the third week of the 2025 college football season

published september 14, 2025

introductory comments

it was a great week for big shootouts between the top teams. it's finally almost the end of fcs games. it's time to look at week three of college football.

the top 25

  1. mississippi state - 205 pts. (3-0, +84)
  2. south florida - 204 pts. (2-1, -8)
  3. vanderbilt - 192 pts. (3-0, +90)
  4. texas a&m - 183 pts. (3-0, +41)
  5. oklahoma - 175 pts. (3-0, +82)
  6. florida state - 175 pts. (2-0, +88)
  7. ole miss - 152 pts. (3-0, +69)
  8. miami - 150 pts. (3-0, +82)
  9. lsu - 150 pts. (3-0, +33)
  10. georgia - 147 pts. (3-0, +63)
  11. michigan state - 143 pts. (3-0, +36)
  12. ohio state - 142 pts. (3-0, +105)
  13. rutgers - 140 pts. (3-0, +81)
  14. georgia tech - 140 pts. (3-0, +57)
  15. auburn - 139 pts. (3-0, +69)
  16. arkansas - 139 pts. (2-1, +81)
  17. missouri - 135 pts. (3-0, +108)
  18. wisconsin - 134 pts. (2-1, +25)
  19. nebraska - 132 pts. (3-0, +123)
  20. usc - 131 pts. (3-0, +115)
  21. tennessee - 131 pts. (2-1, +71)
  22. nc state - 130 pts. (3-0, +19)
  23. oregon - 129 pts. (3-0, +132)
  24. purdue - 127 pts. (2-1, +32)
  25. old dominion - 125 pts. (2-1, +54)

the bottom 25

  1. liberty - -59 pts. (1-2, +1)
  2. army - -55 pts. (1-1, E)
  3. akron - -22 pts. (0-3, -81)
  4. umass - -14 pts. (0-3, -73)
  5. connecticut - -9 pts. (1-2, +36)
  6. virginia tech - -6 pts. (0-3, -56)
  7. florida atlantic - -3 pts. (1-2, E)
  8. western michigan - 2 pts. (0-3, -58)
  9. appalachian state - 2 pts. (2-1, +14)
  10. boise state - 3 pts. (1-1, +10)
  11. louisiana - 11 pts. (1-2, -20)
  12. eastern michigan - 12 pts. (1-2, -45)
  13. tulsa - 12 pts. (1-2, +2)
  14. northern illinois - 15 pts. (1-1, -9)
  15. san diego state - 15 pts. (1-1, +19)
  16. arizona state - 16 pts. (2-1, +34)
  17. kennesaw state - 17 pts. (1-2, -34)
  18. toledo - 19 pts. (2-1, +76)
  19. miami ohio - 20 pts. (0-2, -45)
  20. jacksonville state - 20 pts. (1-2, -4)
  21. western kentucky - 20 pts. (1-2, +8)
  22. ball state - 22 pts. (1-2, -65)
  23. james madison - 23 pts. (1-1, +21)
  24. kansas state - 25 pts. (1-3, -9)
  25. middle tennessee - 25 pts. (2-1, -11)

adjustments

the friday night lights were too bright: new mexico @ ucla

ucla has certainly had an off year, losing three straight to utah, unlv, and now new mexico, but in this case it was new mexico's performance that struck the committee more. after nearly holding their own against michigan and getting this big of a win over ucla, new mexico has been promoted to d tier. keep up the good work, lobos.

new mexico +32, ucla -32

the fall of the house of the hokies: old dominion @ virginia tech

virginia tech has also had a very disappointing start to the year. they have lost three straight to south carolina, vanderbilt, and now old dominion by a combined 56 points, with this last game allowing old dominion the automatic 5 for crossing the 39-point threshold. such a radical upset would have further muddied the top 25 before it got better, so the committee has chosen that virginia tech is demoted to c tier to reduce the blow. were it not for that, virginia tech would have been in last place. they have been duly spared and shamed.

old dominion +69, virginia tech -64

the lesser mighty mississip: alcorn state @ mississippi state

mississippi state, however, has impressed the committee by opening with three straight wins, two of which were against real football teams. this performance at their assigned tier was so impressive that they now top the table. in recognition of this, mississippi state has been promoted to b tier. man an early loss to northern illinois at this point would be real bad, huh.

mississippi state +6

further notes

another zero-pointer: utep @ texas

the talk about texas for the past year and change has been ambition. of course the sure-of-themselves longhorns want to be in the sec, but they keep leaving reasons around to ask if they are truly deserving of their spot. hanging only 27 points on utep is another of them, and utep is ranked so far below texas that this game resulted in no points given or taken for either team. give us a real show next time texas, we put you in s tier for a reason.

the irish fall just short: texas a&m @ notre dame

notre dame not only took a bye as soon as it was acceptable, their fully rested team couldn't manage a win against either miami or texas a&m. that's no grounds for demotion yet, especially given those losses were by a combined 4 points, but it worries me for their performance against purdue next week. one more slip up would keep them well below their runners-up position last year. tread lightly.

the new worst team of the season: liberty @ bowling green

sure, liberty had it a bit rough to start with their league-worst strength of schedule bonus, but that only makes this loss even worse. this is the easiest season any team in the fbs has chosen to play, and liberty have now lost two in a row to jacksonville state and bowling green. the resulting points docks are well deserved, and therefore so is their new place at the bottom of the table, diving four points even below army. this season has started with great disappointment.

scorigami recognition

last week for lots of fcs freebies, and a lot of high-scoring regular games this week have crowded the list again. despite my express disappointment at several performances this week, some of which i have not directly written about, i am proud of the quality of product being put on tv this week, at least in terms of the game itself. congratulations for creating these great scores go to:

the belt

south florida finishes their first ever belt reign on one win. miami has taken the belt and 5 points, and is six wins away from being the ninth team to reach 50 all-time belt wins. this quest continues next week, when florida will have another shot at it this year thanks to lucky scheduling. as always, may the better team win.

finishing up

we have really gotten into the meat of the season now. hopefully more big action to come next week with a similar schedule to this week. article out on sunday. stay safe.