Tomorrow’s Top 25 Today projects college football rankings entering Week 4

Several teams who AP Top 25 poll voters had high regard for lost on Saturday, but how many will be able to hang on inside the top 25 when the college football rankings update on Sunday? 

AP voters were, after all, higher than the Coaches Poll on Clemson, positioning the Tigers at No. 4 in the preseason poll as opposed to being No. 6 in the eyes of the coaches. Narratives of a return to form were fueled by stories of offseason improvement with plenty of production returning from a 10-win, ACC championship team. There was an initial drop after Clemson lost the season opener to LSU, but after struggling with Troy and then losing at Georgia Tech, those same voters will see their loyalty tested when it comes to a program that took up regular residence in the top 25 for more than a decade. 

But Clemson wasn’t the only top team to take a loss on Saturday, because voters will be adjusting to losses from South Carolina and Notre Dame as well. Sorting out those pieces as the profiles continue to be shaped are the toughest calls on the ballot, because many teams in the top 25 took care of business as heavy favorites with only a few spots that could be adjusted due to style points. 

So with all the style points and top 25 shake ups taken into consideration, here’s what we think the new AP Top 25 will look like on Sunday:

1. Ohio State (Previous — 1): A strong No. 1 heading the week already with 57 first-place votes, the Buckeyes won’t see any challengers for the top spot this week. Beating Ohio 37-9 meets the expectations of the voters and keeps Ryan Day’s team atop the AP poll. 

2. Penn State (2): The Nittany Lions took care of business against Villanova and now enter an early off week before returning to action on Sept. 27 against Oregon. 

3. LSU (3): This was not LSU’s cleanest game by anyone’s estimation, but the Tigers defense continued to shine and Garrett Nussmeier made far less mistakes than his Florida counterpart in a 20-10 rivalry win. 

4. Oregon (4): The Ducks avoided any sweat in their Big Ten road opener by scoring on five of their first six possessions, building a 31-point lead and cruising to an easy win at Northwestern. Up next is a return trip to Eugene to face rival Oregon State before heading back across the country for the Big Ten Championship Game rematch against Penn State. 

5. Georgia (6): Last week saw the Bulldogs drop two spots because other teams logged significant wins while Kirby Smart’s crew ran through the motions against Austin Peay. Voters will correct some of that reaction on the Georgia side after going into Knoxville and stealing a win from Tennessee in overtime. 

6. Miami (5): We are projecting the margins to be extremely tight in this range of the rankings, but ultimately, the Hurricanes aren’t dropping a spot as much as getting passed by Georgia. Miami will have its chances soon to log big road conference wins, but this week’s 49-12 win against USF won’t spark a big move up even if the Bulls were ranked before the matchup. 

7. Texas (7): Any narratives about Texas’ offensive struggles got heightened by a 27-10 win against UTEP where the Longhorns entered as 41-point favorites to win the game. Texas will have opportunities to get right against quality competition to improve its ranking position, but from a stock price perspective, this was a “sell” result for voters looking to move things around in the top 10 on their ballots. 

8. Illinois (9): The pieces are set in place for a huge matchup between undefeated Illinois and undefeated Indiana in Week 4. The Fighting Illini did their part late with a 38-0 win against Western Michigan after the Hoosiers handled their business against an FCS foe on Friday. 

9. Florida State (10): The Seminoles were off in Week 3 and will be back in action next Saturday against Kent State. 

10. Texas A&M (16): The Aggies will find themselves in the top 10 after their thrilling win in South Bend on Saturday night over Notre Dame.

11. Oklahoma (13): It was undoubtedly strange to see Oklahoma playing a road game at Temple early on this Week 3 Saturday, but the Sooners did not allow the score to draw any un-needed attention to this game for AP voters. The defense put the clamps on Temple early and John Mateer picked up a couple of touchdowns for the highlight reel, but mostly there wasn’t much from the win to warrant big moves in the rankings. 

12. Iowa State (14): No team in the country is more deserving of a week off than Iowa State, which enters its off week with a 4-0 record after surviving a slow start at Arkansas State and holding on for a 24-16 win. The Cyclones started the season in Ireland against Kansas State, have already played one of their most emotional games against Iowa and on Saturday had to travel to Jonesboro, Arkansas, for a road game against a Sun Belt opponent. The amount of miles traveled and energy exhausted is notable, but at 4-0, there are few regrets and good vibes back in Ames.  

13. Ole Miss (17): Lane Kiffin’s team showed incredible resolve against a tough SEC opponent without its starting quarterback, holding off a late charge from Arkansas for a 41-36 win. The status of Austin Simmons moving forward is obviously huge for the season-long outlook, but in the immediate future, this was a huge test passed by the 2025 Rebels. 

14. Alabama (19): The Crimson Tide absolutely crushed Wisconsin, bringing back into focus a strong response to the season-opening loss at Florida State. Since the defeat in Tallahassee, Alabama has outscored its opponents 111-14 and regained the edge needed to live up to expectations of contention in the SEC. 

15. Tennessee (15): We are not projecting a big drop for Tennessee after losing in overtime as an underdog against a top 10 team. But there will be an adjustment on enough ballots to see the Vols slide, and just behind fellow one-loss SEC foe Alabama seems like a spot that will fit for many voters. 

16. Utah (20): The Utes made the trip to Laramie and avoided any kind of upset scare, taking control of the game and cruising to a 31-6 win against Wyoming. 

17. Texas Tech (21): Like many across the country, the Red Raiders had to deal with some weather delays and dealt with a somewhat disjointed game. Ultimately, it did not stop Texas Tech from meeting expectations, jumping out to a 38-0 lead and cruising to an easy 45-7 win. 

18. Indiana (22): In a week where there were several eye-popping blowouts on the scoreboard, the Hoosiers stood out yet again with a 73-0 victory against Indiana State. 

19. Georgia Tech (NR): With a 3-0 record and a win over Clemson, the Yellow Jackets are more than worthy of breaking into the top 25. Georgia Tech was 28th in voting points last week, and after improving to 7-1 against ranked ACC foes under Brent Key, it’s time this team get celebrated as a ranked team itself. 

20. Michigan (23): Sherrone Moore was sidelined to begin a two-game suspension, but the Wolverines showed no signs of being out-of-sorts in a 60-point win against Central Michigan. 

21. Auburn (24): Things might have gotten a bit too close for comfort late with South Alabama, but the Tigers held the upper hand for much of the afternoon in a 31-15 win. Up next is a big challenge for Hugh Freeze’s 3-0 team, with a road trip to Oklahoma in Week 4. 

22. Missouri (25): The Tigers pounded Louisiana 52-10, which only bolster the team’s position as a top 25 team after being right near the cut line after Week 2. 

23. Vanderbilt (NR): A deeper dive will note the obvious impact of South Carolina losing LaNorris Sellers in the game to an injury, but even with that into consideration, it’s hard to avoid ranking a Commodores team that just put together back-to-back road wins against power conference competition. 

24. Notre Dame (8): The Irish fell to 0-2 after its last-second loss to Texas A&M at home on Saturday. Now, instead of settling in the top 10, Notre Dame now finds itself flirting with an exit from the rankings in addition to watching its CFP dreams begin to fade. 

25. USF (18): The win against Florida that propelled USF into the top 25 doesn’t carry quite as much weight after the Gators’ loss to LSU, so there are going to be plenty of voters who drop the Bulls from their ballot entirely. For now we project they hang on, noting that the same AP voters considered both Boise State and Florida as top teams earlier in the season. 

Projected to drop out: South Carolina (11), Clemson (12)