Each week, the Sports editorial team selects its Top 25 FBS college football teams for the Student Media Poll.
The SMP is a nationwide poll featuring 97 student journalists from schools all across the nation.
The Post Sports will break down its ballots each week. Here are the top five, those it kicked out of the Top 25 and those it added:
Robert Keegan III, Sports Editor
Top five:
Texas
Michigan
Penn State
Ohio State
Georgia
For the first time all season, this week in college football warranted major changes in the top five. Most importantly, my new No. 1 being Texas and the fall of Georgia to No. 5.
Texas has been by far the best team in the nation through three weeks of football. Though this may be a controversial opinion, no 3-0 team has better wins than Texas. A win over Alabama in week two followed up by a convincing win against a good Wyoming team is plenty enough to warrant Texas being No. 1 for me.
Undefeated Georgia falls from No. 1 to No. 5 after just barely surviving an upset against Spencer Rattler and unranked South Carolina. In its first formidable matchup of the season, Georgia looked vulnerable and I'm not confident that the reigning champions could beat the four other teams within the top five.
Florida State also falls out of the top five in favor of 3-0 Penn State, which had a convincing victory on the road at Illinois. Florida State struggled this week against unranked Boston College, a program that Florida State could have beaten handily. Florida State remains unbeaten but a two-point victory at Boston College is enough for the team to fall out of the top five.
Who I added
Florida, UCLA
UCLA has been nationally ranked all season but enters my top 25 this week after proving its dominance again against North Carolina Central.
Florida has had a rocky start to the season after losing in Week One to Utah. A win at Tennessee in Week Three has put the program back into the top-25 conversation. Florida Quarterback Graham Mertz is one of the longest-tenured quarterbacks in the nation, which gives Florida a slight advantage as they head into SEC play against some less experienced offenses.
Who I dropped
Iowa, TCU
Iowa has dropped in and out of the top 25 all season long and despite a win this week at Western Michigan, Iowa’s offense is simply not up to par with every other team in the top 25.
TCU was the runner-up in the national championship game last year but has lost just about everything that made the program good in 2022. The horned frogs sit at 2-1 after three weeks following a loss in Week 1 to Colorado. The team has looked to recoup a little bit in the past two weeks but is not up to par with the teams that have more impressive wins during the young season.
Bobby Gorbett, Sports Editor
Top five:
Michigan
Texas
Georgia
Ohio State
USC
Michigan, to me, is the best team in the country. Although Michigan Quarterback JJ McCarthy struggled against Bowling Green, the team brought back many players from its Big Ten championship team, especially on its offense.
Texas scored the biggest win of the season so far at Alabama and has a strong case to be the No. 1 team in the country. Texas’ win against Wyoming, one of the best Group of Five schools in the country, is also undervalued right now.
USC’s offense possibly remains the best unit in college football, and its defense appears to have improved.
Who I added
Missouri, UCLA
Missouri is off to a 3-0 start and showed its potential with its last-second win over Kansas State. I was surprised the Tigers were left out of the AP Poll after a big win and an undefeated start.
I finally bit the bullet on UCLA, who most recently picked up its third win of the season. The Bruins, led by five-star Quarterback Dante Moore, have won every game by at least two scores including a 25-point win over San Diego State.
Who I dropped
Tennessee
I wasn’t high on Tennessee coming into the season, as a team that lost playmakers like Cedric Tillman, Jalen Hyatt and Hendon Hooker. Tennessee’s loss and poor offensive performance against Florida was enough evidence for me to drop them out of my Top 25.
