah was Duke’s starting quarterback, and he led the Blue Devils on seven touchdown drives during their 49-32 victory over the Deacons in Durham, finishing with 268 passing yards and three touchdowns.

Now Mensah is leading the mega-talented Hurricanes, and he has even more high-caliber weapons than he did last time. That group includes All-ACC wide receiver Malachi Toney, All-ACC wide receiver Cooper Barkate (another Duke transfer), tight end Elija Lofton and running back Mark Fletcher Jr.

Wake (a 21-point underdog) hopes to be able to keep up, with UNC transfer Gio Lopez now running a bit and throwing to dangerous wideout Carlos Hernandez, among others, although the Demon Deacons’ offensive line has not yet proven itself against a high-caliber opponent this season.

Even “hanging in there” can be easier said than done against coach Mario Cristobal‘s surging Miami program, which is coming off a trip to the national championship game, overflowing with confidence, and seemingly well-positioned to claim the Hurricanes’ first ACC football championship since they joined the league in 2004.

National “Three To See,” Game Two

#16 SMU (2-0) at #23 Louisville (1-1), Sat., 3:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

If you were making a list of the top candidates to end up in this year’s ACC championship game (most likely against Miami), both of these teams should be on it.

SMU coach Rhett Lashlee and Louisville coach Jeff Brohm have cultivated two of the most consistent winners in the modern ACC, with the Mustangs averaging 10 wins per season since joining the league in 2024 and the Cardinals averaging better than nine wins per season since Brohm returned to his alma mater in 2023.

(Quick side note: ACC commissioner Jim Phillips might want to ask his big-dollar television partner, ESPN, why this game isn’t being broadcast on ESPN instead of ESPN2. The game that will be broadcast in this 3:30 time slot on ESPN has a completely uninspiring Kentucky team visiting top-10 Texas A&M, with the Aggies as a 17-point favorite. That sounds like SEC favoritism to many, given the bigger stakes and much higher unpredictability of the SMU-Louisville matchup.)

In the two previous clashes between SMU and Louisville as ACC members, the Mustangs got the best of the Cardinals both times. There was a 38-6 smothering last year in Dallas, but it was a much closer contest in the Derby City two years ago before SMU prevailed 34-27.

In both games, Mustangs QB Kevin Jennings — now a fifth-year senior — was a major factor. He completed almost 80 percent of his passes for 584 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in his two victories over the Cardinals.

Louisville appears to have enough weapons to be competitive this time, with Ohio State transfer Lincoln Kienholz off to a strong start as a dual-threat quarterback, Isaac Brown and Keyjuan Brown among the best running back tandems in the ACC, and Vanderbilt transfer Tre Richardson emerging as the Cardinals’ top receiving threat.

SMU (a one-point underdog) has been the more disciplined team, though, and the Mustangs have plenty of firepower, too, with Jennings at QB, Cal transfer (and former NC State backup) Kendrick Raphael at running back, East Carolina transfer Yannick Smith at wide receiver, and Florida State transfer Randy Pittman Jr. at tight end.

One or two big plays decided this game in Louisville two years ago, and nobody should be surprised if that’s the end result again here in 2026.