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 25 student journalists from schools nationwide.
The Post Sports will break down its ballot each week. Here is a breakdown of the top five, those dropped from the Top 25, and those added.
Top 5
1. Ohio State (3-0)
Ohio State played a hard-fought game in week three, leading Ohio by only 4 points just minutes into the second half, but kicked it into gear with two passing touchdowns of more than 40 yards by quarterback Julian Sayin. He found both wide receivers in Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith on these passes, plus Smith ran one in to close out a 37-9 win in Columbus.
2. Miami (FL) (3-0)
The Hurricanes made the biggest jump within the top five this week, jumping up three spots. They hosted South Florida in week three and did not mess around, obliterating the Bulls 49-12 Saturday. They were led by quarterback Carson Beck, who threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns. They also ran for over 200 yards as a team and nearly had 600 yards of total offense.
3. Penn State (3-0)
Penn State started slow against FCS opponent Villanova. The defense was the story of the day, as it turned over the Wildcats two times on Saturday, including a pick-six, plus got to the quarterback for three sacks. The offense was led by running back duo Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, who ran for 170 yards and three touchdowns combined in the 52-6 win.
4. Georgia (3-0)
The best game of the week went down in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Bulldogs fought back from a 14-point hole in the first half to force overtime. In overtime, they held the Volunteers to a field goal, and then running back Josh McCrary found the endzone for the second time to win the game 44-41 in this thriller.
5. Oregon
Dan Lanning’s team had its first taste of Big 10 play in 2025 and did not miss a beat. The well-balanced attack and Oregon’s fast-paced offense left them looking a couple of steps above conference foe Northwestern. The defense did its job too, turning the Wildcats over twice and limiting them to a 27% success rate on third down, which helped result in the 34-14 win.
Who I Added: 20 Indiana, 22 Missouri, 24 USC and 25 Vanderbilt
These four undefeated programs all had strong victories in week 3. Indiana has played two Group of Five opponents and an FCS program in Indiana State. Curt Cignetti’s bunch have won by a combined 120 points over the past two weeks, and they seem poised to upset Illinois on Saturday night.
Missouri had a tough win in a revitalized rivalry against Kansas in week two. The Tigers followed it up with a 42-point win over Louisiana and had over 600 total yards of offense. This was led by a steady running game of 427 yards and running back Ahmad Hardy, who had 250 yards and three touchdowns on Saturday.
USC and Vanderbilt both went on the road in week three. USC went on the road to Purdue and overcame a weather delay to win 33-17. The Trojans took advantage of a late pick-six to close the door on the Boilermakers.
Vanderbilt took advantage of South Carolina losing its quarterback, Lanorris Sellers, and blew out South Carolina in Columbia behind the arm of quarterback Diego Pavia in the 31-7 win.
The Rest of the Top 25
6. LSU (3-0)
7. Oklahoma (3-0)
8. Texas (2-1)
9. Illinois (3-0)
10. Alabama (2-1)
11. Georgia Tech (3-0)
12. Iowa State (4-0)
13. Ole Miss (3-0)
14. Florida State (2-0)
15. Texas A&M (3-0)
16. Texas Tech (3-0)
17. Michigan (2-1)
18. Tennessee (2-1)
19. Auburn (3-0)
20. Indiana (3-0)
21. Utah (3-0)
22. Missouri (3-0)
23. Notre Dame (0-2)
24. USC (3-0)
25. Vanderbilt (3-0)
Who I Dropped: South Carolina, Clemson, Florida and South Florida
South Carolina, as mentioned, fell due to its loss of Heisman hopeful and star quarterback Lanorris Sellers. Once Sellers was out, they were just outmatched against Vanderbilt.
Clemson and Florida both suffered their second loss of the season. The Tigers lost at Georgia Tech in a tough game that ended on a last-second field goal, but the bigger story was quarterback Cade Klubnik disappearing in their second big game of the season. The Gators lost due to poor quarterback play by DJ Lagway, who threw a whopping five interceptions against the LSU defense.
The lights may have been too bright for the Bulls after two upset wins against top-25 opponents. They were blown out by Miami and will look to regroup as they still aim to fight for the Group of Five place within the College Football Playoff this year.
