Through games of Saturday, Sept. 21:
| Rank | School (No. 1 votes) | W-L | Points | Prev. |
| 1 | North Central (Ill.) (16) | 2-0 | 616 | 1 |
| 2 | Cortland (9) | 3-0 | 609 | 2 |
| 3 | UW-La Crosse | 2-1 | 548 | 5 |
| 4 | Mount Union | 2-0 | 540 | 4 |
| 5 | St. John's | 2-0 | 528 | 6 |
| 6 | UW-River Falls | 2-0 | 483 | 7 |
| 7 | Hardin-Simmons | 2-0 | 407 | 12 |
| 8 | Grove City | 2-0 | 403 | 9 |
| 9 | Susquehanna | 2-1 | 381 | 11 |
| 10 | UW-Whitewater | 2-1 | 361 | 3 |
| 11 | Salisbury | 3-0 | 338 | 22 |
| 12 | Endicott | 3-0 | 304 | 15 |
| 13 | Wartburg | 2-1 | 280 | 13 |
| 14 | Mary Hardin-Baylor | 1-1 | 251 | -- |
| 15 | Carnegie Mellon | 3-0 | 243 | 17 |
| 16 | Alma | 2-1 | 242 | 16 |
| 17 | UW-Oshkosh | 2-1 | 240 | 14 |
| 18 | DePauw | 3-0 | 199 | 21 |
| 19 | Wheaton (Ill.) | 1-1 | 177 | 18 |
| 20 | Johns Hopkins | 2-1 | 176 | 8 |
| 21 | Whitworth | 3-0 | 151 | 20 |
| 22 | Aurora | 2-1 | 140 | 19 |
| 23 | Randolph-Macon | 2-1 | 101 | 10 |
| 24 | Bethel | 2-0 | 90 | 24 |
| 25 | Linfield | 2-1 | 82 | 23 |
Dropped out: No. 25 John Carroll.
Others receiving votes: UW-Platteville 68; Berry 48; John Carroll 47; Trinity (Texas) 22; Hope 19; Washington U. 11; Case Western Reserve 9; Washington & Jefferson 6; Ursinus 2; Baldwin Wallace 1; Coe 1; Lake Forest 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.