Which college football team has the most impressive wins of 2023 so far?

One-third of the season is in the books and the national landscape in the race for the final four-team College Football Playoff is continuing to take shape.

While we’re still over a month away from the first edition of the 2023 College Football Playoff Rankings debuting (Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m.), arguments and resumes are being formed as teams jockey for position in the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Poll to solidify their brand perception before the committee hits the conference table.

There are plenty of factors that go towards slotting a team — eye test, talent, season success — but today, we’re going to focus on wins.

Who has the most impressive wins so far in 2023? With four weeks that have lacked major matchups (outside of last week’s packed slate), there have been four pretty clear tiers of schedule success this season.

Before we dive in, some other quick perspectives:

Tier 1: Actually, sincerely impressive

Florida State Seminoles

AP Rank: No. 5

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 29th

Wins: LSU, Southern Miss, Boston College, Clemson

The two Tiger takedowns are arguably the best two wins in the country, with FSU covering the spread in both games (and then some, against LSU) and leaving a terrifying September with a 4-0 record.

Washington State Cougars

AP Rank: No. 17

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 51st

Wins: Colorado State, Wisconsin, North Colorado, Oregon State

Utah Utes

AP Rank: No. 10

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 17th

Wins: Florida, Baylor, Weber State, UCLA

Uh, did the Pac-12 replace the SEC as the top conference this season? It would be poetic, given the imminent demise of the soon-to-be Pac-2, but really, you could make the argument for either one of these teams as having the best duo of wins so far this season. Both have a non-conference win over a major opponent (with Utah’s win over Florida gaining more clout after the Gators upset the Tennessee Volunteers) and Washington State just took down Oregon State in a top-25 battle of the Pac-2 Pals.

Ohio State Buckeyes

AP Rank: No. 4

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 53rd

Wins: Indiana, Youngstown State, Western Kentucky, Notre Dame

Ohio State’s win over Notre Dame was exactly the sort of game that has seen the Buckeyes have been run into the ground as of late, so overcoming that hump in a grit-your-teeth situation in a wild road environment could easily stand up as one of the best wins this year — but we’re talking multiple wins, not one, and the rest of Ohio State’s schedule has been a snoozer.

Texas Longhorns

AP Rank: No. 3

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 41st

Wins: Rice, Alabama, Wyoming, Baylor

Like the Buckeyes, the strength of a singular win almost shoots Texas into the top spot, but Rice, Baylor and Wyoming isn’t enough to propel them up there. That Texas win over Alabama was — and still is — impressive, but just how good is Alabama this year? Are the Crimson Tide still figuring it out and prepping to fully launch the Murderball Mobile come October, or will the luster of this win start to shine off as the season wears on?

Tier 2: Win over a ranked opponent

Missouri Tigers

AP Rank: No. 23

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 59th

Wins: South Dakota, MTSU, Kansas State, Memphis

You could make the argument to put Mizzou up in tier one, if you really wanted. Memphis is an AAC squad, but that’s still a big non-conference win and taking down then-No. 15 Kansas State is impressive in its own right.

Duke Blue Devils

AP Rank: No. 17

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 85th

Wins: Clemson, Lafayette, Northwestern, UConn

Duke’s takedown of Clemson to start the season set the tone for the ACC in 2023, with its matchup in a few weeks against Florida State suddenly looking like it could be a preview of the conference championship game. Northwestern is a Power 5 non-conference win, technically.

Penn State Nittany Lions

AP Rank: No. 6

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 72nd

Wins: West Virginia, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa

West Virginia isn’t exactly a juggernaut but a Power 5 non-conference win counts all the same, and dominating a ranked conference opponent (even if it’s Iowa) deserves props.

Miami Hurricanes

AP Rank: No. 18

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 70th

Wins: Miami (OH), Texas A&M, Bethune, Temple

Texas A&M hasn’t totally imploded on itself, so the Hurricanes’ 48-33 win over the Aggies still has some hype attached to it. If Miami adds a win over North Carolina to its resume in a few weeks, the likelihood of two FSU-Miami matchups in 2023 is starting to look a bit more likely.

Oregon Ducks

AP Rank: No. 9

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 99th

Wins: Portland State, Texas Tech, Hawai’i, Colorado

Colorado may not be worthy of the 24/7 media coverage surrounding the squad, but earning a 42-6 win over them earns Oregon points as well as a non-conference win over the Red Raiders.

Tier 3: Non-conference win(s)

North Carolina Tar Heels

AP Rank: No. 15

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 77th

Wins: South Carolina, Appalachian State, Minnesota, Pitt

If South Carolina, Minnesota or Pitt were good, whew would that be one heck of a resume. Instead, it’s just pretty good, which is a tradeoff that Mack Brown and Drake Maye will make for being 4-0 on the last weekend of September.

Washington Huskies

AP Rank: No. 7

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 94th

Wins: Boise State, Tulsa, Michigan State, Cal

Boise State isn’t quite the plucky upstart that it used to be, Cal is Cal and Michigan State is its own story, but wins count all the same, and name-brand-wise, that’s a pretty good three.

Tier 4: At least you got a conference game in

Kansas Jayhawks

AP Rank: No. 24

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 96th

Wins: Missouri State, Illinois, Nevada, BYU

Oklahoma Sooners

AP Rank: No. 14

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 98th

Wins: Arkansas State, SMU, Tulsa, Cincinnati

Michigan Wolverines

AP Rank: No. 2

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 118th

Wins: East Carolina, UNLV, Bowling Green, Rutgers

Georgia Bulldogs

AP Rank: No. 1

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 108th

Wins: UT Martin, Ball State, South Carolina, UAB

USC Trojans

AP Rank: No. 8

SP+ strength of schedule to date: 127th

Wins: San Jose State, Nevada, Stanford, Arizona State

Okay real talk, out of the 20 teams listed above as wins in tier 4, what is the single most impressive win? Is it Kansas over BYU? Oklahoma over Cincinnati? Georgia over South Carolina? Separating any of these resumes requires the finest of nitpicking, but hey, they’re 4-0! What else can you ask for?

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Top 15 odds to win national championship, per DraftKings

1. Georgia Bulldogs (+220)
2. Michigan Wolverines (+500)
3. Texas Longhorns (+800)
4. Florida State Seminoles (+800)
5. Ohio State Buckeyes (+800)
6. Penn State Nittany Lions (+1400)
7. USC Trojans (+1600)
8. Washington Huskies (+1800)
9. Oregon Ducks (+2000)
10. Oklahoma Sooners (+3000)
11. LSU Tigers (+4000)
12. Alabama Crimson Tide (+4000)
13. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (+4500)
14. Utah Utes (+6000)
15. Miami Hurricanes (+7000)

Full AP Top 25 Poll: Week 4

1. Georgia Bulldogs (55)
2. Michigan Wolverines (1)
3. Texas Longhorns (2)
4. Ohio State Buckeyes (1)
5. Florida State Seminoles (3)
6. Penn State Nittany Lions
7. Washington Huskies (1)
8. USC Trojans
9. Oregon Ducks
10. Utah Utes
11. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
12. Alabama Crimson Tide
13. LSU Tigers
14. Oklahoma Sooners
15. North Carolina Tar Heels
16. Washington State Cougars
17. Duke Blue Devils
18. Miami Hurricanes
19. Oregon State Beavers
20. Ole Miss Rebels
21. Tennessee Volunteers
22. Florida Gators
23. Missouri Tigers
24. Kansas Jayhawks
25. Fresno State Bulldogs

Full USA Today Coaches Poll: Week 4

1. Georgia Bulldogs (61)
2. Michigan Wolverines
3. Ohio State Buckeyes (2)
4. Florida State Seminoles
5. Texas Longhorns
6. USC Trojans
7. Penn State Nittany Lions
8. Washington Huskies (1)
9. Oregon Ducks
10. Utah Utes
11. Alabama Crimson Tide
12. LSU Tigers
13. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
14. Oklahoma Sooners
15. North Carolina Tar Heels
16. Duke Blue Devils
17. Washington State Cougars
18. Miami Hurricanes
19. Tennessee Volunteers
20. Ole Miss Rebels
21. Oregon State Beavers
22. Missouri Tigers
23. Florida Gators
24. Kansas Jayhawks
25. Kansas State Wildcats

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.