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2026 College Football Rankings Recap: Week 3
Mississippi State (3-0) takes over the top spot in The Davis Rankings, up from 8th after week 3 of the 2026 season, with a score of 95.6 out of 100. Also ranked in the top five (ties included): #2 Notre Dame, #3 Texas, T-4 Alabama, T-4 Duke, T-4 Miami, T-4 Penn State, T-4 UCLA.
Every score comes from the same published formula, explained on the methodology page.
Editor's note
This is winning: 
Mississippi State up to #1, but what about 
Kentucky, 
UCF and 
UConn making big jumps. Winning is so much better than whatever 
Georgia State, 
Wake Forest and 
Auburn did?
Until next week.
Just Win! Excuses and Polls are for Losers.
The top 25
The Real Big 10 - trying to keep the losers out... Rutgers (#133), 2nd week running
| Rank | Team | Record | TDR scoreTDR | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mississippi State | 3-0 | 95.6 | ▲ 7 |
| 2 |  Notre Dame | 3-0 | 94.7 | ▲ 4 |
| 3 |  Texas | 3-0 | 94.3 | ▲ 17 |
| T-4 |  Alabama | 3-0 | 94.2 | ▲ 4 |
| T-4 |  Duke | 3-0 | 94.2 | ▼ 3 |
| T-4 |  Miami | 3-0 | 94.2 | ▲ 6 |
| T-4 |  Penn State | 3-0 | 94.2 | ▼ 3 |
| T-4 |  UCLA | 3-0 | 94.2 | ▼ 3 |
| 9 |  Michigan | 3-0 | 93.7 | ▲ 6 |
| T-10 |  BYU | 3-0 | 93.5 | ▲ 16 |
| T-10 |  USC | 4-0 | 93.5 | ▲ 9 |
| 12 |  Pittsburgh | 3-0 | 93.4 | ▲ 3 |
| 13 |  Ole Miss | 3-0 | 93.3 | ▲ 11 |
| T-14 |  Missouri | 3-0 | 93.0 | ▼ 4 |
| T-14 |  Virginia Tech | 3-0 | 93.0 | ▲ 12 |
| 16 |  Florida | 3-0 | 92.7 | ▲ 19 |
| 17 |  Northwestern | 2-0 | 92.3 | ▲ 27 |
| T-18 |  North Dakota State | 4-0 | 91.8 | ▲ 7 |
| T-18 |  South Florida | 3-0 | 91.8 | ▼ 17 |
| 20 |  West Virginia | 3-0 | 91.5 | ▲ 15 |
| 21 |  Texas Tech | 3-0 | 91.4 | ▲ 23 |
| 22 |  James Madison | 3-0 | 91.2 | ▲ 13 |
| 23 |  Vanderbilt | 3-0 | 90.9 | ▲ 3 |
| 24 |  Tulsa | 3-0 | 90.5 | ▼ 2 |
| 25 |  Iowa | 3-0 | 90.3 | ▼ 5 |
Biggest movers
The teams that moved the most spots since last week.
Risers
| Team | Rank | Move |
|---|---|---|
| Kentucky 2-1 | 105 → T-43 | ▲ 62 |
| After a road win at T-15 Texas A&M (31-21). An upset: Kentucky entered with 34.5 TDR points to Texas A&M's 93.8. Now 2-1. TDR score +33.1: win/loss record +9.2, road-win bonus +6.2. | ||
| UConn 2-1 | 105 → 53 | ▲ 52 |
| After a road win at T-93 Southern Miss (48-20) in a blowout. A coin flip: UConn entered with 34.5 TDR points to Southern Miss's 37.0. Now 2-1. TDR score +31.2: win/loss record +9.2, road-win bonus +6.2. | ||
| UCF 2-1 | 93 → T-43 | ▲ 50 |
| After a home win over T-10 Georgia State (44-30). An upset: UCF entered with 37.0 TDR points to Georgia State's 94.2. Now 2-1. TDR score +30.6: win/loss record +9.2, road-win bonus +3.8. | ||
 Minnesota 2-1 | 105 → T-55 | ▲ 50 |
| After a home win over T-69 Akron (41-7) in a blowout. An upset: Minnesota entered with 34.5 TDR points to Akron's 50.5. Now 2-1. TDR score +30.5: win/loss record +9.2, road-win bonus +5.0. | ||
 Jacksonville State 2-2 | 123 → 73 | ▲ 50 |
| After a home win over T-114 Georgia Southern (31-27) in a one-score game. An upset: Jacksonville State entered with 24.8 TDR points to Georgia Southern's 32.5. Now 2-2. TDR score +28.4: win/loss record +9.2, road-win bonus +2.5. | ||
Fallers
| Team | Rank | Move |
|---|---|---|
| Wake Forest 2-1 | 1 → 69 | ▼ 68 |
| After a home loss to T-10 Miami (20-33). A coin flip: Wake Forest entered with 95.1 TDR points to Miami's 94.2. Now 2-1, first loss of the season. TDR score -38.7: win/loss record -18.3, road-win bonus -3.8. | ||
| Georgia State 2-1 | 10 → T-76 | ▼ 66 |
| After a road loss at T-93 UCF (30-44). An upset: Georgia State entered with 94.2 TDR points to UCF's 37.0. Now 2-1, first loss of the season. TDR score -42.2: win/loss record -18.3, road-win bonus -5.0. | ||
 SMU 2-1 | 10 → T-76 | ▼ 66 |
| After a road loss at T-80 Louisville (31-41). An upset: SMU entered with 94.2 TDR points to Louisville's 49.2. Now 2-1, first loss of the season. AP: #16 to #22. TDR score -42.2: win/loss record -18.3, road-win bonus -5.0. | ||
| Auburn 2-1 | 6 → 70 | ▼ 64 |
| After a home loss to T-35 Florida (39-44) in a one-score game. An upset: Auburn entered with 94.5 TDR points to Florida's 90.0. Now 2-1, first loss of the season. TDR score -38.2: win/loss record -18.3, road-win bonus -3.5. | ||
 Maryland 2-1 | 10 → 74 | ▼ 64 |
| After a home loss to T-26 Virginia Tech (26-35). A coin flip: Maryland entered with 94.2 TDR points to Virginia Tech's 91.7. Now 2-1, first loss of the season. TDR score -41.7: win/loss record -18.3, road-win bonus -6.3. | ||
Weekly awards
Sticker Season, when the trophy-case awards start, begins in week 4. The game honors in Games that mattered run every week. Season totals for every team are on the Awards page.
Games that mattered
The week’s standout games, each shown once, in the first list it qualifies for. The one exception: a close loss by a top-25 team can be in both Upset of the Week and Winnin’ ain’t easy (one is about the size of the gap, the other about how close it was). Upset of the Week, Winnin’ ain’t easy and Coin Flips are recognitions: they are not trophy-case awards, so they never go on a helmet.
The lowest-entering team to beat a better-ranked one. Ranks are from the week before.
- Kentucky beat
Texas A&M31-21#105 vs #1590 spots - UCF beat Georgia State44-30#93 vs #1083 spots
Louisville beat SMU41-31#80 vs #1070 spots
Texas State beat 
North Texas49-35#128 vs #6365 spots
Oklahoma beat 
New Mexico14-6#87 vs #3552 spots
A top-25 team in a one-score game against a team ranked far below it: it survived, or it fell. Ranks are from the week before.
- Florida beat Auburn44-39#35 vs #6top-25 team fell by 5
- USC beat
Rutgers42-35#19 vs #134top-25 team survived by 7 - Mississippi State beat
South Carolina41-34#8 vs #35top-25 team survived by 7
Teams within 3 points of each other on paper going in, closest finish first. Scores are away, then home.
Houston at Texas Tech26-281.0 points apartwon by 2
Florida International at 
Florida Atlantic10-160.0 points apartwon by 6
Arizona State at 
Kansas24-172.5 points apartwon by 7
One-score games involving a top-60 team that are not already above.
The biggest margins by a team in the current top 50, the two top tiers.
Ohio State beat 
Kent State59-3#42 vs T-116won by 56- Penn State beat
Buffalo55-13T-4 vs T-116won by 42 
Indiana beat 
Western Kentucky38-0T-32 vs #132won by 38
Conference snapshot
Conferences by average team score, with how many of each conference's teams sit in each tier. This is a different measure from the non-conference record ranking (for this week) on the standings page.
| Conference | Avg score | Highest-ranked team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEC | 76.1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | #1Mississippi State |
| Big Ten | 72.0 | 6 | 4 | 6 | - | 1 | 1 | T-4Penn State |
| Big 12 | 70.7 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | - | T-10BYU |
| ACC | 59.3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | - | T-4Duke |
| American Athletic | 45.5 | 2 | 2 | - | 5 | 4 | 1 | T-18South Florida |
| Sun Belt | 44.8 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | #22James Madison |
| Pac-12 | 42.4 | - | 2 | - | 4 | 1 | 1 | #37 Fresno State |
| Conference USA | 40.8 | - | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | T-49 Delaware |
| Mid-American | 37.3 | - | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | #35 Massachusetts |
| Mountain West | 35.3 | 1 | - | - | 4 | 3 | 2 | T-18North Dakota State |
Winning | Feeling Good | Character Building | Do We Need to Talk? | Sick of It | Oh Crap
The most teams in the Winning tier: SEC (7). The most teams in the bottom two tiers (Sick of It and Oh Crap): Mid-American (8).
Not ranked as a conference: FBS Independents (not a conference: Notre Dame #2, UConn #53).
Looking ahead to week 4
The biggest games between current top-25 teams, best matchup first.
Show all 58 games between ranked teams
Every game next week between two ranked FBS teams, best matchup first. The matchup score is the two ranks added together plus how far apart they are (lower is better). A coin marks a toss-up by the numbers.
#26 
#30 
#26 
#28 
#45 
#47 
#45 
#40 
#49 
#55 
#32 
#29 
#57 
#57 
#61 
#62 
#63 
#65 
#67 
#32 
#71 
#68 
#65 
#75 
#63 
#82 
#84 
#78 
#57 
#89 
#90 
#93 
#100 
#98 
#103 
#105 
#106 
#30 
#106 
#106 
#90 
#106 
#111 
#111 
#110 
#54 
#115 
#116 
#88 
#116 
#94 
#104 
#116 
#116 
#123 
#94 
#126 
#126 
#128 
#129 
#130 
#94 
#131 
#49 
#134 
#79 
#134 
#136 
#137 See the full 2026 week 3 rankings, see every team by tier, the conference standings, or browse every weekly recap.
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