College Football Rankings 2014: Week 3 Standings and Top 25 Team Records

While Week 2 only featured a few big-time matchups, many of the results will play a big role going forward in the college football season.

As the top teams in the nation all look to earn a spot in this year's College Football Playoff, every game is important. A loss can change the entire perception of a conference, while even a narrow win might not be good enough to earn a top-four spot.

There will be questions about the polls throughout the season, but here is the latest look at each set of rankings, courtesy of USA Today, The Associated Press and Bleacher Report.

Rank	AP (Record)	Coaches	B/R Top 25
1	Florida State (2-0)	Florida State	Florida State
2	Oregon (2-0)	Alabama	Oregon
3	Alabama (2-0)	Oklahoma	Georgia
4	Oklahoma (2-0)	Oregon	Alabama
5	Auburn (2-0)	Auburn	Auburn
6	Georgia (1-0)	Georgia	Oklahoma
7	Texas A&M (2-0)	Baylor	USC
8	Baylor (2-0)	Texas A&M	Texas A&M
9	USC (2-0)	LSU	LSU
10	LSU (2-0)	USC	Baylor
11	Notre Dame (2-0)	Notre Dame	Notre Dame
12	UCLA (2-0)	UCLA	Michigan State
13	Michigan State (1-1)	Michigan State	UCLA
14	Ole Miss (2-0)	Arizona State	Ole Miss
15	Stanford (1-1)	Ole Miss	Stanford
16	Arizona State (2-0)	Stanford	Arizona State
17	Virginia Tech (2-0)	Wisconsin	Virginia Tech
18	Wisconsin (1-1)	Ohio State	Kansas State
19	Kansas State (2-0)	Virginia Tech	South Carolina
20	Missouri (2-0)	Kansas State	Ohio State
21	Louisville (2-0)	Nebraska	Clemson
22	Ohio State (1-1)	Missouri	Wisconsin
23	Clemson (1-1)	South Carolina	Florida
24	South Carolina (1-1)	Clemson	Missouri
25	BYU (2-0)	North Carolina	Nebraska/BYU (tie)

Florida State is the top name on each list, but there is certainly plenty of debate about what comes next.

It is hard to argue against Oregon being the most impressive in this young season. The Ducks had an easy win over South Dakota to open the year, but the latest victory over Michigan State is what really turned heads.

Oregon ended the game with 28 unanswered points to earn a 46-27 win over what was then the No. 7 team in the country. The squad made a normally elite Spartans defense into just another victim for the high-powered attack.

ESPN.com's Chris Low felt this should propel Oregon to the top of the polls:

While Florida State, Alabama, Oklahoma and Auburn all had big wins in Week 2, none of them were against even an average opponent, making the results much less impressive. There will be a chance for each squad to showcase what it can do down the line, but Oregon already has a marquee win under its belt.

On the other side of the coin, Michigan State's loss highlighted a miserable day for the Big Ten. Ohio State represented the only ranked team to lose to a squad outside of the Top 25, while Michigan lost a high-profile matchup against Notre Dame by a score of 31-0. 

Some analysts believe this could kill any chance for any school from the conference to get a bid to the playoffs, but commissioner Jim Delany thinks it is too early to make that determination. He told Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com:

"

Big games matter on big stages with big ratings and a lot of attention. In the three primetime games, we didn't win any. That's disappointing. I would say this: I said they would be disproportionately impactful but I didn't say they would be dispositive. We're not feeling very good but the facts are the facts. I would just say with 50 percent of the nonconference games and 100 percent of conference games remaining, it's premature to make any judgments.

"

With Wisconsin's Week 1 loss to LSU and Nebraska's narrow home win against McNeese State, nothing has been too impressive about the Big Ten so far this year.

The other notable game of the weekend was USC against Stanford, which featured a lot of great defense in a 13-10 win for the Trojans. Brett Edgerton of ESPN.com provided a big reason the Cardinal could not pull out the win:

None of the possessions were worse than the last one, which featured Stanford getting into field-goal range, only to fumble the ball—and the game—away with just seconds remaining on the clock.

This was a strong win for USC to prove it is a legitimate contender in both the Pac-12 and for the national title. Of course, tough games against Arizona State, UCLA and Notre Dame loom on the schedule.

The good news for fans is that the season is just getting started. There have been a few conference showdowns, but most of the most important matchups are still ahead.

We are free to debate which team is the best over the next few months, but in the end, it will all be decided on the field.

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