Through games of Sunday, Sept. 8:
| Rank | School (No. 1 votes) | W-L | Points | Prev. |
| 1 | North Central (Ill.) (17) | 0-0 | 617 | 1 |
| 2 | Cortland (8) | 1-0 | 606 | 2 |
| 3 | UW-Whitewater | 1-0 | 562 | 3 |
| 4 | Mount Union | 1-0 | 513 | 5 |
| 5 | Wartburg | 1-0 | 497 | 4 |
| 6 | UW-La Crosse | 1-0 | 486 | 6 |
| 7 | Johns Hopkins | 1-0 | 427 | 8 |
| 8 | UW-River Falls | 1-0 | 398 | 17 |
| 9 | Randolph-Macon | 1-0 | 388 | 10 |
| 10 | Grove City | 1-0 | 376 | 11 |
| 11 | Susquehanna | 1-0 | 367 | 12 |
| 12 | St. John's | 1-0 | 359 | 14 |
| 13 | Hardin-Simmons | 1-0 | 275 | 16 |
| 14 | Aurora | 1-0 | 273 | 15 |
| 15 | Alma | 0-1 | 246 | 7 |
| 16 | Endicott | 1-0 | 221 | 18 |
| 17 | UW-Oshkosh | 1-0 | 186 | -- |
| 18 | Muhlenberg | 1-0 | 184 | 21 |
| 19 | Wheaton (Ill.) | 0-1 | 182 | 9 |
| 20 | Carnegie Mellon | 1-0 | 163 | 22 |
| 21 | Linfield | 1-0 | 162 | 23 |
| 22 | Berry | 1-0 | 138 | 25 |
| 23 | Whitworth | 1-0 | 110 | 24 |
| 24 | Ithaca | 0-1 | 65 | 20 |
| 25 | John Carroll | 0-1 | 59 | 19 |
Dropped out: No. 13 Trinity (Texas).
Others receiving votes: Bethel 58; Trinity (Texas) 55; UW-Platteville 34; DePauw 34; Delaware Valley 30; Mary Hardin-Baylor 15; Hope 7; Central 6; Marietta 6; Coe 6; Chapman 5; Case Western Reserve 2; Illinois College 2; Rowan 2; Washington & Jefferson 2; Augustana 1.
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.