Week 3 College Football Rankings: Florida and Clemson Drop, Oklahoma and Iowa State Rise after Week 2

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Week 3 College Football Rankings: Florida and Clemson Drop, Oklahoma and Iowa State Rise after Week 2

Matt Johnson · Sportsnaut

Sun, Sep 7, 2025 ·

14 min read

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The opening week of the 2025 college football season delivered a few preseason top-10 teams going down, leading to a massive shakeup in the top 25 college football rankings. With only one ranked matchup in Week 2, the heavy favorites and powerhouse programs largely dominated on Saturday.

Let's dive into our Week 3 college football rankings following Saturday's games. For transparency, you can find our Week 2 college football rankings and our preseason top 25 college football rankings . Now, let's dive into our analysis of how the 25 best college football teams fared in Week 2.

Dropped from Week 3 College Football Rankings:(22) SMU Mustangs , (18) Florida Gators

25. Louisville Cardinals (Unranked)

The Louisville Cardinals offense couldn't hit its stride until late against James Madison . Thankfully for quarterback Miller Moss , this defense and running back Isaac Brown made up for it. Louisville's defense allowed only one long touchdown drive in Week 2, with the other coming on a short field because of a turnover on downs. In the fourth quarter, a strip-sack touchdown put Louisville ahead, and then Brown made a 78-yard house call a few minutes later. The 2-0 record is a nice start, especially since Moss ( 71.9 ESPN QBR ) isn't playing his best football right now.

24. South Florida Bulls (Unranked)

Beating the No. 25 Boise State Broncos in Week 1 just seemed like an indictment of BSU. Then, the South Florida Bulls went into The Swamp and beat the Gators. Quarterback Byrum Brown made some big throws late, engineering a potential game-winning drive and then delivering the actual game-winning drive against the Gators' defense. Bulls coach Alex Golesh has something cooking with Brown as the centerpiece of his offense, and South Florida will try to deliver its third consecutive win over a ranked opponent in Week 3 against the Miami Hurricanes.

23. Arizona State Sun Devils (10)

Thus ended Sam Leavitt 's slim chances of winning the Heisman Trophy in 2025. Now, the bigger question is whether the Arizona State Sun Devils can avoid spiraling in the next few weeks. Arizona State was simply outplayed by Mississippi State on Saturday night, wasting a pair of 100-yard performances from Raleek Brown and Kanye Udoh. A year after the Sun Devils made the College Football Playoff, this could spiral into a five-loss season for the program in 2025.

22. Alabama Crimson Tide (21)

With Ryan Williams (concussion) sidelined, Germie Bernard came through for this Alabama Crimson Tide offense. The senior stepped up for Ty Simpson , helping the young quarterback go perfect (10-for-10,160 yards and 3 total touchdowns) on Saturday night. Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer at least avoided this team getting off the rails completely, but avoiding that doesn't take much against UL Monroe. The real test will come when we get to the SEC portion of the Crimson Tide schedule.

21. Tennessee Volunteers (25)

Too easy for the Tennessee Volunteers . Hosting East Tennessee State in Week 2, quarterback Joey Aguilar (288 pass yards, 2-0 TD-INT) and running back Star Thomas (three rushing touchdowns) put the Vols up 48-7 at halftime. With the game decided very early, fans at Neyland Stadium got to see backup Jake Merlinger sling a pair of touchdowns and then freshman quarterback George MacIntyre show a bit of promise. If the Vols want to catapult up the top 25 college football rankings, it's going to take an upset win over Georgia next Saturday.

20. Indiana Hoosiers (23)

The Indiana Hoosiers got a little more of the Fernando Mendoza everyone was hoping to see in Saturday's blowout victory over Kennesaw State . Hoosiers play-caller Chandler Whitmer had it all going in Week 2, with the team rushing for over 260 yards in the first three quarters and Mendoza putting up 200-plus passing yards with 3 touchdowns on 10 drives. Indiana will have another week to get this passing game in complete rhythm before a fantastic duel at home against Illinois on Sept. 20.

19. Michigan Wolverines (12)

One of the obvious downsides of rolling with a true freshman quarterback is the early limitations put on your offense and the difficulty of playing in a raucous environment on the national stage for the first time. Bryce Underwood is showing small glimpses of greatness, but he clearly isn't advanced or consistent enough right now for the Wolverines' coaching staff to feel confident putting more on his plate. Fortunately for the 18-year-old quarterback, Michigan's defense and ground game can beat the mid-tier teams until he's ready to make that leap. Unfortunately, the Wolverines' schedule only has a few of those matchups remaining.

18. Texas A&M Aggies (16)

The Texas A&M Aggies can certainly feel great about quarterback Marcel Reed right now. He's delivered 7 total touchdowns through two games, demonstrating the ability to hit some big plays and make throws that set up yards after the catch. What's concerning is this Aggies defense. This unit allowed 373 total yards (203 rushing) to UTSA in Week 1 and ran into some issues on Saturday against Utah State. Mike Elko is going to need to tweak something this week in practice because, otherwise, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will wreck this defense in Week 3.

17. Ole Miss Rebels (20)

The good news for the Ole Miss Rebels is that they once again proved they can overcome two interceptions from Austin Simmons and still win. However, that's certainly not going to fly against better competition. A lot of this Rebels' offense right now is riding on bellcow running back Kewan Lacy and a few explosive plays in the passing game by Simmons. We can see the long-term vision Kiffin has with Simmons, who suffered a leg injury in Week 2, but it's a plan that will probably cost Ole Miss at least three games this year.

16. Texas Tech Red Raiders (17)

Texas Tech Red Raiders quarterback Behren Morton certainly gave the program their money's worth on Saturday afternoon at home. He was pulled midway through the third quarter against Kent State after throwing for 201 passing yards with 4 touchdowns on 16 completions. Texas Tech has scored 55-plus points in consecutive games, demonstrating that it can take complete advantage of facing lesser opponents. Given how Oregon State has looked this season, the Red Raiders should be 3-0 when they duel Utah on Sept. 20.

15. Utah Utes (15)

The Utah Utes have something in quarterback Devon Dampier . A First-Team All-Mountain West Conference selection a year ago at New Mexico , Dampier is providing a life that we haven't seen in years for this Utes offense. These performances are indeed coming against the likes of UCLA and Cal Poly, but plenty of other quarterbacks are generating national attention for putting up similar numbers against equal programs. If Dampier can keep playing at a high level, with how good the Utes' defense typically is, this will remain a top-15 team beyond September and into that Oct. 11 home date against Arizona State.

14. Iowa State Cyclones (19)

Fittingly, the battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy was a low-scoring, defensive duel in Week 2. The Iowa State Cyclones offense didn't find the end zone until late in the second quarter. The Hawkeyes immediately answered with a touchdown of their own. Both defenses locked in after that, until quarterback Rocco Becht broke the scoring drought with a 13-play, 55-yard drive that set up what proved to be the game-winning field goal. Iowa State became the first 3-0 team in the Power this season, with Matt Campbell once again demonstrating why he's so coveted by other colleges and even NFL teams.

13. Clemson Tigers (9)

Losing to the LSU Tigers at home can be overlooked on a resume. However, the performance the Clemson Tigers just put on tape in Death Valley against Troy should set off alarm bells. Cade Klubnik and Adam Randall were forced to rally this team from behind, responding to a 16-0 deficit with a 27-0 run to win it. Swinney will just be thankful to come out of Saturday with the win, but this doesn't look like a playoff-caliber team through two games.

12. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11)

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were off in Week 2, getting two weeks to prepare for their home opener on Sept. 13 against Texas A&M. While the Fighting Irish are 0-1, redshirt freshman C.J. Carr was one of the most impressive first-year starters in college football in Week 1. Unfortunately for Notre Dame, it just couldn't get star running back Jeremiyah Love going. There's an opportunity for the Fighting Irish to change that in Week 2 against an Aggies' run defense that allowed 203 rushing yards and a 6.2 yards-per-carry average to UTSA. We feel better about the young quarterback than we did before. Now, Notre Dame just needs to get Love going.

11. South Carolina Gamecocks (13)

Perhaps a little too close for comfort for the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday night. Facing SC State, this should have been an opportunity for LaNorris Sellers and Nyck Harbor to really put up a stellar performance. Instead, it was a one-score game late into the second quarter. The Gamecocks' offense just hasn't looked right so far, and the competition is about to get a lot more difficult from here on. For now, we'd pump the brakes on Sellers' Heisman candidacy.

10. Oklahoma Sooners (24)

What a difference it makes to have a quarterback who can make big plays in key moments and carry the offense. The pairing of quarterback John Mateer and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle is working out perfectly for the Oklahoma Sooners , complementing Brent Venables' defense to make a very well-rounded team. The Sooners' schedule later this season might be the most challenging in the nation, which makes Saturday night's win over Michigan even more crucial. Right now, this very much looks like a program that should be undefeated when it hosts Texas for the Red River Rivalry.

9. Illinois Fighting Illini (14)

The Illinois Fighting Illini found themselves in a tight battle early in Week 2 on the road, leading Duke 14-13 while the Blue Devils were coming off a strong showing in the second quarter. Naturally, senior quarterback Luke Altmyer and his go-to receiver Hank Beatty stepped up. The senior quarterback-receiver duo helped make it a 28-19 game entering the fourth quarter, with Altmyer sealing the win with a scoring drive early in the fourth. There's room for Illinois to improve—penalties, third-down offense and run game—but this team has two weeks to get those things right before a road trip to face the Hoosiers.

8. Texas Longhorns (8)

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning certainly looked a lot more comfortable in Week 2, of course, facing San Jose State instead of Ohio State will do that. Steve Sarkisian wanted to make things easier for his first-year starter, and he did that for the most part. Saturday also served as a reminder that he's still very inexperienced, prone to mistakes that prove far more costly against quality competition. What matters for Texas is that it came out of this with a blowout win, and Manning built some confidence while developing rapport with his pass catchers. It's a small step forward, but a needed one nonetheless.

7. Florida State Seminoles (7)

We'll evidently remain higher on the Florida State Seminoles than the consensus in our top 25 college football rankings. It's nice to see that after the big upset win over Alabama, FSU didn't take a cupcake matchup against East Texas A&M lightly. In fact, the Seminoles' offense came out with three touchdowns in the first quarter and five combined touchdowns from quarterback Tommy Castellanos ( 230 yards, 3-0 TD-INT ) and running back Gavin Sawchuk before the midway point of the second quarter. Florida State now heads into a bye week, with two winnable games (versus Kent State and Virginia ) before a home date on Oct. 4 against Miami.

6. Georgia Bulldogs (6)

Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Gunner Stockton is certainly coming out hot to open the season. After leading the Bulldogs' offense in rushing (73 yards, 2 touchdowns) in the season opener, he started hot (10-for-10) on Saturday against Austin Peay. We're willing to give the Bulldogs' offense a bit of a pass for looking relatively sluggish, given there was a lengthy delay in this game. As long as Stockton keeps playing at this high a level, the Dawgs should be able to get a win in Neyland Stadium next week.

Read More: Heisman Watch Archive

5. Miami Hurricanes (5)

The Miami Hurricanes handled their business on Saturday night, with quarterback Carson Beck putting on a passing clinic early against Bethune-Cookman. Miami has gotten everything it paid for and more to this point with Beck, who looks to have recaptured his former self from his best moments at Georgia. Suddenly, that Week 3 home game against undefeated South Florida just became a lot more interesting for both programs.

4. Oregon Ducks (4)

Poking the proverbial bear, or in this case, duck, is never wise. However, Mike Gundy decided to do just that before facing the Oregon Ducks . Dan Lanning's program showed the outstanding talent money can buy and further highlighted the differences between a great coaching staff and what Oklahoma State has. Just a completely dominant victory for the Ducks, who will look to make it three consecutive games with 59-plus points next week at Northwestern.

3. LSU Tigers (1)

It didn't start pretty for the LSU Tigers , who opened the game with a Garrett Nussmeier interception and then a missed field goal on their first two offensive drives. Fortunately for Brian Kelly, little mistakes like that aren't too damaging against programs like Louisiana Tech. LSU's resume did take a bit of a hit in Week 2, given how bad Clemson looked vs. Troy—wins matter more than resume right now. It'll be interesting to see how the Florida Gators respond to their loss to South Florida next Saturday night in Death Valley.

2. Penn State Nittany Lions (3)

Week 3 College FOotball Rakings — Credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

The Penn State Nittany Lions made it a little too close at home with Florida International on Saturday. Penn State 's third-down offense was concerningly inefficient against a bad Panthers defense, which is largely because of issues up front from the Nittany Lions' offensive line. That just gives Penn State something to work on in practice this week and in their next game against Villanova. As long as the third-down issues are cleaned up before the Oregon game (Sept. 27), there's no reason to be concerned.

1. Ohio State Buckeyes (2)

The Ohio State Buckeyes are the best team in college football. We can start by highlighting what defensive coordinator Matt Patricia is doing with Caleb Downs and company. Through two games this season, the Buckeyes ' defense has allowed just seven points and has held opponents to a 28.6 percent third-down conversion rate (8-for-28), while generating four takeaways. Even more important, quarterback Julian Sayin ( 18-for-19, 306 pass yards, 4-1 TD-INT ) is now connecting with All-American receiver Jeremiah Smith . The Buckeyes are about to go on a dominant run in these next few weeks before facing Illinois.

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