NCAA College Football Top 25 Power Rankings - Week 8 (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. The rankings are starting to stabilize a little now that we are in conference play. They still differ from the "experts" though since I don't blindly anoint Georgia as the number-one team.

We lost three more unbeaten teams last week, so we are down to 11. Notre Dame's win over USC will likely land a two-loss team back in the rankings. Where did your favorite team land?

(25) Liberty (7-0) (NR)

Last week: W 42-35 vs. Middle Tennessee State

Liberty has some solid wins, but nothing to really hang their hats on. Not like the win over BYU last year. They won't get one either. If they can get past Western Kentucky next week, the Flames should go undefeated.

(24) Air Force (6-0) (NR)

Last week: W 34-27 vs. (25) Wyoming

The Falcons finally have a quality win. If you want to call them the best team in Colorado, I'm not going to argue, but it is closer than it has been in several years.

(23) James Madison (6-0) ⇔

Last week: W 41-13 vs. Georgia Southern

This was another quality win for the Dukes. The win at Troy has them in control of the Fun Belt even though the pack of jackasses known as the NCAA won't let the Dukes play in the post-season through no fault of their own. That is yet another rule that needs to go away.

(22) Tulane (5-1) (NR)

Last week: W 31-21 at Memphis

Their only loss was to Ole Miss when Tulane was missing their starting quarterback. The win over South Alabama is looking better and a quality win at Memphis puts them back in the rankings for now.

(21) Iowa (6-1) ⇔

Last week: W 15-6 at Wisconsin

Yeah, they looked God-awful against Penn State. The offense is somehow worse, but that defense is elite. That will get you a long way in the worst Power Five division. Having Penn State as the only loss along with quality wins against Iowa State and Wisconsin – both on the road – lands the Hawkeyes back up here, atrocious offense and all.

(20) Tennessee (5-1) (NR)

Last week: W 20-13 vs. Texas A&M

Don't give me grief about this. A&M wasn't ranked and the Vols were at home. Being slapped around by Florida isn't a good look either. The Vols look like one of the weaker one-loss teams, but they'll have a chance to prove me wrong.

(19) Duke (5-1) ⇔

Last week: W 24-3 vs. North Carolina State

A bye couldn't have come at a better time for Duke. Riley Leonard is likely to miss a game or two, but the injury thankfully isn't as bad as it looked. Duke is now in the same boat as Utah. They just have to survive until their quarterback returns. Beating a surprisingly bad N.C. State team is holding serve.

(18) Notre Dame (NR)

Last week: W 48-20 vs. (9) USC

The Louisville loss qualifies as a bad loss after the Cardinals got spanked by Pitt. The embarrassment of USC gets some style points back. Missouri's road win has them slightly ahead of the Irish, but we're splitting hairs at this point.

(17) Missouri (5-1) ⇑3

Last week: W 38-21 at (24) Kentucky 

A huge road win in Lexington has the Tigers on a collision course with a Georgia team that they probably should have beaten in 2022.

(16) LSU (5-2) (NR)

Last week: L 48-18 vs. Auburn

Their two losses are to a top-three team and Ole Miss. They have wins in Columbia and StarkVegas. And...well...that Arkansas game no longer looks like a black eye. LSU has the best two losses and deserves to stay in front of the team they beat at home.

(15) USC (6-1) ⇓6

Last week: L 20-48 at Notre Dame

The USC defense finally cost them. All it took was a physical defense on the other side that had the talent to get to Caleb Williams.

(14) Mississippi (5-1) ⇑3

Last week: Bye

When you move up three spots on your bye week, you know things got nuts in front of you.

(13) Utah (5-1) ⇑2

Last week: W 34-14 vs. California

For the Utes, it's survive and advance until they get Cameron Rising back...IF they get Cameron Rising back...

(12) Alabama (6-1) ⇔

Last week: W 24-21 vs. Arkansas

This was another solid game by Alabama, but Tide fans are so spoiled by great teams that solid has them losing their minds in Tuscaloosa.

(11) Oregon State (6-1) ⇑3

Last week: W 36-24 vs. (16) UCLA

The Beavers looked better than Alabama this week. UCLA earned their ranking. Oregon State took it back.

(10) Oregon (5-1) ⇓6

Last week: L 33-36 at (8) Washington

Don't worry, Duck U. Quality losses count too.

(9) Texas (5-1) ⇑2

Last week: Bye

Texas still has the best win of any one-loss team and it's not close.

(8) Michigan (4-0) ⇑2

Last week: W 52-7 vs. Indiana

Wake me up when Michigan plays somebody. We're halfway through the season and their best win is probably against a down Minnesota team.

(7) North Carolina (6-0) ⇔

Last week: W 41-31 vs. Miami (FL)

Devontez Walker is the reason the Tarheels won this week. The defense had almost nothing to do with it. Tyler Van Dyke ripped some holes in what had been a solid secondary to this point.

(6) Georgia (7-0) ⇔

Last week: W 37-20 at Vanderbilt

When is a win a loss? When you lose Brock Bowers for at least a month...

(5) Penn State (6-0) ⇔

Last week: W 63-0 vs. Massachusetts

I know the Penn State defense is good, but don't get too excited. UMass is worse than many FCS teams.

(4) Oklahoma (6-0) ⇓1

Last week: Bye

Oklahoma drops a spot with Washington's big win over Oregon. A bye didn't help when the rest of the top four showed out.

(3) Florida State (6-0) ⇓2

Last week: W 41-3 vs. Syracuse

FSU has looked good against inferior opponents in the last two weeks, but Clemson struggling with a bad Wake team and LSU having two losses takes a lot of the shine off of the big early season wins for FSU. Strength of schedule is not a friend of the Seminoles right now and it will only get worse.

(2) Ohio State (6-0) ⇔

Last week: W 41-7 at Purdue

The win in South Bend looks a lot better after the Irish just pounded USC. That keeps OSU at two.

(1) Washington (6-0) ⇑7

Last week: W 36-33 vs. (4) Oregon

Florida State's wins over LSU and Clemson mean a lot less now. This is the best win of the season for anyone even though it was at home.

Others Receiving Votes

• UCLA
• Kentucky
• Louisville
• Oklahoma State
• Florida

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

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