Josh’s College Football Rankings 2025–Week 4

There were some exciting games this week that came down to the wire…Arizona State, Mizzou, Michigan, Oklahoma, and then there was Indiana. I guess the Hoosiers did not get the memo to not absolutely destroy a top ten team. The rankings took a bit of a shuffle, but only two new teams managed to slip into the Top 25. 

1. Ohio State (3-0)–#1–BYE
2. Miami (4-0)–#5–W 26-7 #28 Florida. This game felt somewhat close, but then the Hurricane defense just completely shut down the Gators in the 4th quarter. I bumped them up because they have the big wins.
3. Penn State (3-0)–#2–BYE
4. Georgia (3-0)–#3–BYE
5. LSU (4-0)–#4–W 56-10 SE Louisiana
6. Oregon (4-0)–#7–W 41-7 Oregon State. The Ducks beat their nemesis, but I do not think the Beavers are very good this year.
7. Texas (3-1)–#6–W 55-0 Sam Houston
8. Texas A&M (3-0)–#9–BYE
9. Oklahoma (4-0)–#10–W 24-17 #16 Auburn. The Sooner defense stepped up when they needed to, getting a big safety to stop Auburn.
10. Indiana (4-0)–#14–W 63-10 #8 Illinois. I guess Indiana was tired of people thinking they were not as good as last year. I should have known, I was very high on Fernando Mendoza last year at Cal.
11. Ole Miss (4-0)–#11–W 45-10 #35 Tulane. I thought this would be closer.
12. Florida State (3-0)–#12–W 66-10 Kent State
13. Iowa State (4-0)–#13–BYE
14. Texas Tech (4-0)–#15–W 34-10 #25 Utah. The Red Raiders won with their backup QB. They are legit this year.
15. Georgia Tech (4-0)–#18–W 45-24 Temple
16. Alabama (2-1)–#17–BYE
17. Missouri (4-0)–#21–W 29-20 #23 South Carolina. Pribula has this team rolling. They run the ball so well, and the minute you try to load up on them, Beau can make you pay with his arm.
18. Vanderbilt (4-0)–#22–W 70-21 Georgia State
19. Michigan (3-1)–#19–W 30-27 #33 Nebraska. I really thought the Cornhuskers were going to win this game, and the Wolverines managed to sneak out of Lincoln with the win.
20. TCU (3-0)–#24–W 35-24 #29 SMU. Josh Hoover could be that old school Big XII QB I was hoping for.
21. Tennessee (3-1)–#20–W 56-24 UAB
22. Illinois (3-1)–#8–L 63-10 #14 Indiana. Getting embarrassed drops you down the rankings significantly. Illinois is lucky a bunch of other teams lost.
23. Auburn (3-1)–#16–L 24-17 #10 Oklahoma. This team needs to win some of these games against their SEC foes because the next few weeks will be a bit of a challenge.
24. USC (4-0)–#31–W 45-31 Michigan State
25. Washington (3-0)–#32–W 59-24 Washington State. The Huskies brought back the Apple Cup.
26. Notre Dame (1-2)–#26–W 56-30 Purdue. I am not ready to bump them up into the Top 25. At least they got their first win.
27. Arizona State (3-1)–#34–W 27-24 #27 Baylor. This was an exciting game. People are writing off the Sun Devils after that loss to Mississippi State, but I think they will be just fine.
28. South Carolina (2-2)–#23–L 29-20 #21 Missouri
29. Kansas (3-1)–#39–W 41-10 West Virginia
30. BYU (3-0)–#38–W 34-13 East Carolina
31. UNLV (4-0)–#37–W 41-38 Miami OH
32. Iowa (3-1)–#40–W 38-28 Rutgers. The Hawkeyes scored 17 in the 4th quarter to beat Rutgers. It was a good win.
33. Baylor (2-2)–#27–L 27-24 #34 Arizona State
34. Louisville (3-0)–HM–W 40-17 Bowling Green
35. Mississippi State (4-0)–HM–W 38-10 Northern Illinois. I know, it is weird to have them ranked below ASU, but I am hesitant to move them up yet. They were awful last year.
36. South Florida (3-1)–HM–W 63-14 South Carolina State
37. Nebraska (3-1)–#33–L 30-27 #19 Michigan. I still think they are a good team, they will upset someone this year.
38. Utah (3-1)–#25–L 34-10 #15 Texas Tech. I was not convinced the Utes were as good as other people believed. I begrudgingly ranked them, and what happens? They get crushed by Texas Tech.
39. Memphis (4-0)–NR–W 32-31 #36 Arkansas. The Memphis Tigers could be that sneaky good AAC team that ends up undefeated and in the playoffs.
40. Houston (3-0)–HM–BYE

Honorable Mentions
Syracuse (3-1)–NR–W 34-21 #30 Clemson
North Texas (4-0)–NR–W 45-38 OT Army. They also destroyed Washington State last week. Keep an eye on them
UCF (3-0)–NR–W 34-9 UNC
Old Dominion (2-1)–NR–BYE
Tulane (3-1)–#35–L 45-10 #11 Ole Miss

I am off next weekend, and it looks like I will need the whole weekend to process these games! We have #20 TCU at #27 Arizona State, which could turn into one of those classic Big XII games. An interesting game will be Liberty at Old Dominion. I know, you might think I am crazy here, but Liberty was supposed to be good, and they just lost again, this time to JMU. If Ricky Rahne and the Monarchs are for real this year, they will be at up on the Flames.

We have some huge SEC games. #5 LSU heads to #11 Ole Miss. I bet Lane would love to silence the Brian Kelly and the Tigers. #23 Auburn at #8 Texas A&M. Like I said, Auburn has a tough road ahead of them. The Aggies cannot stumble in this kind of game. #21 Tennessee at #35 Mississippi State. This is the game the Bulldogs need to win to prove themselves to me (honestly, a close loss will probably do it as well). And finally we have #16 Alabama at #4 Georgia. Both teams coming off a bye. I think the last time Georgia won against Bama was for the National Championship, aside from that Alabama is 9-1 in their last ten meetings. Can Georgia put a stop to that?

Big Ten fans, do not fear, there are even better games for you this week! #24 USC at #22 Illinois. Both teams need to win. The Trojans could prove they are for real, while the Illini (I hate that name, it just looks weird) must bounce back after that embarrassing loss. Speaking of #10 Indiana, they travel to Kinnick to face off against #32 Iowa. I would be okay with the Hoosiers putting 50+ on the Hawkeyes. The #1 Buckeyes head to #25 Washington. Ohio State has won the last four matchups, can the Huskies end that streak?

The big game this week is #6 Oregon coming to #3 Penn State for the WHITE OUT!!!!!! Neither team has played anyone too good, so this will be a real test. The Nittany Lions need to avenge that Big Ten Championship game last year, and they need to shut people up about their schedule.

Tiny But Mighty
There were three G5 teams that defeated P4 teams this week. Tulsa took down Oklahoma State 19-12. Memphis beat Arkansas 32-31. The AAC is a strong conference, and they have six wins so far over the P4. Arkansas was ranked #36 in my poll last week, and before that they were #30 the week before (they lost to Ole Miss by one score). But the most shocking win this week was San Diego State beating California 34-0. Yeah, I had Cal as an Honorable Mention last week, and SDSU ruined that idea. 

Coaching Carousel
UCLA fired DeShaun Foster like ten minutes after I published last week. I guess he joins Brent Pry at the unemployment office this week. It was funny hearing Virginia Tech talk about increasing their sports budget. I would imagine Pry has complained about needing more funds to help entice recruits (coaches always want facilities upgraded, or more money for assistants, or whatever else they want). Probably annoying to see those headlines as the former coach. 

The biggest name associated with Virginia Tech is Michael Vick. He is in his first year at Norfolk State. Apparently he was told to take the job to get experience as a head coach by some of the bigger VA Tech donors. Interesting.

So who will be next? Mike Gundy is not going to make it through this year. Fans were chanting “Fire Mike Gundy” during the game against Tulsa. I also do not see Luke Fickell lasting much longer. Wisconsin lost to Maryland. There is no chance of Dabo Swinney being fired this year, but I wonder if people above him let him know they want him to start using the Transfer Portal. 

Heisman Watch
1. John Mateer (QB)–Oklahoma
2. Fernando Mendoza (QB)–Indiana
3. Garrett Nussmeier (QB)–LSU
4. Carson Beck (QB)–Miami
5. Josh Hoover (QB)–TCU

Mendoza just launched himself into the conversation with that performance against Illinois. I know his odds last week were like (+3000), now he is the favorite at (+800). I took Hoover a few weeks ago at (+5000) and he is now at (+1400). I took a few others as well.