The 2023 college football regular season is now upon us after the Georgia Bulldogs won the national championship last season. Players and coaches are taking the first steps on the road to the College Football Playoff and we’re keeping that in mind with our initial college football ranking.
Let’s dive right into our top 25 college football rankings after Week 13.
Top 25 college football rankings 2023
25. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Previously: 24th in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Bowl Game
The biggest takeaway from the 2023 season for Notre Dame Fighting Irish is the same as last season. Consecutive 9-4 seasons highlight that the position holding the Fighting Irish back the most is the quarterback position. While Sam Hartman played very well at times this year, turnovers and inaccuracy also cost Notre Dame repeatedly. Until Marcus Freeman finds that guy who can carry this offense, creating a well-rounded team, the Irish are capped at 9-10 wins.
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24. James Madison Dukes
- Previously: Unranked
- Next Opponent: Bowl Game
James Madison rebounded from its heartbreaking first loss of the season to demolish Coastal Carolina on the road. The resume just isn’t the same after dropping one at home to Appalachian State, but the number of Power 5 teams with four losses and ugly resumes warrants James Madison finishing the regular season in the top 25 after an 11-1 campaign.
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23. Tennessee Volunteers
- Previously: 22nd in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Bowl Game
An 8-4 record should’ve been the expectation for the Tennessee Volunteers all season. Joe Milton was never going to come close to replicating Hendon Hooker’s success and Tennessee likely knew it heading into the year. Now we’re looking ahead to 2024 and there’s a ton of excitement for Nico Iamaleava.
22. SMU Mustangs
- Previously: 25th in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: SMU vs Tulane (AAC Championship Game)
The SMU Mustangs haven’t lost a game since the calendar turned to October and they utterly dominated Navy in Week 13. Sophomore quarterback Preston Stone has been phenomenal down the stretch and the wave of momentum SMU. is riding right now could lead to an upset over Tulane.
21. Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Previously: 20th in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Oklahoma State vs Texas (Big 12 Championship)
Illie Gordon III deserves a statue on the campus of Oklahoma State University. The Cowboys came out of halftime trailing 24-6 and things looked bleak. Then, Gordon simply ran for three second-half touchdowns and tacked on two more scores to win it in overtime. Considering the chaos in Week 13, a jaw-dropping performance like this makes sense. We’re still knocking Oklahoma State for two near-losses, but all that really matters is 9-3.
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20. Toledo Rockets
- Previously: 22nd in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Miami Ohio vs Toledo (MAC Championship)
That’s an 11-game winning streak for the Toledo Rockets, one of the longest in college football this season. We understand the Rockets’ strength of schedule and FPI have kept them out of top 25 college football rankings entering Week 13. If that doesn’t change with a victory over Miami (OH) in the MAC Championship, that’s on the committee.
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19. Oregon State Beavers
- Previously: 16th in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Bowl Game
There’s nothing positive to say right now about the Oregon State Beavers. They’re losing an outstanding football coach, some impact players will likely depart via the transfer portal and the Pac-12 is dead. A season that looked so promising ends in a way that the fans, players and coaches didn’t deserve. Sadly, the Beavers’ future looks grim.
18. Liberty Flames
- Previously: 21st in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: New Mexico State vs Liberty (Conference USA Championship)
The Liberty Flames finally cracked the CFP rankings, which we honestly didn’t expect to happen before the Conference USA Championship fight. In Week 13, the Flames strengthened their case with a dominant victory over UTEP, adding to a long list of blowout wins this season. If that streak can be maintained against New Mexico State, Liberty might finally receive more national attention for their undefeated season.
17. Louisville Cardinals
- Previously: 10th in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Louisville vs Florida State (ACC Championship)
A devastating loss for the Louisville Cardinals. Needing every domino to fall their way just to have a slim shot at making the playoffs, Louisville instead might’ve cost itself a spot in a New Year’s Six bowl game. Fortunately for the Cardinals, there’s a shot at redemption next weekend with Florida State missing Jordan Travis.
Related: CFB standings
16. Tulane Green Wave
- Previously: 18th in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: SMU vs Tulane (AAC Championship Game)
Michael Pratt didn’t have one of his best performances of the season, but running back Makhi Hughes (166 yards, 1 TD) and the Tulane Green Wave defense (5 takeaways) did everything required to take down UTSA. Tulane needed a nice win on its resume and if the Green Wave can take out SMU, there’s a top-12 spot available.
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15. Oklahoma Sooners
- Previously: 16th in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Bowl Game
In the first half of the season, the Oklahoma Sooners were one of the best teams in college football. After beating Texas, however, the Sooners played like a fringe top-25 team. The end result is 10 wins and a lot of questions about the Sooners’ defense and those two losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State.
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14. Iowa Hawkeyes
- Previously: 13th in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Iowa vs Michigan (Big Ten Championship)
The Iowa Hawkeyes actually did it. In a game with the lowest projected point total, Iowa hit the “under” again. The Hawkeyes’ defense is incredible, the offense is torture to watch. Set to face the best defense in college football in the Big Ten Championship Game, we’d be stunned if Iowa’s offense scored more than six points.
13. LSU Tigers
- Previously: 14th in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Bowl Game
LSU Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels finished the regular season with 50 touchdowns and 4,946 yards of offense. That is a year for the ages. Of course, he might not win the Heisman Trophy and LSU certainly isn’t headed to the playoff because the Tigers’ defense was one of the worst we’ve ever seen from this program. The unfortunate thing for Brian Kelly is that defensive improvement in 2024 will come a year too late and a season like this is unlikely to be replicated by the next quarterback.
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12. Arizona Wildcats
- Previously: 13th in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Bowl Game
The Arizona Wildcats capped off their regular season with another victory. Since that 31-24 loss at home to Washington, Arizona is 6-1 with victories over Oregon State, UCLA and Utah. The Wildcats also took USC to triple overtime. You can argue LSU vs Arizona for days, but we’re giving the slight edge to the Wildcats for the number of victories over top-25 teams.
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11. Penn State Nittany Lions
- Previously: 12th in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Bowl Game
This season felt like any other for the Penn State Nittany Lions under James Franklin. Penn State beat a ranked opponent (31-0 over Iowa), but was clearly outmatched against the best teams in college football. As long as Franklin is at the helm, the Nittany Lions should be a perennial top-12 team but that seems to be the ceiling.
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10. Ole Miss Rebels
- Previously: No. 11 in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Bowl Game
The Egg Bowl is rarely pretty and no matter how bad one program may be at any given time, it always seems to give its rival a fight. That was precisely the case in Week 13, as the Ole Miss Rebels had to claw their way to a victory. Still, a win is a win and the Rebels’ 10-2 record with wins over Tulane and LSU earned Ole Miss a top-10 spot.
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9. Missouri Tigers
- Previously: No. 9 in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Bowl Game
The Missouri Tigers have won 10 games in a season for the first time since 2014 and only the fourth time since 2009. Eli Drinkwitz has truly done an outstanding job in his fourth year, building the Tigers into one of the best SEC teams in 2023. Missouri has earned a premier bowl game and Tiger Nation deserves to celebrate this incredible year.
9. Florida State Seminoles
- Previously: No. 8 in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Louisville vs Florida State (ACC Championship Game)
There’s a reason we dropped the Florida State Seminoles after the Jordan Travis injury and Week 13 was the example. The Seminoles’ offense collapsed without their leader and this entire team just didn’t show the energy and fight it displayed when going 10-0 with Travis. Week 13 shows how challenging rivalry games can be, but the Seminoles didn’t belong anywhere near the playoff once Travis went down. The Seminoles are undefeated, but this team isn’t nearly the same as the one that was No. 3 in our rankings before Travis went down.
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7. Texas Longhorns
- Previously: No. 7 in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Big 12 Championship Game
The Texas Longhorns celebrated Senior Day in emphatic fashion with one of their best team-wide performances of the season. A head-to-head victory over Alabama puts the Longhorns higher in the CFP rankings. However, that came in Week 2 and we’ve seen far too many close victories from the Longhorns (TCU, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas State) to put them above the Crimson Tide.
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6. Ohio State Buckeyes
- Previously: No. 2 in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Bowl Game
The Ohio State Buckeyes are an excellent team, but styles make fights and their current system isn’t working against the Michigan Wolverines. Things might’ve been different on Saturday if Ohio State had an NFL-caliber quarterback on the roster, but the Buckeyes are also about to lose a swarm of talent to the 2024 NFL Draft. Ultimately, this seems to be Ohio State’s ceiling right now and it might even take a small dip in 2024.
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5. Alabama Crimson Tide
- Previously: No. 5 in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Alabama vs Georgia (SEC Championship Game)
Chaos. An Iron Bowl that many didn’t expect to be close produced one of the best finishes in the history of the Alabam-Auburn rivalry. On the one hand, the Crimson Tide needed a last-second touchdown to beat an Auburn team that lost to New Mexico State. On the other, Alabama found a way to win on a night it committed costly penalties (72 yards), went 6-for-16 on third downs, missed a field goal and made countless mistakes. We’re keeping the Crimson Tide at No. 5, but Georgia should be heavily favored in the SEC title game.
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4. Oregon Ducks
- Previously: No. 6 in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Oregon vs Washington (Pac-12 Championship Game)
It comes down to Oregon and Alabama in our eyes. After Week 13, the Ducks are ahead of the Crimson Tide in ESPN’s FPI (25.4 to 25.1) and they have the superior strength of schedule. A victory against the Washington Huskies should automatically earn Oregon the No. 3 seed in the CFP. A loss, of course, means the Ducks will just be viewed as a mother great, but not good enough top-10 team.
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3. Washington Huskies
- Previously: No. 3 in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Oregon vs Washington (Pac-12 Championship Game)
It all comes down to this. The Washington Huskies have already tied a program record with their 12th win of the season (1991, 2016). Michael Penix Jr. has as good of a case as any to win the Heisman. Whether or not he does and Washington’s playoff hopes all rest on the Pac-12 Championship Game. Quite frankly, it’s the perfect way for the conference to go out. Of course, Washington’s recent performances suggest Oregon will take the Pac-12 crown.
2. Michigan Wolverines
- Previously: No. 4 in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Iowa vs Michigan (Big Ten Championship)
Leave no doubt, the Michigan Wolverines demonstrated once again why they are the best team in the Big Ten and a more well-built football team than Ohio State. Jim Harbaugh gets to return for what projects to be a defensive grudge match between Iowa and Michigan, but the Wolverines should come out on top. There’s no doubt Michigan is the second-best team in college football.
1. Georgia Bulldogs
- Previously: No. 1 in college football rankings
- Next Opponent: Alabama vs Georgia (SEC Championship Game)
The Georgia Bulldogs are the best team in college football. While they might not have the best defense in the nation, Carson Beck has emerged as a second-tier Heisman Trophy candidate, surrounded by a phenomenal supporting cast that has allowed Georgia to roll over some of the best teams in the SEC. Put Georgia head-to-head against Michigan, Washington or Ohio State, we’ll take the Bulldogs by 10-plus points.
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What are the college football rankings for 2023?
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Michigan Wolverines
- Washington Huskies
- Oregon Ducks
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Texas Longhorns
- Florida State Seminoles
- Missouri Tigers
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Arizona Wildcats
- LSU Tigers
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Tulane Green Wave
- Louisville Cardinals
- Liberty Flames
- Oregon State Beavers
- Toledo Rockets
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- SMU Mustangs
- Tennessee Volunteers
- James Madison Dukes
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish