CARConference-Adjusted
Rankings

2026 college football rankings
Every FBS team. One independent matrix.

A conference-first ranking and forecasting system for all 138 FBS programs. Conference quality is earned in nonconference games; team quality is earned against the opponents actually played.

2026 Week 3 EditionFourth results-based rankingUpdated September 20, 2026

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Week 3 matrix

2026 FBS rankings

138teams ranked

How to read this release: All 75 games played September 17–19 are final. This edition combines 35% of the original preseason rating with 65% cumulative 2026 evidence. Week 3 games use frozen Week 2 opponent values. Earlier game values are unchanged. The transition table has been clarified to count the August 29 results as Week 0; earlier published rankings are unchanged.

Rank all teams by CAR measure →

Why each team is ranked here

Twelve CAR measures explain the ranking beyond wins and losses.

Choose a team

CAR Game Value

LoadingOpponent, location, margin, and expectation value

Expectation Delta

LoadingActual margin minus expected margin

Schedule Strength Played

LoadingDifficulty of completed FBS games

Schedule Strength Remaining

LoadingDifficulty of games still to be played

Best Win / Worst Result

LoadingMost valuable win, or costliest result without a win

Opponent-Adjusted Offense

LoadingScoring compared with opponents' usual defense

Opponent-Adjusted Defense

LoadingPoints prevented versus opponents' usual offense

Road and Neutral Strength

LoadingAverage value in games away from home

Consistency Index

LoadingStability from one adjusted result to the next

Conference Contribution

LoadingEffect on the team's conference score

Quality Record

LoadingRecord by frozen opponent tier

CAR Trajectory

LoadingChange across up to three releases

Played metrics use completed FBS games. Remaining schedule includes future regular-season opponents; FCS opponents count as zero. Early measures appear only when enough games exist. Select a team here or click its name in the rankings.

Rank	Team	Conference	Record	Previous	CAR points	Confidence
1	Texas	SEC	3–0	1	86.161	Early
2	Indiana	Big Ten	3–0	2	85.027	Early
3	Notre Dame	FBS Independents	3–0	3	84.830	Early
4	Georgia	SEC	3–0	5	84.725	Early
5	Miami	ACC	3–0	12	83.434	Early
6	Ole Miss	SEC	3–0	10	82.637	Early
7	Alabama	SEC	3–0	7	81.855	Early
8	Texas Tech	Big 12	3–0	13	81.757	Early
9	Michigan	Big Ten	3–0	8	81.159	Early
10	Tennessee	SEC	3–0	16	81.012	Early
11	Florida	SEC	3–0	21	80.991	Early
12	BYU	Big 12	3–0	17	80.788	Early
13	USC	Big Ten	4–0	9	80.440	Early
14	Missouri	SEC	3–0	18	80.389	Early
15	Penn State	Big Ten	3–0	11	79.918	Early
16	Iowa	Big Ten	3–0	14	78.146	Early
17	Washington	Big Ten	3–0	15	77.742	Early
18	Utah	Big 12	3–0	23	76.980	Early
19	LSU	SEC	2–1	4	76.516	Early
20	Northwestern	Big Ten	2–0	66	76.357	Early
21	North Dakota State	Mountain West	4–0	19	75.897	Early
22	Vanderbilt	SEC	3–0	27	75.348	Early
23	Ohio State	Big Ten	2–1	20	75.322	Early
24	James Madison	Sun Belt	3–0	26	74.717	Early
25	Oklahoma	SEC	2–1	36	74.324	Early
26	South Florida	American Athletic	3–0	25	73.889	Early
27	Duke	ACC	3–0	28	73.495	Early
28	Pittsburgh	ACC	3–0	31	71.641	Early
29	Nebraska	Big Ten	3–0	35	71.641	Early
30	Kansas State	Big 12	3–0	34	71.392	Early
31	Clemson	ACC	2–1	43	70.276	Early
32	Mississippi State	SEC	3–0	45	69.384	Early
33	West Virginia	Big 12	3–0	53	69.122	Early
34	Virginia Tech	ACC	3–0	49	67.157	Early
35	UCLA	Big Ten	3–0	46	66.331	Early
36	Boise State	Pac-12	2–1	42	66.123	Early
37	Texas A&M	SEC	2–1	6	66.009	Early
38	Fresno State	Pac-12	2–1	57	64.892	Early
39	Cincinnati	Big 12	3–0	50	64.617	Early
40	App State	Sun Belt	3–0	48	64.337	Early
41	Louisville	ACC	2–1	70	63.181	Early
42	Auburn	SEC	2–1	39	62.869	Early
43	Massachusetts	Mid-American	3–0	63	60.259	Early
44	Kentucky	SEC	2–1	87	60.172	Early
45	Michigan State	Big Ten	2–1	47	60.171	Early
46	Florida Atlantic	American Athletic	2–1	64	60.071	Early
47	Wake Forest	ACC	2–1	32	59.802	Early
48	Tulsa	American Athletic	3–0	58	57.836	Early
49	UCF	Big 12	2–1	97	56.872	Early
50	Memphis	American Athletic	3–1	54	55.270	Early
51	Marshall	Sun Belt	2–1	67	54.773	Early
52	UTSA	American Athletic	2–1	40	54.123	Early
53	Houston	Big 12	2–1	41	53.674	Early
54	Oregon	Big Ten	2–1	37	53.617	Early
55	South Carolina	SEC	2–1	22	53.424	Early
56	Western Michigan	Mid-American	2–1	71	52.753	Early
57	Arizona	Big 12	2–1	69	52.527	Early
58	Arizona State	Big 12	2–1	76	52.208	Early
59	Iowa State	Big 12	2–1	75	52.180	Early
60	New Mexico	Mountain West	2–1	30	51.592	Early
61	North Carolina	ACC	2–1	44	51.516	Early
62	Texas State	Pac-12	1–2	93	51.145	Early
63	Maryland	Big Ten	2–1	38	50.854	Early
64	Baylor	Big 12	2–1	119	50.037	Early
65	Louisiana	Sun Belt	2–1	90	49.411	Early
66	Liberty	Conference USA	2–1	100	49.325	Early
67	Wisconsin	Big Ten	2–1	109	48.868	Early
68	Illinois	Big Ten	2–1	60	48.427	Early
69	Virginia	ACC	2–1	24	47.494	Early
70	Colorado State	Pac-12	2–1	55	46.961	Early
71	South Alabama	Sun Belt	2–1	121	46.367	Early
72	Troy	Sun Belt	2–1	51	46.187	Early
73	TCU	Big 12	2–1	99	46.095	Early
74	SMU	ACC	2–1	29	45.868	Early
75	Oklahoma State	Big 12	2–1	79	45.554	Early
76	UConn	FBS Independents	2–1	107	45.386	Early
77	North Texas	American Athletic	1–2	33	44.672	Early
78	Delaware	Conference USA	2–1	101	44.423	Early
79	Stanford	ACC	1–2	62	44.357	Early
80	Minnesota	Big Ten	2–1	120	44.248	Early
81	Florida State	ACC	1–2	65	42.132	Early
82	Middle Tennessee	Conference USA	2–1	132	41.843	Early
83	Toledo	Mid-American	2–1	105	41.255	Early
84	Central Michigan	Mid-American	2–1	108	40.446	Early
85	East Carolina	American Athletic	1–2	81	39.415	Early
86	Boston College	ACC	2–1	85	38.901	Early
87	Tulane	American Athletic	1–2	59	38.756	Early
88	Florida International	Conference USA	1–2	61	37.377	Early
89	Jacksonville State	Conference USA	2–2	103	35.758	Early
90	UNLV	Mountain West	1–2	74	35.462	Early
91	San José State	Mountain West	2–2	68	35.407	Early
92	Colorado	Big 12	2–1	52	35.110	Early
93	Georgia State	Sun Belt	2–1	56	34.439	Early
94	Army	American Athletic	1–1	78	34.302	Early
95	California	ACC	2–1	83	33.619	Early
96	Hawai'i	Mountain West	1–2	77	32.466	Early
97	Ohio	Mid-American	1–2	72	31.669	Early
98	Air Force	Mountain West	1–1	95	31.407	Early
99	NC State	ACC	1–2	80	30.641	Early
100	San Diego State	Pac-12	1–2	89	29.320	Early
101	Old Dominion	Sun Belt	1–2	88	27.588	Early
102	Washington State	Pac-12	1–2	94	27.328	Early
103	Georgia Tech	ACC	1–2	92	27.301	Early
104	Western Kentucky	Conference USA	0–3	106	26.552	Early
105	Louisiana Tech	Conference USA	1–2	73	26.006	Early
106	Navy	American Athletic	1–1	86	25.869	Early
107	Kennesaw State	Conference USA	1–2	114	25.450	Early
108	UAB	American Athletic	1–2	84	25.107	Early
109	Arkansas	SEC	1–2	118	24.949	Early
110	Miami (OH)	Mid-American	1–2	112	24.409	Early
111	Kansas	Big 12	1–2	102	23.889	Early
112	Missouri State	Conference USA	1–2	91	23.860	Early
113	Eastern Michigan	Mid-American	1–3	116	23.857	Early
114	Kent State	Mid-American	1–2	110	23.647	Early
115	Nevada	Mountain West	1–2	82	23.602	Early
116	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	1–2	104	23.363	Early
117	Sacramento State	Mid-American	1–3	122	22.574	Early
118	Temple	American Athletic	1–2	96	22.437	Early
119	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	1–2	98	22.383	Early
120	UTEP	Mountain West	1–2	123	21.912	Early
121	Purdue	Big Ten	1–2	124	21.714	Early
122	Utah State	Pac-12	0–3	126	21.532	Early
123	Oregon State	Pac-12	1–2	130	21.208	Early
124	Rice	American Athletic	1–2	113	20.956	Early
125	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	1–2	125	20.713	Early
126	Rutgers	Big Ten	0–3	128	20.563	Early
127	Buffalo	Mid-American	1–2	127	20.502	Early
128	Southern Miss	Sun Belt	1–2	111	20.487	Early
129	New Mexico State	Conference USA	1–2	129	19.384	Early
130	Akron	Mid-American	1–2	117	18.934	Early
131	Bowling Green	Mid-American	0–3	131	18.789	Early
132	Northern Illinois	Mountain West	0–3	133	17.878	Early
133	Ball State	Mid-American	1–2	115	17.582	Early
134	Wyoming	Mountain West	1–2	134	16.681	Early
135	Syracuse	ACC	1–2	135	16.357	Early
136	Sam Houston	Conference USA	1–2	137	15.717	Early
137	UL Monroe	Sun Belt	0–3	136	14.708	Early
138	Charlotte	American Athletic	0–3	138	11.791	Early

Download Week 3 rankings (CSV)Executive methodology (PDF)

Conference-first matrix

Week 3 conference standings

Download conference standings (CSV)

Conference scores are earned only in games against other FBS conferences and are adjusted for opponent strength and location. Week 3 evidence is strongly shrunk toward the neutral 50.000 baseline; conferences without an interconference result remain tied.

Rank	Conference	Nonconference	Games	CAR conference score	Confidence
1	SEC	26–2	28	73.716	Early
2	Big Ten	29–10	39	63.475	Early
3	Big 12	18–8	26	60.162	Early
4	FBS Independents	4–1	5	58.101	Early
5	ACC	13–9	22	57.140	Early
6	Pac-12	5–13	18	45.898	Early
7	American Athletic	11–17	28	44.359	Early
8	Mountain West	6–13	19	39.223	Early
9	Sun Belt	10–17	27	38.457	Early
10	Conference USA	5–20	25	35.155	Early
11	Mid-American	5–22	27	29.716	Early

Weekly recap · Games of September 17–19

Week 3: Texas holds the lead

Texas remains No. 1, followed by Indiana, Notre Dame and Georgia. Miami rises to No. 5, Ole Miss to No. 6, and Texas Tech to No. 8. LSU falls to No. 19. The SEC leads at 26–2 against other FBS conferences; the Big 12 moves to third.

Open printable weekly recap (PDF)

Miami to No. 5

Up seven places. Miami moves from No. 12 to No. 5.

Ole Miss to No. 6

32–24 over LSU. Ole Miss rises four places to No. 6.

Texas Tech to No. 8

28–26 over Houston. Texas Tech climbs five places to No. 8.

+10

Florida to No. 11

Up ten places. Florida moves from No. 21 to No. 11.

+46

Northwestern to No. 20

Up 46 places. Northwestern moves from No. 66 to No. 20.

-15

LSU to No. 19

24–32 at Ole Miss. LSU falls 15 places to No. 19.

How this edition is calculated: This edition combines 35% of the original preseason rating with 65% cumulative 2026 evidence. Week 3 games use frozen Week 2 opponent values. Earlier game values are unchanged. The transition table has been clarified to count the August 29 results as Week 0; earlier published rankings are unchanged.

All 75 games are final: 57 FBS-versus-FBS and 18 FBS-versus-FCS. FBS wins over FCS teams earn no positive résumé or conference value. Confidence remains Early. The printable recap includes all 75 scores.

Transparent by design

How CAR works

35%

Matrix résumé

Rewards wins over strong opponents using the opponent's frozen pregame matrix value.

30%

Predictive strength

Measures current on-field quality using opponent-adjusted efficiency and personnel information.

25%

Record quality

Values wins and losses in context instead of relying on raw winning percentage.

10%

Conference strength

Uses opponent- and location-adjusted performance against other conferences.

FCS rule

An FBS win over an FCS opponent earns no positive résumé or conference points. An FBS loss receives a substantial deduction.

Two distinct outputs

The selection ranking asks who has earned a playoff place. The predictive rating asks who is most likely to win next.

Independent inputs

AP, ESPN, CFP committee rankings, and gambling odds are not inputs. They may be used only as external benchmarks.

Preseason transition, clarified September 20: Preseason 100%; after Week 0 80%; Week 1 65%; Week 2 50%; Week 3 35%; Week 4 20%; Week 5 10%; Week 6 onward 0%. The remaining weight uses cumulative current-season evidence. The original preseason baseline is retained in the archive; frozen historical game expectations do not change.

What comes next

Next ranking: after the full Week 4 slate

Week 3 is the comparison point for the next edition. The next transition step is 20% preseason and 80% current-season evidence.

View all teams

About the rankings

CAR college football ranking questions

What are the CAR rankings?

CAR is an independent ranking of every FBS football team. It begins with how conferences perform outside their leagues, then evaluates each team's results against the strength of the opponents it actually played.

How often are the rankings updated?

During the season, a new edition is planned each week after the completed games are processed. The page keeps the prior rank so readers can see movement over time.

Does CAR use AP, ESPN, CFP, or betting rankings?

No. Those rankings and betting odds are not model inputs. CAR can compare its results with outside systems, but its published rank is independently calculated.

Why rank all 138 FBS teams?

Ranking the full division gives every opponent a matrix value. That lets a win over a strong team count more than a win over a weak team and helps quantify schedule quality consistently.