Notable takeaways from EA Sports College Football 25 release of its Top 25 Offense, Defense Rankings

At his introductory press conference Monday, new Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick (somewhat smugly) used the term “engagement farming industry” when asked about how he wound up as the new leader for the iconic franchise. 

What is “engagement farming industry?”

It’s precisely what EA Sports is doing with its College Football 25 video game, with each new release sparking the next debate. 

People are already super excited for the game’s release next month, and EA Sports has managed to build even more anticipation and promotion with its rankings releases for toughest stadiums and top offensive and defensive rankings. 

These lists are fun, silly and meaningless, but boy, if they don’t get folks talking. 

EA Sports’ Top 25 Toughest Places to Play had its issues, but stadium rankings are at least somewhat subjective. Outside of the Top 5, Thursday’s release of the game’s Top 25 offenses and defenses made so little sense that they were either diabolical troll jobs or riddled with egregious mistakes and oversights. 

Not sure if @EASPORTSCollege is diabolically trolling Tennessee (not in Top 25 offenses or defenses) or if they simply forgot to include the Vols and just said screw it and released the rankings anyways.

— Jesse Simonton (@JesseReSimonton) June 27, 2024

Either way, we got “engagement farming.” The good news is these rankings aren’t finite, and as the season officially plays out this fall, there will be rankings updates. 

Still, here are seven takeaways from EA Sports College Football 25 Top 25 offense and defense rankings:

1. It jumps off the screen that Tennessee (which had Top 20 units in yards per play both offensively and defensively last season and brought back the likes of Nico Iamaleava at quarterback and James Pearce at pass rusher) wasn’t among the Top 25 in either category. 

2. Talk about a hype machine team with goosed-up ratings: Colorado checked in as a Top 10 offense and Top 20 defense. Both are insane. Sure, Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter are awesome but the Buffs’ OL was a turnstile last season and offense finished 99th overall nationally. Outside of Vanderbilt and Stanford, they were the worst Power 5 defense in the country, too, so unless they added an entire depth chart of All-Americans from the transfer portal, there’s not a galaxy where they finish with a Top 20 defense. 

3. EA Sports’ creators must be big, big believers in D’Anton Lynn, as USC’s defense (which ranked No. 119 in 2023) outranks its offense in the game. The fact that it’s a Top 25 unit at all is absurd. 

4. With Cam Ward at quarterback, Damian Martinez at tailback and a solid set of receivers, Miami should be really good offensively in 2024. Top 10? IDK, but the Canes’ ranking can be somewhat justified. However, ranking Clemson, Utah and Penn State ahead of Ole Miss is laughable. 

5. Michigan must replace a ton off of last year’s national championship defense, but the Wolverines still have three 1st Rounders in the starting lineup (corner Will Johnson, defensive linemen Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham) and a great set of edge rushers and linebackers. Ranking their unit 7th isn’t egregious but they’re probably closer to Top 2-3 than Top 10. Similarly, Iowa is ranked way too low at 13. The Hawkeyes among the best linebacker and secondary units in the country this season and perennially produce Top 5 units under Phil Parker.

6. North Carolina and LSU were both among the Top 25 defenses (two schools that fired their coordinators this offseason because they were so bad defensively), while Nebraska and Ole Miss weren’t even ranked. Huh?

7. NC State added a bunch of really nice pieces in the transfer portal to surround star wideout KC Concepcion, but a Top 20 offense? No, especially when you consider teams not listed among the Top 25 like Oklahoma State (entire OL is back + star tailback Ollie Gordon and a host of perimeter playmakers), Liberty (deep set of tailbacks, standout QB Kaiden Salter returns) and Kansas State (Avery Johnson at QB with DJ Giddens at tailback).