Week 3 truly delivered the kind of chaos fans love, with ranked-on-ranked battles that come down to the final minutes and improbable victories that rewrite our expectations for what we're going to see on Saturdays. When AP Top 25 poll voters convene to release the new college football rankings, they will find plenty of results to prompt changes, including some real questions about whether recently crowned No. 1 Texas has a challenger for the top spot.
Yes, the top of the rankings should mostly remain static after each of the top six teams from last week's poll won by double digits. But five ranked teams took losses that will spark shake-ups, and Ole Miss is set for a move up following its instant classic win in Oxford on Saturday night.
There is an argument for the Rebels to get more first-place attention and consideration after the win, as it arguably stands toe-to-toe with Texas' victory against Ohio State as one of the "best" wins of the season. The question is how firmly AP voters are entrenched in their view of the order at the top, and how flexible those views are in the early stages of the season.
Since AP voters offered swift reactions to the Week 1 results, we are projecting that the fall could be hard for the likes of No. 9 Texas A&M after losing to unranked Kentucky and even for No. 16 SMU after losing on the road at Louisville. This is a week where several teams picked up power-conference wins to move to 3-0, and those spots on the edge of the ballot could see a lot of turnover.
Here's how we project the new AP Top 25 poll to look on Sunday after Week 3 scores and results:
1. Texas (Last week — 1): The Longhorns did not have their sharpest performance of the season, struggling to find consistency or real explosiveness on offense in an obvious letdown spot after beating Ohio State and surging to the No. 1 ranking. It's possible some of the 56 voters who had Texas at No. 1 last week pass their votes off elsewhere, but we're projecting no overall changes at the top of the poll.
2. Georgia (2): Overwhelming Arkansas on the road doesn't do a lot to close the gap with the Longhorns, but it should be noted that 51 straight wins against unranked teams is a remarkable mark for Kirby Smart and his Bulldogs' program. The opportunities to make a real case for No. 1 will come in the weeks ahead, but after a 45-17 win, they should stay close to the previous position.
3. Notre Dame (3): The Fighting Irish defense put on an absolute clinic against Michigan State, holding the Spartans to just 167 yards of offense for the game and snatching two interceptions from Alessio Milivojevic in a 17-point win.
4. Ole Miss (8): A special season could be underway with the nature of these early marquee wins for Ole Miss, but for now we are projecting the move up in the rankings mostly leaves the Rebels just outside the top three.
5. Indiana (4): Was Western Kentucky ever really threatening to defeat Indiana? No. But it took a fourth-down stop and a 98-yard touchdown drive to really get the motor going for a Hoosiers squad that was stunningly still tied 0-0 at the end of the first quarter.
6. Miami (5): After moving up two spots last week, Miami could find itself getting clipped for a spot inside the top five as voters rearrange their ballots to account for Ole Miss' win. Darian Mensah was brilliant with 24 straight completions to start Friday night's win against Wake Forest, but his Heisman Trophy stock might have been helped more than the Hurricanes' ranking with a 13-point win as a three-touchdown favorite.
7. Ohio State (6): From a rankings perspective, Ohio State's potential movement is entirely based on what happens elsewhere in the top 10. It was certainly a special day for Jeremiah Smith as he became Ohio State's career receiving yards record holder, but beating Kent State by 56 points doesn't change an opinion on where the Buckeyes stack up against their peers.
8. Alabama (10): It's tough to know how AP voters will respond to an upset scare at the hands of Florida State that was ultimately squashed by a massive offensive outpouring following a weather delay. The Crimson Tide finished with 50 points but never really put the Seminoles away. The win solidified Alabama's spot as a top-10 team but also didn't provide enough gas for a big move up.
9. BYU (11): Another double-digit win for BYU has the Cougars poised to bump up into the top 10 and begin forcing voters to consider how this group stacks up against the other playoff contenders from the SEC and Big Ten. One year after a CFP snub with 11 regular-season wins, BYU has the preseason rankings cache to be right back in the mix again in 2026.
10. Texas Tech (13): Voters have been hesitant to throw their support behind Texas Tech after wins against Abilene Christian and Oregon State, but there should be a bump in voting points after a hard-fought 28-26 win against Houston to open Big 12 play. The reigning conference champs rallied back from a 10-point first-quarter deficit and won the game with a goal-line stop on a two-point try, showing the kind of resilience that makes Texas Tech more trustworthy as a top-15 team.
11. LSU (7): A close loss on the road in an instant classic will only receive so much punishment from the voters, especially the ones who had moved LSU up in the rankings so quickly after Week 1. There could be more assessment of where LSU stands in the weeks ahead, but for now, it drops down to this tier just outside the top seven or eight.
12. USC (12): The recent struggles for Rutgers are going to make USC's closer-than-expected 42-35 road win look like a disappointment to voters who are looking to re-evaluate the teams right on the edge of the top 10. This is a range where USC is unlikely to drop behind Penn State but could give up a spot to Texas Tech or others after needing all 60 minutes to put away the Scarlet Knights as heavy favorites.
13. Penn State (14): We are not projecting any major changes to how the voters see Penn State after Matt Campbell improved to 3-0 on the season with a 55-13 win against Buffalo.
14. Tennessee (15): On a chaotic Saturday night, AP voters didn't have to offer too much concern for Tennessee as the Vols cruised to a comfortable win against Kennesaw State.
15. Utah (17): The Utes have outscored their opponents 142-24 through three weeks after a 33-point shutout win against in-state foe Utah State. Though Utah has not yet had the opportunities to log a quality win like Texas Tech or BYU, the start of the Morgan Scalley era shows no change in the expectation of competing for a top spot in the Big 12.
16. Louisville (23): While Louisville did have one of the better wins of the weekend beating SMU, the 41-31 win can only do so much for the Cardinals' ranking position when the group is already being weighed down by a loss. Luckily, that one loss will be viewed with some favor by the AP voters since it was a close defeat to Ole Miss on a neutral and now Jeff Brohm has a quality win to balance out that defeat.
17 Iowa (18): Last week's voting had a pretty decent gap between the Hawkeyes and Utah, so even though there's plenty to enjoy about a 55-0 win against Northern Iowa, there's not enough to really lead to a change in that order.
18. Michigan (19): Some early miscues delayed what was eventually an overpowering effort by Michigan against UTEP, and the Wolverines flipped a troubling first-half score (down 14-7) into a 52-17 win. This is already a team with a somewhat disjointed rankings profile, so voters won't be confused by the inconsistency and are likely to keep Michigan close to its previous ranking.
19. Florida (NR): This could be an aggressive arrival for a Florida team that has been bubbling beneath the surface in the opening weeks under Jon Sumrall and just waiting for its moment of arrival. That moment was Saturday night in a 44-39 win at Auburn that highlighted the Gators' explosiveness and rugged ability to win a close game in a tough environment.
20. Missouri (20): We are projecting no major moves for the Tigers after a 10-point win against Troy that was closer than expected but also maybe understandable in a sandwich spot between an emotional rivalry win and the start of SEC play.
21. Oregon (21): While the score will provide some sticker shock, an 84-0 win late on Friday night against Portland State isn't going to produce a major change from how the voters view the Ducks.
22. West Virginia (NR): Is West Virginia, in terms of power ratings, one of the 25 best teams in the country? Probably not. But AP voters have their hands full trying to pick the right teams for these spots in the 20s when there really isn't a ton of difference between spot No. 21 and No. 31. Rich Rodriguez just toppled a ranked Virginia team on a neutral field with an explosive offensive showing, and that could be enough to stand out in the crowd of 3-0 teams looking for an AP voter's favor.
23. Mississippi State (NR): The Kamario Taylor show continues, and Mississippi State is now 3-0 with two road wins against power conference teams. Even though the Bulldogs were down at 32nd in voting points last week, the showdown with South Carolina broke through even on a busy day as one of the more significant results of Week 3. If this projection holds with Sunday's new rankings, it will mark Mississippi State's first AP poll appearance since finishing No. 20 in the final rankings of the 2022 season.
24. Oklahoma (24): The Sooners found themselves in a dogfight with New Mexico, ultimately needing its defense to rise to the occasion with a fourth-down red-zone stop to secure a 14-6 win. With so many teams potentially moving in and out of the rankings, we're projecting that Oklahoma finishes inside the top 25 in voting points even if more voters decide to sell their Sooners stock.
25. Virginia Tech (NR): Beating Maryland on the road finally gives James Franklin his first power conference win as Virginia Tech's coach, and the shake-up on the edge of the top 25 paves the way for the Hokies to potentially return to the AP Top 25 poll for the first time since September 2021.
Projected to drop out: No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 16 SMU, No. 22 Houston, No. 25 Virginia
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