| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | Alabama | Alabama's defense had no problem with a Wilson-less Arkansas offense, dropping the Razorbacks out of the top 25. | 3 |
| 2 |  | LSU | The Tigers have not been as tested as Alabama, but the defense is great and a trip to Auburn is next. | 2 |
| 3 |  | Oklahoma | Oklahoma had last week off to prepare for what could be a very interesting game against Kansas State. | 4 |
| 4 |  | Oregon | Oregon keeps scoring major points, but the competition will get a little tougher against a decent Arizona squad. | 5 |
| 5 |  | Georgia | After a slow start, Georgia easily pulled away from FAU. Eventually the schedule will get much, much tougher. | 6 |
| 6 |  | Florida State | The Seminoles had no problem with Wake Forest. A huge game against Clemson will decide the ACC favorite. | 8 |
| 7 |  | South Carolina | South Carolina beat up on UAB. The Gamecocks stellar defense will be thoroughly tested against Missouri. | 7 |
| 8 |  | Stanford | Who needs Luck when you got talent? The Cardinal outplayed USC and get a week off before heading to UW. | 14 |
| 9 |  | Clemson | Clemson cruised past Furman as expected, but the big game is this week as the Tigers travel to Tallahassee. | 11 |
| 10 |  | Ohio State | It wasn't very pretty at times, but OSU got the win over Cal. The Buckeyes wrap up non-conference play against UAB. | 12 |
| 11 |  | USC | USC is headed down after falling at The Farm. The offense, and Barkley, looked awful and there is work to do. | 1 |
| 12 |  | West Virginia | West Virginia showed off a decent defense to go along with their explosive offense against James Madison. | 16 |
| 13 |  | Michigan | Umass could not come close to competing with Michigan. The Wolverines get a tough road test at Notre Dame now. | 13 |
| 14 |  | Florida | Florida went to Neyland Stadium and domianted the Volunteers in the second half. The Gators are back. | 19 |
| 15 |  | Texas | The Texas offense was unstoppable against Ole Miss. After a bye, Okie State, WVU and OU are on the slate. | 15 |
| 16 |  | Notre Dame | Coach Brian Kelly is turning his team around in year three. Stopping Denard will be a fun one to watch. | 23 |
| 17 |  | Michigan State | When the Spartans ground game was stifled by Notre Dame, the offense was going absolutely nowhere. | 9 |
| 18 |  | Virginia Tech | Holy Pitt. The Hokies got dominated by what was a struggling Pitt squad. The Hokie defense disappeared. | 10 |
| 19 |  | Oklahoma State | Oklahoma State put up 65 points against Louisiana despite an injury to their starting quarterback. | 20 |
| 20 |  | Kansas State | If Kansas State has any hopes of winning the Big 12, they will have to go to Oklahoma and come out with a win. | 21 |
| 21 |  | Boise State | BSU's offense looked a little more potent against Miami (OH). BYU on Thursday night is a huge game. | 18 |
| 22 |  | UCLA | The Bruins are a surprising 3-0 and the schedule is pretty nice for a while. UCLA could shoot up the rankings. | NR |
| 23 |  | TCU | TCU got their first Big 12 win by handling Kansas on the road by a score of 20-6. This week they will host Virginia. | 24 |
| 24 |  | Louisville | The Big East actually got some decent wins this week and that finally gets the conference a top 25 representitive. | NR |
| 25 |  | Nebraska | The Nebraska defense looked much better last week against Arkansas State. They'll look good this week too. | 25 |
Week 3 Football Top 25 Rankings
Sat, 09/15/2012
