NCAA College Football Top 25 Power Rankings - Week 3 (2023)

Do you ever look at the AP Poll or some other poll and wonder which college football team they were watching to have them ranked where they do? Me too. We have a feature here at RotoBaller this year in which we will have a rundown of the NCAA college football power rankings every week. This is just like a top-25 poll anywhere else except I probably watch more football than most of them. Take that for what you will.

This is also going to be far different than traditional polls because I will only look at what has been done on the field so far, not what is expected of a specific team. These rankings will normalize throughout the year, but it could look a little crazy in the first month. Also, I do put a little more into the teams I had ranked in the preseason. That means that I won't dock a team that much for beating up on an inferior opponent and not playing someone better.

Most teams have played a Power Five team so far. That carries a little more weight than beating up on McNeese State or Ball State.

(25) Oklahoma State (2-0) (NR)

Last week: W 27-15 at Arizona State

The OSU offense hasn't looked that great in the first two games, but the defense came up with timely fourth-down stops to land them here.

(24) Iowa (2-0) (NR)

Last week: W 20-13 at Iowa State

The battle for the CyHawk lost some luster this year. Iowa State has been gutted by the gambling probes and might be the worth Power Five team this year. I don't believe in Iowa's offense or Cade McNamara. They feel like a placeholder to me, but that elite defense will keep them around. Iowa tried really hard to give this game away.

Today's CyHawk game is being sponsored by 1-800-BETSOFF.

— Jason Werner (@jwerner7472) September 9, 2023

(23) Oklahoma (2-0) ⇔

Last week: W 28-11 vs. SMU

The Oklahoma defense looked really good holding SMU to 11 points. Dillon Gabriel has looked strong in the early going. I'm cautiously optimistic.

(22) Cincinnati (2-0) (NR)

Last week: W 27-21 at Pittsburgh

Emory Jones has finally found an offense that fits him. I don't know if the Bearcats will hang around in the rankings or not, but they earned it with a tough road win against an ACC school.

(21) Minnesota (2-0) ⇑1

Last week: W 25-6 vs. Eastern Michigan

Counting Nebraska as a Power Five team seems a little dirty right now, but they are what they are. Minnesota only moves up because others lost.

(20) Oregon State (2-0) ⇓4

Last Week: W 55-7 vs. UC-Davis

The Beavers got everyone out of this game in one piece. That's the real win.

(19) Kansas State (2-0) ⇑2

Last week: W 42-13 vs. Troy

Kansas State stopped Troy's 12-game winning streak, which had been the second-longest in FBS coming into the game. https://t.co/mnLy1xOH8z pic.twitter.com/ORnRPvUC7y

— WAKA News (@WAKA8News) September 11, 2023

I have a hard time not moving up K-State more than I did. They ended Troy's 12-game winning streak.

(18) Georgia (2-0) ⇓7

Last week: W 45-3 vs. Ball State

The only difference between Georgia and Michigan is that Georgia has played an FCS team.

(17) Michigan (2-0) ⇓7

Last week: W 35-7 vs. UNLV

Another methodical beating. Don't get bent, Michigan fans. This schedule will even itself out soon enough and the Wolverines will be in the top five like we all believe them to be.

(16) Miami (FL) (2-0) (NR)

Last week: W 48-33 vs. Texas A&M

Most had the Aggies ranked and I did not. That's the only thing hurting the Hurricanes here. Also, the win was at home and not on the road. It was good to see fans show up for the Hurricanes in that spendy stadium in South Florida.

(15) Tennessee (2-0) ⇓8

Last week: W 30-13 vs. Austin Peay

This was the least points at Neyland Stadium for the Vols in a win under Josh Heupel. Tennessee looked bored/bad against an inferior opponent. Their win over a Power Five school was a home, so they see others flying by them...for now.

(14) Oregon (2-0) ⇑1

Last week: W 38-30 at Texas Tech

A road win against a Power Five team starts the Ducks' ascent back up the rankings.

(13) USC (3-0) ⇔

Last week W 56-10 vs. Stanford

Both the offense and defense for the Trojans was great in this one. Stanford likely isn't very good, but you definitely get points for doing what you should do to teams that you should do that against.

(12) Penn State (2-0) ⇓4

Last week: W 63-7 vs. Delaware

Penn State did what they were supposed to do against an inferior opponent. They didn't just sleepwalk through the game.

(11) Washington (2-0) ⇓6

Last week: W 43-10 vs. Tulsa

The Huskies will have their chances to move back up the rankings soon enough. They head to East Lansing this week.

(10) North Carolina (2-0) ⇓1

Last week: W 40-34 (2OT) vs. Appalachian State

Hear me out...what if Appalachian State is better than South Carolina? The offensive line (and offense in general) certainly seem to be. I'm not docking the Heels for escaping the Mountaineers for the second straight season. This is a game that needs to be played every season. It's a hell of a lot of fun!

(9) Ohio State (2-0) ⇓2

Last week: W 35-7 vs. Youngstown State

The road win against the Hoosiers in Week 1 keeps them ahead of Washington and North Carolina. The Heels beat a Power Five team at a neutral site. Kyle McCord won the starting job in this game thanks to a huge game from Marvin Harrison Jr. Who knew it was that simple?

Junior quarterback Kyle McCord has been named the starter ? for the @OhioStateFB ? Buckeyes and will lead the offense against Western Kentucky this week. pic.twitter.com/OdiyZQajiK

— BCSN (@BCSNsports) September 13, 2023

(8) Notre Dame (3-0) ⇑11

Last week W 45-24 at North Carolina State

The Irish have a neutral win against a service academy and a road win against an ACC team. That moves them back up the list. Sam Hartman finally got his revenge on the Pack. Since we showed The Pack's trolling of Hartman last week, we'll show his exorcism of Raleigh this week. Fair is fair.

Sam Hartman Highlights vs NC State #HartmanForHeisman pic.twitter.com/2PsRj11xki

— Benjamin Morrison Super Fan (@BenMorrisonFan) September 14, 2023

(7) Utah (2-0) ⇓3

Last week: W 20-13 at Baylor

Beating a Power Five team on the road keeps the Utes in place, though they did everything they could to lose this game. I'm curious to see what Utah looks like when Cameron Rising comes back. Will we still see as much Nate Johnson?

(6) Mississippi (2-0) ⇑14

Last week: W 37-20 at (24) Tulane

A road win against a ranked team is something that not many teams can claim this year, so Ole Miss shoots up the list. I didn't move them past the other five in front of them because of the injury to Michael Pratt. Maybe Ole Miss would have still won the game. Maybe not. However, I doubt they would have won by 17 points.

(5) Duke (1-0) ⇓3

Last week: W 42-7 vs. Lafayette

Duke didn't do anything to lose their spot, but playing a FCS school hurts them a bit in the rankings. Road wins for Colorado and Washington State against Power Five teams trump Duke's dismantling of Clemson, but not by much.

(4) Washington State (2-0) (NR)

Last week: W 31-22 vs. (17) Wisconsin

How does nobody want this team? Cameron Ward is a fun player to watch. I can't wait for the final Apple Cup game to watch he and Michael Penix go head-to-head. We need to learn something about this run game, but Lincoln Victor is another stud in a long line of good receivers in Pullman. Fresno State transfer Josh Kelly had looked good as well.

(3) Colorado (2-0) ⇔

Last week: W 36-14 vs. Nebraska

The Prime Effect:

53,241 attendance at Folsom Field for today’s Colorado - Nebraska game.

Largest attendance in 15 years.

— Romi Bean (@Romi_Bean) September 9, 2023

Colorado stays in place with a home win over a Power Five "name" team. On the bright side for Nebraska, at least they didn't lose another one-score game... Oh...and Shedeur Sanders honored his dad with his signature dance.

Shedeur does the Deion shuffle after this TD ?

(via @CFBONFOX) pic.twitter.com/mK3NmiPyDQ

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 9, 2023

(2) Florida State (2-0) ⇓1

Last week: W 66-13 vs. Southern Mississippi

The Seminoles didn't do anything to move down, but handing Nick Saban his worst home loss is a little bit more impressive than beating LSU. I'm not taking anything away from Florida State. They are easily the number two team in the rankings and are basically a 1-A to Texas. There are no playoff games this week, so FSU should stay here.

(1) Texas (2-0) ⇑13

Last week: W 34-24 at (11) Alabama

Rice took out Houston in the battle for the Bayou Bucket, so that win looks a little better as well. Going into Tuscaloosa and winning is more impressive than beating LSU in a faux home game.

The Texas Longhorns just handed Nick Saban his biggest loss at home during his entire coaching tenure at Alabama. #ThisIsTexas #HookEm ??#TEXvsBAMA

— Kyle Umlang (@kyleumlang) September 10, 2023

Others Receiving Votes

• James Madison
• Auburn
• Fresno State
• UCLA
• Central Florida

Stay tuned for the college football rankings here at RotoBaller throughout the entire season!

More College Football Analysis

More DFS Lineup Picks