After a chaotic Week 2 shook up the college football landscape, Week 3 was more of a return to the norm, and my latest power rankings reflect that.
The top teams like Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, and Oklahoma all held serve with solid performances over the weekend as they push toward the College Football National Championship. That means the biggest jumps this week belonged to second-level teams like North Carolina State and Oklahoma State. Meanwhile, teams like Miami, Michigan State, and BYU all took quite a tumble.
Here are my Top 25 power rankings heading into Week 4 of the season and maybe some betting value in the college football futures market.
Andrew Caley's college football power rankings
| Rank (Last week) | Team | AP Rank | National Title Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (1, -) | Georgia | 1 | +175 |
| 2 (2, -) | Alabama | 2 | +210 |
| 3 (3, -) | Ohio State | 3 | +275 |
| 4 (5, ↑ 1) | Oklahoma | 6 | +4,000 |
| 5 (4, ↓ 1) | Michigan | 4 | +1,800 |
| 6 (7, ↑ 1) | USC | 7 | +1,200 |
| 7 (8, ↑ 1) | Mississippi | 16 | +12,000 |
| 8 (6, ↓ 2) | Clemson | 5 | +1,400 |
| 9 (9, -) | Penn State | 14 | +6,000 |
| 10 (12, ↑ 2) | Kentucky | 8 | +12,000 |
| 11 (13, ↑ 2) | Tennessee | 11 | +6,000 |
| 12 (10, ↓ 2) | Arkansas | 10 | +12,000 |
| 13 (15, ↑ 2) | Utah | 13 | +10,000 |
| 14 (17, ↑ 3) | Baylor | 17 | +20,000 |
| 15 (20, ↑ 5) | Oklahoma State | 9 | +10,000 |
| 16 (22, ↑ 6) | NC State | 12 | +10,000 |
| 17 (NR) | Washington | 18 | +15,000 |
| 18 (14, ↓ 4) | Florida | 20 | +15,000 |
| 19 (NR) | Oregon | 15 | +12,000 |
| 20 (21, ↑ 1) | Wake Forest | 21 | +20,000 |
| 21 (NR) | Texas A&M | 23 | +10,000 |
| 22 (25, ↑ 3) | Pittsburgh | 24 | +30,000 |
| 23 (11, ↓ 12) | Miami | 25 | +15,000 |
| 24 (18, ↓ 6) | Michigan State | NR | +30,000 |
| 25 (NR) | Florida State | NR | +15,000 |
Dropped out: BYU, Mississippi State, Kansas State, Air Force
Odds courtesy of DraftKings. Compare updated national championship futures before betting to ensure you get the best number.
Moving up the Pack: NC State (16)
North Carolina State has responded well after a shaky start to the season. But after this past weekend’s win against Texas Tech, where they not only won but covered as 10-point chalk, the Wolfpack are 3-0 and make the biggest move up my power rankings this week.
Quarterback Devin Leary still hasn’t shown us his best stuff yet this season, but the defense is performing as expected, allowing just 12.3 points per game this season and coming off a four-turnover performance against the Red Raiders.
Next up for NC State is a tune-up game with UConn coming to town this week. The Wolfpack are massive 38.5-point favorites for that matchup but don’t expect the Wolfpack to show too much in that game just one week before they head to Death Valley for a massive ACC battle against Clemson.
If the Wolfpack can take down the Tigers for the second straight season, there is a great chance that NC State could end up in the ACC title game, and the +800 to win the conference will be long gone.
Hurricanes power outage: Miami (23)
Miami had a chance this past week to show The U was back with their matchup against Texas A&M at Kyle Field. But instead of giving anything of note, the Hurricanes were basically a no-show. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke never found his rhythm in a 17-9 loss as 6.5-point road dogs.
The loss resulted in the biggest fall of any team in my Top 25 this week. However, even though the loss was an ugly one, dropping a game as road underdogs to a talented — if underwhelming — SEC opponent, won’t derail a season.
The other positive to take away from that game was the way the defense balled out. The Canes limited the Aggies to 4.0 yards per carry and limited QB Max Johnson to just 10 completed passes and sacked him four times.
It will be interesting to see how Miami responds to this loss. The Hurricanes will get a tough test from North Carolina following a bye. But if they can get past the Tar Heels, they could go on a nice run before against Clemson and Pittsburgh.
New-look Huskies: Washington (17)
Keep an eye on the Washington Huskies. First-year head coach Kalen DeBoer has his team playing very well to start the season. Following convincing SU/ATS wins over Kent State and FCS Portland State, DeBoer and the Huskies got an early signature win against Michigan State.
Early in the season, the Huskies defense has been solid as expected but it’s the emergence of transfer quarterback Michael Penix who has injected life into this Washington offense and given the team some much-needed leadership and balance.
Penix is finally healthy again after some injury-riddled seasons in Indiana and looks great. He’s already thrown for 1,079 yards and 10 touchdowns compared to one pick while completing 70% of his passes this season.
Now, it looks like Washington has a fairly easy schedule going forward and the seemingly wide-open nature of the Pac-12 this season gives the Huskies some value to win the conference at +700.
