It’s the second year of the 12-team College Football Playoff. When the CFP committee starts releasing rankings later this season, they aren’t going to be the end-all, be-all given the new seeding rules of the 12-team field. However, the rankings are still enjoyable, and people will continue to argue over them. They still matter.
So after every weekend, after the dust settles from the games, I’m going to unveil my updated top 10.
Let’s start with the first edition of 2025:
1. Ohio State (1-0)
Heading into the season, we knew Ohio State lost a ton of talent from the squad that won the national title a year ago. We also knew that Ohio State would still be one of the deepest and most talented teams in the sport. Against another one of those super-talented teams in Texas, Ohio State’s defense smothered the Longhorns in a huge season-opening win in Columbus. Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin out-dueled Arch Manning, and it’s clear the Buckeyes are back in business.
2. LSU (1-0)
You may have heard this, but LSU came into Saturday night’s game against Clemson having lost five-consecutive season-openers. The Tigers came into Death Valley — Clemson’s, that is — wearing 1-0 shirts, determined to finally change their fate. LSU was successful in doing it, controlling much of the second half in what turned out to be an anti-climactic win. Brian Kelly was desperate to prove LSU is a real CFP team this year and the Tigers got off to a heck of a start. Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier was lights-out and the Tigers looked the part.
3. Penn State (1-0)
Penn State was my No. 1 team heading into the season and I still think the Nittany Lions have the goods to win the national title this year. That said, valuable wins are always going to help. Ohio State beat Texas and LSU beat Clemson, so that’s the difference. Penn State opened its season Saturday with a 46-11 win over Nevada. Quarterback Drew Allar threw for 216 yards and a touchdown and receivers Kyron Hudson and Trebor Pena — both incoming transfers — combined for 163 yards receiving. Penn State has Oregon in less a month.
4. Georgia (1-0)
Georgia was one of the three favorites to win the SEC coming into the season. The Bulldogs had a snoozer of a game against Marshall and cruised to an easy win, while Texas and Alabama both suffered losses. First-year starter Gunner Stockton threw for 190 yards and two touchdowns, and the Bulldogs’ defense dominated. However, it’s hard to get a real feel for who Georgia is in beating an overmatched opponent. Nobody is arguing with Georgia being ranked in the top 5 heading into week 2.
5. Notre Dame (0-0)
Notre Dame hasn’t played yet. The Irish take on Miami on Sunday evening. But we’re not going to wait to release the top 10, so Notre Dame remains No. 5. Of course, things could change quickly for the Irish if they don’t escape South Florida with a win on Sunday evening. Notre Dame broke through last year and proved to the world that it was capable of doing what everyone has universally doubted — beat the best teams in the sport in the postseason. And Notre Dame did it last season with a banged-up roster. This year, Notre Dame has the best offensive line in the country and solid receiver talent. We’ll see what Marcus Freeman‘s squad is all about soon.
6. Oregon (1-0)
In the last month of the offseason, it started to feel to me that Oregon was being taken too lightly. Sure, the Ducks got blown out by Ohio State in the Rose Bowl to conclude last season and they lost a ton of talent from that team, but they are loaded once again in 2025. They have dudes everywhere. Oregon got off to a slow start last season, but it came out firing Saturday in a 59-13 win over Montana State. First-year starting quarterback Dante Moore completed 18 of 25 pass attempts for 213 yards and three touchdowns.
7. Texas (0-1)
What are we supposed to do with Texas? Sure, Arch Manning got off to a slow start on the season. And yes, the Longhorns lost a rough game at Ohio State. But in today’s era of college football, a season-opening loss isn’t a killer. And even after a performance where Manning had less than 40 yards passing early in the 4th quarter, the Longhorns still possessed the ball late in the game down by only a score. It’s hard not to overreact to a loss in a season-opener, but Texas has a nasty defense and the offense will figure it out enough to be in the College Football Playoff discussion.
8. Illinois (1-0)
We have spent the entire offseason hyping up what Illinois could be. The Illini are this year’s Indiana, right? The only difference is nobody saw Indiana coming from a mile away last year. Nobody is going to be surprised by Bret Bielema‘s team, especially because it returns virtually everyone from a squad that won 10 games a year ago. Illinois’ season got started with an easy 52-3 win over Illinois State on Friday night. Illinois has a tough game at Duke next weekend.
9. Florida State (1-0)
Nobody knew what to make of Florida State coming into the season. But even the most optimistic people felt the Seminoles were an 8-win team. What do we think now after Florida State handled Alabama in Tallahassee? This is one of the harder teams to rank this week because we now aren’t sure what Alabama is. Could the Crimson Tide actually be a below average team this year? It doesn’t matter, Florida State has one of the best wins in the country as of right now and deserve some respect. Thomas Castellanos talked trash during the offseason and backed it up. Take a bow, Seminoles.
10. Clemson (0-1)
Clemson stormed onto the scene as a trendy national title pick and for the entire first half of its loss to LSU, the Tigers looked the part. However, in the second half, quarterback Cade Klubnik and the offense couldn’t do anything. LSU gradually tightened its grip and never let go. Though this was supposed to be a revelatory game that would determine whether Dabo Swinney could build a national title contender the old-fashioned way, we didn’t definitively find out the answer to that question. LSU could finally be really, really good. Clemson has been known for shrugging off early-season losses and it is certainly still the favorite to win the ACC.
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