Josh’s College Football Rankings 2025–Week 1

Week one of college football has come and gone, and damn, there were some big time games. We had Ohio State taking down Texas, LSU silencing Clemson, and the Hurricanes beating the Irish. But the biggest news was Florida State upsetting Alabama. I feel like this first weekend was more entertaining than most years.

1. Ohio State (1-0)–#3–W 14-7 #1 Texas. It was not the prettiest game, but the reigning champs reminded us that they are still around.
2. Penn State (1-0)–#2–W 46-11 Nevada. The Nittany Lions looked as good as we expected. Granted, it was Nevada, so take it with a grain of salt.
3. Georgia (1-0)–#6–W 45-7 Marshall. Gunner Stockton had a nice day for the Bulldogs. I think they are fine with Beck being gone.
4. Texas (0-1)–#1–L 14-7 #3 Ohio State. Hard to drop a top team much more than a few spots after a loss like that. Arch Manning needs to rebound quickly, or else it will be tough to believe in the Longhorns.
5. LSU (1-0)–#9–W 17-10 #4 Clemson. I know, people are ready to hand the Tigers the National Championship, but I do not think this is the 2019 team.
6. Miami (1-0)–#10–W 27-24 #5 Notre Dame. The Hurricanes took down a team I was very high on this year, so I have to give them props.
7. Oregon (1-0)–#8–W 59-13 Montana State
8. South Carolina (1-0)–#11–W 24-11 #34 Virginia Tech
9. Notre Dame (0-1)–#5–L 27-24 #10 Miami
10. Clemson (0-1)–#4–L 17-10 #9 LSU. I was very high on the Irish and Tigers, funny that they both let me down in week one.
11. Michigan (1-0)–#12–W 34-17 New Mexico. The Wolverines defense may be a little worse than last year, but the offense looks much better. I am still high on them.
12. Arizona State (1-0)–#13–W 38-19 Northern Arizona
13. Illinois (1-0)–#14–W 52-3 Western Illinois
14. SMU (1-0)–#15–W 42-13 East Texas A&M
15. Florida (1-0)–#16–W 55-0 LIU
16. Florida State (1-0)–HM–W 31-17 #7 Alabama. The Seminoles season went completely off-the-rails last year, but they regrouped and proved that they are ready to put that behind them.
17. Ole Miss (1-0)–#18–W 63-7 Georgia State
18. Indiana (1-0)–#17–W 27-14 Old Dominion
19. Tennessee (1-0)–#19–W 45-26 Syracuse
20. Iowa State (2-0)–#24–W 24-21 #20 Kansas State; W 55-7 South Dakota
21. Texas A&M (1-0)–#21–W 42-24 UTSA
22. Oklahoma (1-0)–#22–W 35-3 Illinois State
23. Texas Tech (1-0)–#23–W 67-7 Arkansas-Pine Bluff
24. Alabama (0-1)–#7–L 31-17 Florida State. I am not ready to drop them out of the rankings quite yet. Maybe I was too high on them, or not high enough on FSU. Time will tell.
25. Auburn (1-0)–#26–W 38-24 #32 Baylor
26. TCU (1-0)–#33–W 48-14 UNC
27. Kansas State (1-1)–#20–L 24-21 #24 Iowa State; W 38-35 North Dakota. The loss to Iowa State, then barely beating North Dakota…not a good start to the season for Kansas State.
28. Georgia Tech (1-0)–#27–W 27-20 Colorado
29. Missouri (1-0)–#28–W 61-6 Central Arkansas
30. Arkansas (1-0)–#29–W 52-7 Alabama A&M
31. USC (1-0)–#30–W 73-13 Missouri State
32. Washington (1-0)–#35–W 38-21 Colorado State
33. Kansas (2-0)–#36–W 31-7 Fresno State; W 46-7 Wagner
34. Nebraska (1-0)–#31–W 20-17 Cincinnati
35. Tulane (1-0)–#37–W 23-3 Northwestern
36. Iowa (1-0)–#38–W 34-7 University of Albany
37. UNLV (2-0)–#39–W 38-31 Idaho State; W 38-21 Sam Houston
38. BYU (1-0)–#40–W 69-0 Portland State
39. Baylor (0-1)–#32–L 38-24 #26 Auburn
40. Virginia Tech (0-1)–#34–L 24-11 #11 South Carolina

Honorable Mentions
Louisville (1-0)–HM–W 51-17 Eastern Kentucky
Minnesota (1-0)–HM–W 23-10 Buffalo
Wisconsin (1-0)–HM–W 17-0 Miami OH
Utah (1-0)–NR–W 43-10 UCLA
South Florida (1-0)–NR–W 34-7 #25 Boise State

Not going to lie, week two is shaping up to be a bit of a dud. If your significant other is asking to do something, this is probably the weekend to say “you know, I would love to skip watching college football all day to spend time with you!” Earn a few bonus points. Not only do you get solid rankings, you get good marital advice as well! All for free.

Anyways, if you decide to watch some football, here are a few games to check out. First up we have #36 Iowa at #20 Iowa State for the Cy-Hawk Trophy. Then you got the Border War, as #33 Kansas heads to #29 Missouri. Another intriguing game is South Florida at #15 Florida. But the Big game this week is #11 Michigan at #22 Oklahoma. Both teams had a rough 2024, and they need this win to prove they are back. 

Tiny But Mighty
This is where I will mention each week the small (and by small, I mean either FCS or G5 school, not size of enrollment) schools who beat up on a supposedly bigger program. This week had a few FCS schools winning against the FBS. Tarleton State defeated Army 30-27 in 2OT. But not to be outdone, Austin Peay spanked Middle Tennessee State 34-14. Georgia faces AP this week, they better watch out.

There were also two G5 schools that took down their mighty Power4 opponents. Hawaii beat Stanford 23-20. But the bigger game was Tulane, who gave Northwestern a beating, 23-3. 

Coaching Carousel
This year instead of trying to find a coach who might be on the hot seat each week. This is a spot where I will talk about coaches. 

This week I want to talk about Dan Mullen. He took over at UNLV after being on ESPN for the past few years. I believe that Coach Mullen still receives a paycheck from Florida after being fired (maybe for another year or two?). On one of the college football shows, someone mentioned how Mullen could have success at somewhere like UNLV, and it intrigued me. I think someone like himself, who obviously loves coaching, who got into it because they love teaching kids how to be better at football, could find a place for himself as the guy who recruits 2-3 star players, but with the pitch of “I will make you into a better player, and if you do well for me, you will go onto a bigger destination.” Basically become a feeder for the premiere schools. Especially if he is happy at somewhere like UNLV, and does not want to immediately make it back to one of the big SEC programs. The right types of coaches in those positions, could carve out an interesting & unique niche for themselves.