The network ranking is ready a week early this year (all teams have played at least one other FBS team). Duke comes out on top, mostly because they’ve played three games all against FBS opponents. With an FCS team on their schedule this next week, expect them to lag behind others in next week’s ranking, as well as some progress to be made by teams that had cancellations this past week due to Hurricane Florence (notably, Virginia Tech and West Virginia). As a reminder, the ranking is an assessment of the full body of work so far in the season, and FCS wins do not count toward a team’s value. Likewise, neither do the occasional FCS loss (Kansas), but those exceptions tend to take care of themselves as the season progresses. With very few win-loss connections so far, there are lots of ties in the ranking for now.
But, hell of a job so far, Blue Devils.
Top 25 (Explanation; Full Ranking):
1. Duke
2. Alabama
2. Notre Dame
4. Buffalo
5. Indiana
6. Stanford
7. Penn State
8. Ohio State
9. Army
9. California
11. Oklahoma State
12. LSU
13. Minnesota
13. Oklahoma
15. Clemson
16. Georgia
17, Hawaii
17. Kentucky
19. Boston College
19. Colorado
19. Iowa
19. Kansas
19. Missouri
19. Mississippi State
19. South Florida
19. Washington State