Pictured: The Texas Longhorns. Tim Warner/Getty Images

Week 3 college football rankings: Brett McMurphy’s AP Top 25 poll ballot vs. our betting power ratings

Originally posted on Action Network | By Brett McMurphy | Last updated Sep 8, 2024 2:34 PM ET

Georgia remains at the top of my Associated Press Top 25 ballot, but there are some new faces this week.

Hello, Northern Illinois, Illinois and Nebraska. Welcome to my Top 25 ballot. Hopefully, you guys can stick around for a while.

Northern Illinois upset No. 5 Notre Dame in South Bend, Illinois toppled No. 19 Kansas and Nebraska dismantled Colorado in a battle between former Big 12 foes.

Here's my Week 3 AP ballot compared with Action Network senior writer Collin Wilson’s betting power ratings.

Note: The "AP" column is my AP Poll ballot ranking for each team. The "PR" column is where each team sits in Action Network's betting power ratings.

No matter what game you're looking for, Action Network goes deep on ALL the key matchups in College Football at their NCAAF betting hub, where you'll find the odds, picks and predictions you need to win!

Week 3 College Football Rankings: Brett McMurphy’s AP Top 25 Poll Ballot

Georgia Bulldogs

1 Associated Press, 1 Power Ratings

Texas Longhorns

2 AP, 3 PR

Ohio State Buckeyes

3 AP, 2 PR

Alabama Crimson Tide

4 AP, 5 PR

Miami Hurricanes

5 AP, 11 PR

Ole Miss Rebels

6 AP, 7 PR

Penn State Nittany Lions

7 AP, 4 PR

USC Trojans

8 AP, 9 PR

Oregon Ducks

9 AP, 6 PR

Utah Utes

10 AP, 17 PR

Collin agrees with eight of my top 10 teams.

The biggest differences: I have Miami at No. 7, four spots higher than Collin, and Utah at No. 10. Collin has the Utes at No. 17.

Kansas State Wildcats

11 AP, 21 PR

Oklahoma State Cowboys

12 AP, 22 PR

Tennessee Volunteers

13 AP, 16 PR

Missouri Tigers

14 AP, 8 PR

Iowa State Cyclones

15 AP, 14 PR

Oklahoma Sooners

16 AP, 12 PR

LSU Tigers

17 AP, 10 PR

Arizona Wildcats

18 AP, 28 PR

Clemson Tigers

19 AP, 13 PR

Michigan Wolverines

20 AP, 18 PR

Among my teams I ranked between Nos. 11 and 20, Collin and I only have five teams in that group — Tennessee, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Clemson and Michigan.

The biggest differences are Oklahoma State (I have the Cowboys No. 12, Collin at No. 22) and Arizona (I have the Wildcats No. 18, Collin at No. 28).

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

21 AP, 15 PR

Louisville Cardinals

22 AP, 20 PR

Northern Illinois Huskies

23 AP, 87 PR

Illinois Fighting Illini

24 AP, 39 PR

Nebraska Cornhuskers

25 AP, 45 PR

While I moved NIU into my Top 25, Collin was not impressed by the Huskies from a betting perspective. He has NIU power-rated all the way down at No. 87.

Also, Collin has four teams in the top 25 of his power ratings that were not on my ballot: No. 18 Texas A&M, No. 23 Auburn, No. 24 Iowa and No. 25 Kentucky.

About the Author

Brett is "America's College Football Insider" for The Action Network. Brett was nominated twice for a Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting, but wasn’t a nominee finalist. A long-time voter in the AP Top 25 poll and for the Heisman Trophy, Brett was named the 2019 Beat Writer of the Year by the Football Writers Association of America. Before joining The Action Network, Brett’s previous stops included ESPN, CBS Sports, the New York Times, Stadium, AOL Fanhouse and the Tampa Tribune.

Follow Brett McMurphy @Brett_McMurphy on Twitter/X.

Our Bark Bets sports betting newsletter has the news, picks and analysis smart bettors are using to win. Sign up today!

More must-reads: