Through games of Oct. 9, 2021:
| Rank | School (No. 1 votes) | W-L | Points | Prev. |
| 1 | North Central (Ill.) (17) | 5-0 | 612 | 1 |
| 2 | Mary Hardin-Baylor (7) | 5-0 | 592 | 2 |
| 3 | UW-Whitewater | 5-0 | 581 | 3 |
| 4 | Mount Union (1) | 5-0 | 562 | 4 |
| 5 | St. John's | 5-0 | 502 | 6 |
| 6 | Wheaton (Ill.) | 4-1 | 497 | 5 |
| 7 | Linfield | 4-0 | 466 | 7 |
| 8 | Hardin-Simmons | 4-1 | 418 | 8 |
| 9 | Delaware Valley | 5-0 | 402 | 10 |
| 10 | Central | 6-0 | 358 | 11 |
| 11 | UW-La Crosse | 4-1 | 327 | 20 |
| 12 | Washington and Jefferson | 6-0 | 321 | 12 |
| 13 | Salisbury | 3-1 | 310 | 13 |
| 14 | Johns Hopkins | 5-0 | 300 | 15 |
| 15 | Union | 6-0 | 294 | 14 |
| 16 | Bethel | 4-1 | 273 | 16 |
| 17 | Ithaca | 5-0 | 246 | 17 |
| 18 | UW-Oshkosh | 3-1 | 198 | 9 |
| 19 | Cortland | 5-0 | 180 | 19 |
| 20 | Susquehanna | 5-0 | 111 | 23 |
| 21 | Muhlenberg | 4-1 | 105 | 21 |
| 22 | John Carroll | 3-2 | 83 | 22 |
| 23 | Trinity (Texas) | 4-0 | 62 | -- |
| 24 | Birmingham-Southern | 5-0 | 53 | -- |
| 25 | Baldwin Wallace | 4-1 | 50 | -- |
Dropped out: No. 18 Whitworth; No. 24 Westminster (Pa.); No. 25 Hobart.
Others receiving votes: Wabash 46; Hobart 39; Howard Payne 24; Whitworth 24; RPI 21; Chapman 18; Aurora 13; Randolph-Macon 12; Gustavus Adolphus 11; UW-Stout 5; Westminster (Pa.) 4; UW-River Falls 3; Merchant Marine 2.
The D3football.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly. Points are awarded on a 25-24-23-22-etc. basis.