College football Top 25 after Week 3, 2026

Defending champions, and No. 1 under the one exception to the method. It was 7-0 deep into the second quarter after a goal-line stand on Western Kentucky's first-and-goal, then Indiana pulled away. Josh Hoover went 18 of 24 for 273 yards and Turbo Richard ran for 149. The defense allowed 186 yards and posted a second straight shutout. It's the 19th straight win. Nobody on the schedule has tested them yet; Northwestern comes to Bloomington on Friday night.

The best résumé in the country: two ranked wins, one at a neutral site and one at home. Against Lane Kiffin's LSU, Ole Miss led 24-7 at halftime, lost the whole lead in the third quarter, then retook it on a Trinidad Chambliss touchdown run and a two-point conversion. Chambliss finished 33 of 48 for 363 yards. LSU drove to first-and-goal late, and Jaylon Braxton ended it by catching a tipped fourth-down pass. Next: at Florida.

A routine 24-point win the week after the biggest result of the season. The case for Texas is still the 24-23 win over Ohio State, when the Longhorns came back from 20 points down in the fourth quarter. UTSA scored six points. Saturday brings the first road game of the year, at Tennessee.

Weather pushed kickoff back nearly two hours and stopped play again before halftime, and Florida State kept it closer than the Tide wanted. Keelon Russell was 23 of 30 for 320 yards and three touchdowns and added a 57-yard touchdown run. The 36 points allowed is a warning. The 45-17 win at Kentucky looks better every week, since Kentucky just won at Texas A&M.

Fifth on an editorial call rather than the formula, and we'll say so plainly. By the method, the résumé is thin: Arkansas is 1-2, with its only win over an FCS team, and the other two wins came against Tennessee State and Western Kentucky. But the Arkansas game was a four-touchdown SEC road win. Georgia ran for 254 yards and four touchdowns and led 38-3 before easing off, and Gunner Stockton ran for 97 yards, 62 of them on one play. Oklahoma visits Athens on Saturday, and that game decides whether fifth holds.

Sixth with a loss, and it's earned. LSU trailed 24-7 at halftime in the loudest road building it will see all year, tied the game in the fourth quarter, and drove to first-and-goal in the final two minutes before a tipped pass was intercepted. Add a 51-10 opening win over Clemson and nobody else in the country with a loss has a better case.

A game with seven lead changes. SMU went ahead 31-28 before Keyjaun Brown answered with a 53-yard touchdown run. A late SMU touchdown was overturned on review and ruled a fumble, and Kaleb Beasley intercepted Kevin Jennings on the final possession. The only loss is by three to our No. 2, on a field goal as time expired.

A 56-point win over Kent State, the second blowout of a MAC team this month. The résumé is two blowouts of MAC teams and a one-point road loss, after holding a 20-point fourth-quarter lead, to our No. 3. By results, that's the best one-loss profile among teams whose loss wasn't to Ole Miss. Illinois comes to Columbus next.

Workmanlike rather than dominant. CJ Carr went 18 of 24 for 234 yards and Nolan James Jr. ran for 121. The defense held Michigan State to 167 total yards and 40 in the second half. Two home wins over Big Ten teams by 28 and 17 is a solid start. What's missing is a road game, and the first one is Saturday at Purdue.

Two road wins over power-conference teams, including a cross-country trip to Stanford in Week 1. On Friday night at Wake Forest, Darian Mensah completed his first 24 passes, an ACC record. Neither road opponent is good, but winning away from home by a combined 52 points is the kind of result this method rewards.

The most overlooked unbeaten team in the country. Utah beat Arkansas by 33; Georgia beat the same Arkansas team by 28. Georgia did it on the road, which is why the Bulldogs rank higher. Saturday's shutout of Utah State was the Utes' second game this season holding an opponent to 10 points or fewer. First road test: at Iowa State.

Two road wins over power-conference opponents, one in the Big Ten and one in the SEC. Nobody ranked below them can say that. Kamario Taylor threw four touchdown passes in Columbia to hold off South Carolina. The defense allowed 34, which will get tested when Missouri comes to Starkville on Saturday night.

The final looks comfortable. It wasn't early: two turnovers let UTEP pull within 17-14 before Michigan outscored the Miners 35-3 the rest of the way. The 17-10 win over Oklahoma is a real result. The one-point escape against Western Michigan in Week 1 is why they sit here and not in the top 10. Iowa visits Ann Arbor on Saturday.

The best road win of the weekend. Kentucky led the ninth-ranked Aggies 28-7 entering the fourth quarter at Kyle Field. Kenny Minchey went 14 of 18 for 252 yards and two touchdowns. Jordan Castell had 13 tackles and an interception. It was Kentucky's first win over A&M since 1952. What holds them at 14 is a 28-point home loss to Alabama.

One road win over a power-conference team, 45-24 at Georgia Tech. The other two wins came against Furman and Kennesaw State. Saturday is the first real measuring stick: Texas at Neyland Stadium at noon.

A ranked win, but barely. Houston was No. 22 at the time and lost by two in Lubbock on Friday night. The 11-point road win at Oregon State is fine, not memorable. Texas Tech is unbeaten and unconvincing, and its next two games (Sam Houston, then at Colorado) won't tell us much more.

Michael Hawkins Jr. accounted for five touchdowns, three rushing and two passing, as West Virginia won in Charlottesville against a ranked team. He's the first Mountaineers quarterback to do that since Pat White in 2008. The Week 1 seven-point win over Coastal Carolina keeps the ceiling in check. Oklahoma State visits Morgantown on Saturday.

Outscored three opponents 127-22, and the Buffalo game only added to it. Rocco Becht has been efficient and the defense has given up almost nothing. The problem is the schedule: none of those three teams is from a power conference. Under this method, teams with road wins over power-conference opponents rank ahead. Wisconsin visits on Saturday.

Won a shootout on the road in its SEC opener, the first game of the Jon Sumrall era against a real opponent. A road SEC win is a road SEC win. Allowing 39 points to Auburn is the concern, especially with Ole Miss coming to Gainesville on Saturday.

Handled a Mountain West road trip without trouble. The best win is 28-17 over Arizona at home in Week 2. BYU keeps winning comfortably without beating anyone who moves the needle. The schedule changes in October, with road games at TCU and a visit from Notre Dame.

The 17-point win at Kansas is the result that puts Missouri in. Saturday's 10-point home win over Troy was flat. Two SEC road games in the next five weeks, starting at Mississippi State on Saturday night, will show which version is real.

The strangest résumé in the rankings: a 14-point loss at Tulsa, then a win over sixth-ranked Oregon. Saturday's shutout of an FCS team adds nothing. The Oregon win keeps them in; the Tulsa loss keeps them low. They play at West Virginia on Saturday.

Four wins, none of them convincing against the level of opponent. USC led a Rutgers team that was 0-2 by one possession entering the fourth quarter and needed all of it. The Trojans have allowed 91 points to four teams without a ranked opponent among them. Oregon comes to the Coliseum on Saturday.

An 84-0 win over an FCS team on Friday night tells us nothing. The résumé is a seven-point home win over Boise State and an eight-point road loss to Oklahoma State, which is why Oregon ranks behind the team that beat it. The trip to USC on Saturday decides which of these two stays in.

Allowed 13 points in three games, all of them in the three-point win over Iowa State. That rivalry win is the whole résumé, and it came at home. The defense is legitimate. Saturday at Michigan is the first chance to prove the rest.