Andy Staples updates Top 10 Resume Rankings ahead of Week 4

With Week 4 of college football looming, it’s never too early to start ranking team resumes for the College Football Playoff. On3’s Andy Staples did exactly that on his Sunday podcast, listing his top 10 team resumes through three weeks of action.

With it still being early in the season, the ranking excluded some big time names such as Georgia, USC and Michigan to name a few. Staples tried his best to make the rankings based on who teams have beaten so far, and those schools simply haven’t played a strong enough schedule to this point.

Texas led off the list thanks to a marquee win against Alabama in Week 2. Florida State, Utah and Washington rounded out the top four with Duke on the outside looking in at No. 5. You can view Staples’ full ranking of the top 10 team resumes heading into Week 4 below.

1. Texas Longhorns

The Longhorns headline Staples’ list after walking into Tuscaloosa and handing the Crimson Tide a 34-24 loss in Week 2. That win looks a little less impressive, however, after Alabama struggled this past week against South Florida to win 17-3. Texas had a bit of a hangover early against Wyoming on Saturday and still has a lot to prove as it prepares to kick off Big 12 play this week against Baylor.

“If you watched the first three quarters of the Wyoming game, you’re like ‘What in the world is Texas still doing here?'” Staples said. “First of all, the Alabama win looks worse. Second of all, they were tied with Wyoming after three quarters. The only thing I can say is the explosion in the fourth quarter, which allowed them to win 31-10, was very impressive. The Alabama win is still impressive. We’ll see what the difference between Alabama Jalen Milroe is and Alabama Ty Simpson/Tyler Buchner is when they play Ole Miss. It may help us evaluate where Texas is at with that win.”

2. Florida State Seminoles

Staples admitted that Florida State could have been ranked No. 1 on this list if not for narrowly escaping Boston College by a score of 31-29 this past week. However, special circumstances for the Eagles perhaps played a role as it was their annual “red bandana” game that honored former BC student Welles Crowther. The Seminoles still have one of the best wins in the country against LSU and should stay at the top as long as they keep winning.

“I thought about potentially moving Florida State up to No. 1 because of what LSU did against Mississippi State,” Staples said. “It makes Florida State’s win against LSU look all that much more impressive. The problem was, Florida State went up to Chestnut Hill and struggled with Boston College. …The only thing I can say is I think this is a game last year’s Florida State team would’ve lost and they didn’t. I feel good about keeping them there.”

3. Utah Utes

Despite playing without starting quarterback Cam Rising, the Utes opened the season with a pair of Power 5 wins against Florida and Baylor. Utah wasn’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard offensively in those wins, but its defense looked impressive. The win against the Gators looks even better after Florida took out Tennessee, and the two-time defending Pac-12 champions should be even more dangerous when fully healthy.

“Utah’s Baylor game was not pretty,” Staples said. “They barely won. They needed a drive at the end of the game to win. But what they did to Florida looks much more impressive in light of what Florida did to Tennessee. So I’m gonna give Utah the benefit of the doubt. Again, Utah’s been playing with a lot of backups. As more people get healthy, they’re probably gonna get better. We’ll have a very good idea where Utah is at after they play UCLA this weekend.”

4. Washington Huskies

The Huskies have won their first three games by an average margin of 34.7 points against respectable opponents in Boise State, Tulsa and Michigan State. They so far lead the country with 493.3 passing yards per game behind the arm of Michael Penix Jr. and perhaps the best wide receiver trio in the country. Staples came away particularly impressed with their 41-7 win against the Spartans this past week.

“I don’t know that Michigan State is all that good, but what Washington did to Michigan State was so impressive,” he said. “Michigan State was 2-0 going into that game. Granted, it was against Central Michigan and Richmond, but that was as thorough an annihilation as you’re gonna see. Washington looks like they can play with anybody.”

5. Duke Blue Devils

The Blue Devils find themselves this high on the list thanks to a dominant 28-7 victory against Clemson to open the season. They so far rank fifth in the FBS in rushing yards per game (242.7) behind the trio of Riley Leonard, Jordan Waters and Jaquez Moore. We’ll soon see just how good Duke is as it faces a pair of top 10 opponents in the next month in Florida State and Notre Dame.

“Duke dismantled Northwestern,” Staples said. “We’ve seen what Duke did to Clemson. I’m excited to see what Mike Elko does with this team this year. Riley Leonard’s awesome.”

6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Fighting Irish have been dominant through four weeks of play but have so far yet to face a true challenge. That will change this week when host No. 6 Ohio State and its All-American receiver duo of Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka. A win there would be a big boost to either team’s resume, and Staples said a Week 4 victory would move Notre Dame to No. 1 in his resume rankings.

“I don’t know how good the NC State win is, but they’ve been fairly dominant in all their games,” he explained. “…Here’s the thing: If Notre Dame beats Ohio State, they’re gonna be (No. 1) in this ranking next week. If they lose to Ohio State, we’ll see where we put ’em. I’m not gonna be one of those people that if you lose by one to a team that’s supposed to be awesome that I drop you way down in the rankings. I never saw the logic in dropping a team that loses to a team it’s supposed to lose to and I believe Ohio State’s the slight favorite here.”

7. Miami Hurricanes

Miami went just 5-7 last year in the inaugural season for coach Mario Cristobal, but is off to a 3-0 start in 2023. That includes a 48-33 victory against Texas A&M in Week 2 that avenged a loss to the Aggies from last season. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke has been impressive so far, but Staples still wants to see more from the Hurricanes as they will enter ACC play in Week 5.

“I don’t know exactly how good the Texas A&M win was,” he said. “Texas A&M looked smooth again against an overmatched opponent on Saturday, but we will have a chance to see what Texas A&M can do as they get into conference play. Miami will get into conference play and we’ll have a much better idea.”

8. Colorado Buffaloes

The Buffaloes have been one of the biggest surprises this season under first-year coach Deion Sanders. They defeated TCU and Nebraska to open things up, but it’s still unclear at this point exactly how good either of those teams are. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders ranks second in the FBS with 1,251 yards and 10 touchdown, but faces his biggest challenge yet this week on the road against No. 10 Oregon.

“I don’t know that the Colorado State win does anything. TCU, the team that Colorado beat in Week 1, did go win its Big 12 opener at Houston. It was kind of touch-and-go for a minute, but then TCU turned on the jets. Nebraska, the other team that Colorado beat, did notch its first win against Northern Illinois.”

9. North Carolina Tar Heels

The Tar Heels have faced one of the tougher schedules in the country to this point and come out unscathed with a 3-0 record. It hasn’t always been pretty, as they needed two overtimes to beat Appalachian State in Week 2, but they’ve gotten the job done. Carrying UNC is a Week 1 win against South Carolina, which held a halftime lead on No. 1 Georgia this past week before falling apart in the second half.

“I tinkered with the idea of putting North Carolina higher,” Staples said. “You saw how South Carolina played against Georgia. South Carolina played very well against the Bulldogs for definitely the first half. We all assume that Georgia’s gonna make the College Football Playoff. Georgia’s the prohibitive favorite in the SEC. So the fact that North Carolina beat (South Carolina), that obviously makes North Carolina look very good. They barely beat Appalachian State, but they still beat them. That’s a program that has historically been really good. You’ve also got Minnesota. Came into Chapel Hill and North Carolina, it wasn’t easy per se, but they made it look kind of easy. So very impressed with Mack Brown‘s team.”

10. Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State hopes to compete with Ohio State and Michigan for a Big Ten Championship, and so far through three weeks at least has the better resume in Staples’ estimation. The Nittany Lions opened the season with a win against West Virginia and then won its first conference game against Illinois. Staples would have liked to see more from their offense against the Fighting Illini, but for now keeps them at No. 10.

“The West Virginia win is looking better because West Virginia won the Backyard Brawl, but the Illinois win, I thought it was not perfect,” he said. “Offensively, they kind of messed around a little bit. Johnny Newton did have a great game for Illinois. The law firm, Johnny Newton and Keith Randolph, the two defensive tackles, you heard them when we were at Big Ten Media Days on this show. That’s a good tandem. Penn State struggled a little bit with them. So when they play better defensive lines, I’m now a little bit worried. But they still really controlled that game with their defense. I’m happy with them at No. 10.”

Andy Staples recaps his top 10 resume rankings ahead of Week 4

That wraps up the top 10 resume rankings from Staples heading into Week 4. It’s still early in the year, and these are inevitably going to shift a lot as the year goes on, potentially even after this week.

There are seven games between top 25 opponents in Week 4, and some of the schools not listed will get a chance to break into the resume rankings next week. Staples addressed a few of those candidates, saying he expects their time to come.

“You’re gonna say ‘Where’s Georgia? Where’s Ohio State? Where’s USC? Where’s Michigan?'” he said. “They all have their chance to play their way into this, but the problem is they haven’t really gotten to play anybody of consequence yet.

“Ohio State, we’ll see what they look like against Notre Dame, but they could certainly be in here. Georgia, they don’t have really the super marquee opponent, although we’ll see where Florida is and where Tennessee is when they play them. But Georgia is getting going now. Georgia gets into SEC play and we’ll see a little bit more from them. They’ll all get in there eventually.”