Last week, there were 24 NCAA FBS (Division 1) undefeated football programs remaining. Over the past weekend, though, seven of them bit the dust. That leaves us with just 17 unbeaten programs coming into October.
According to SwampSwami’s guidelines, any teams ranked in the final AP Top 25 rankings at the end of the 2016 season are given a preference. Until they lose a game this year, this holdover group (now down to 11 teams) receives a priority ranking over the remaining undefeated squads on the basis that they have done everything asked of them thus far in 2017.
After that, the remaining unbeaten teams (#12-17) have been ranked according to their most impressive win this season. In my poll, any unbeaten program (regardless of conference affiliation) is given a priority over the teams sporting one or more losses.
That said, let’s introduce our best one-loss teams. This week, there are a total of 30 teams in the NCAA’s upper division with a single defeat in 2017. Since there are only eight remaining places in this week’s Top 25, I have made this decision based on who your team lost to (as ranked in this week’s poll, of course).
Hat’s off to our #1 team, Clemson! The Tigers have ruined the unbeaten dreams of three other major football programs already this season. Auburn lost a close game at Clemson while the S. Carolina Tigers throttled both Virginia Tech and Louisville on the road. While my #2 team, Alabama, is definitely not a slouch, the defending national champions from Clemson have been very impressive this season!
Below is the SwampSwami College Football Top 25 for the week ending Saturday, September 30, 2017:
| # | Team | W | L | 2016 Final Rank | Best win/loss this season |
| 1 | Clemson | 5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2 | Alabama | 5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 3 | Washington | 5 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Oklahoma | 4 | 0 | 5 | |
| 5 | Penn State | 5 | 0 | 7 | |
| 6 | Wisconsin | 4 | 0 | 9 | |
| 7 | Michigan | 4 | 0 | 10 | |
| 8 | South Florida | 5 | 0 | 19 | |
| 9 | Miami (Fla) | 3 | 0 | 20 | |
| 10 | Utah | 4 | 0 | 23 | |
| 11 | San Diego State | 5 | 0 | 25 | |
| 12 | TCU | 4 | 0 | Def 3-1 Okie State 44-31 @ OSU | |
| 13 | Washington State | 5 | 0 | Def 4-1 USC 30-27 at home | |
| 14 | Georgia | 5 | 0 | Def 3-2 Tennessee 41-0 @ Tenn | |
| 15 | UCF | 3 | 0 | Def 3-1 Maryland 38-10 @ MD | |
| 16 | Navy | 4 | 0 | Def 2-3 Cincy 42-32 at home | |
| 17 | UT-San Antonio | 3 | 0 | Def 0-5 Baylor 17-10 @ Baylor | |
| 18 | Auburn | 4 | 1 | Lost to #1 Clemson 14-6 @ Clemson | |
| 19 | Virginia Tech | 4 | 1 | Lost to #1 Clemson 31-17 at home | |
| 20 | Louisville | 4 | 1 | Lost to #1 Clemson 47-21 at home | |
| 21 | Ohio State | 4 | 1 | Lost to #4 Oklahoma 31-16 at home | |
| 22 | Florida | 3 | 1 | Lost to #7 Michigan 33-17 in Atlanta | |
| 23 | Duke | 4 | 1 | Lost to #9 Miami (Fla) 31-6 at home | |
| 24 | Oklahoma State | 4 | 1 | Lost to #12 TCU 44-31 at home | |
| 25 | SMU | 4 | 1 | Lost to #12 TCU 55-36 @ TCU |