College Football Ratings Week 3 2023
Three weeks into the season, the college football landscape looks quite different than it has recently. There don’t really seem to be any dominant teams this year- last year the Georgia/Ohio State/Michigan trio was far better than anyone else. The same teams occupy the top of my ratings this year, but the gap between them and the rest of the top 10 has closed considerably.
Top 25
The odds shown next to the top 15 teams indicate their current betting odds to make the playoff. Numbers in parenthesis indicate a team’s change in ranking from last week.
Georgia -240
Ohio State +170
Michigan -130
USC +250 (+3)
Washington +400 (+9)
LSU +600 (+6)
Notre Dame +400 (-2)
Florida State +115 (-4)
Clemson +900 (+2)
Texas +130 (-2)
Alabama +750 (-5)
Oregon +450 (-3)
Oklahoma +500 (+2)
Tennessee +2500 (-4)
Penn State +340 (-2)
Texas A&M (+2)
Miami (+2)
Florida (+3)
North Carolina (+3)
Oregon State (+2)
Auburn (-5)
UCLA (+3)
Ole Miss (-6)
Utah (-4)
Kansas State (-2)
Washington was extremely impressive in their win over Michigan State. Michael Penix Jr. threw for 473 yards in a hyper efficient performance and looks to be one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. I was honestly more concerned by Alabama this week than I was in their loss to Texas and the oddsmakers agree as they slipped from +500 to +750 to make the playoff. Public opinion on the SEC has faded a bit but my ratings don’t fully agree with 8 SEC teams in the top 25, including less heralded squads like Texas A&M and Auburn.
Moving Up
Boston College nearly pulled off the upset of the year, falling 31-29 to Florida State in a game that would’ve gone to OT if they could’ve made an extra point. The Eagles are my biggest mover this week despite the loss as they outperformed expectations by four touchdowns. Miami (OH) beat local rival Cincinnati for the first time in over a decade and looks to be one of the best teams in the MAC. LSU went on the road and dominated a top 40 MississippI State team. The Tigers now look to be the favorites in the SEC West.
Moving Down
For the second year in a row, Michigan State got run off the field by Washington- the Spartans were trailing 28-0 after 5 drives. It looks like it might be Dana Holgorsen’s last year in Houston as the Cougars followed up a loss to Rice with a blowout loss to TCU. Arizona State is making a run at being the worst team in the Power Five as the Sun Devils committed 8 turnovers (!) in a loss to Fresno State.