College Football Rankings: ESPN releases updated Top 25 for 2025 season

The college football season is just over three months away. With that, it’s time to start looking ahead at the top teams for the 2025 season.

ESPN has recently released its updated Top 25 rankings for the 2025 college football season. This particular ranking is based on the SP+ metric. That means these rankings are based on three different factors. The first is returning production to each team’s roster. The second is going to be recent recruiting for each program, which means a prediction of incoming talent. After that, ESPN’s SP+ looks at recent success to “measure of overall program health.”

As a metric, SP+ ranks all 136 FBS college football teams and fluctuates throughout the season as more data becomes available. For the time being, ahead of toe meeting leather in Week 0, here’s a look at the Top 25 teams in the country.

1. Ohio State Buckeyes

The defending national champions are also coming into 2025 as the top-ranked college football team in the country. That comes as the Buckeyes do have some questions to answer, particularly who is going to win the quarterback battle in Columbus. Beyond that, the Buckeyes did have 14 players drafted from last year’s team. So, there is turnover to deal with, but given how well Ohio State recruits, it’s hard to expect much falloff.

Even with winning the national championship, head coach Ryan Day knows the pressure is still on him. There is an expectation to beat Michigan and win the Big Ten next season. From there, the Buckeyes are hoping to go on yet another deep College Football Playoff run.

2. Alabama Crimson Tide

In 2024, Alabama went through several ups and downs under head coach Kalen DeBoer. For some very high highs, there were a couple of low lows. Now, the Crimson Tide are looking to take another step forward and once again compete for an SEC Championship and the College Football Playoff.

The major question in Tuscaloosa comes down to the quarterback position. Right now, it appears that Ty Simpson is set to take over that spot. However, Alabama does have some options. Beyond that, however, Alabama returns plenty of talent and has largely earned the high expectations that they’re going to have going into the 2025 season.

3. Penn State Nittany Lions

The Penn State Nittany Lions saw their season end in a thriller during the College Football Playoff semifinal. Now, the Nittany Lions are hoping to bounce back from that and find a way to get over that hump to beat elite competition. That’s never easy in the highly competitive Big Ten, but it appears that head coach James Franklin has the Nittany Lions positioned nicely.

Perhaps no other team is returning talent like Penn State. Rising seniors at running back Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen make up arguably the best running back room in the country. Then, rising senior quarterback Drew Allar is seen as a potential first round NFL pick. There are issues to address at wide receiver, and Penn State needs to replace some talent on defense, but this is a talented team.

4. Georgia Bulldogs

The defending SEC Champions are clocking into ESPN’s SP+ rankings at fourth in the country. It was in that SEC Championship Game when the Bulldogs saw a fairly major change on their roster takeover. Then starting quarterback Carson Beck went down with an injury and was replaced by Gunner Stockton, who led the Bulldogs in the second half there and to a College Football Playoff loss to Notre Dame.

Like several other top-ranked teams, Georgia does have questions to answer at the quarterback position. Like those other teams, Georgia also has a ton of talent outside of the quarterback spot. So, if head coach Kirby Smart has the right player under center, the Bulldogs are looking at another deep run in 2025.

5. Texas Longhorns

The Texas Longhorns are back under head coach Steve Sarkisian. Now, they want to get over the hump and become champions again. After going to the College Football Playoff in each of the last two seasons, there’s no doubt the Longhorns have talent. They just need to finish the job on the biggest stage.

Much of Texas’ success in 2025 is going to ride on the shoulders of quarterback Arch Manning. A phenom as a prospect, Manning has largely sat out his first two college seasons. Now, however, the reins have been turned over to him and Texas is going to go as deep as Manning is able to take them this season.

6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame fell just short in 2024, dropping the National Championship Game to Ohio State. Now, head coach Marcus Freeman is going to be tasked with rebuilding this Irish roster that has undergone a lot of turnover, including at quarterback and along the defensive line. On a more positive note, the Irish do return one of the best running back rooms in the country.

There’s a lot that everyone is going to be able to learn about Notre Dame early next season. The Irish play Miami on the road before hosting Texas A&M for the home opener. For whoever is at quarterback, it’s going to be a major test right off the bat. That comes amid a very difficult schedule that features 10 Power Four opponents.

7. Oregon Ducks

Head coach Dan Lanning led the Oregon Ducks to an unbeaten regular season and a conference championship in his team’s first Big Ten season. That also earned them the top overall spot in the College Football Playoff, where they were promptly blown out by Ohio State. It was a shocking way to go out, and now Lanning and the Ducks are hoping to find a way to quickly bounce back.

At quarterback, Lanning is going to turn the team over to Dante Moore. A former top recruit, Moore has had time to develop since getting to Oregon. Now, the hope is that for a third season in a row, Oregon can find success with a new quarterback under center.

8. Clemson Tigers

The Clemson Tigers seemingly snuck into the College Football Playoff last season, winning the ACC for the automatic bid. Now, head coach Dabo Swinney has the Tigers positioned to be at the top of the college football world once again in 2025, with expectations rising that they sit atop the ACC again next season.

One of Clemson’s strengths going into 2025 is its experience. Quarterback Cade Klubnik returns for his senior season and his third as the starter in Death Valley. The expectation is that the defense will, once again, be dominant, so the Tigers are likely going to go as far as Klubnik is able to take them as a program.

9. LSU Tigers

The expectation for the LSU Tigers under head coach Brian Kelly has been to be one of the best programs in the country. That doesn’t change at all going into 2025 when the program hopes to compete for the SEC and their first trip to the College Football Playoff under Kelly. The Tigers also appear to be in a good position to do just that.

LSU is one of the teams around the country returning a quarterback with experience as a starter, who they feel very good about moving forward. Garrett Nussmeier brings plenty of experience and is even considered by some to be an NFL prospect. If he can get more consistent, then the Tigers’ offense could be among the best in the country again.

10. Michigan Wolverines

The 2024 season was a bit of a letdown for Michigan. After winning a national championship in 2023, the Wolverines saw a massive overhaul of their staff and roster, and, ultimately, that came with a major step backward. Now, with more experience and hopefully stability, it’s not a surprise that Michigan has high expectations for 2025.

Quarterback was a major issue last year. Now, head coach Sherrone Moore has some options. Veteran transfer Mikey Keene joined the program. However, the headliner at quarterback is Bryce Underwood, a top prospect from the last recruiting cycle who will likely push for the starting job early.

The Rest of ESPN’s SP+ Top 25 rankings

11. Ole Miss Rebels
12. Miami Hurricanes
13. Tennessee Volunteers
14. Florida Gators
15. Texas A&M Aggies
16. Oklahoma Sooners
17. South Carolina Gamecocks
18. Kansas State Wildcats
19. Illinois Fighting Illini
20. SMU Mustangs
21. Missouri Tigers
22. Arizona State Sun Devils
23. Indiana Hoosiers
24. Louisville Cardinals
25. Auburn Tigers