Josh's World

Second Longest Running Personal Blog on the Internet

Josh's World

Second Longest Running Personal Blog on the Internet

Football

Josh’s College Football Rankings 2025–Week 12

Ngewo

I love college football! I think that should be obvious, since I spend so much time writing about it. But I really do love watching these games. I love when pure chaos reigns throughout the rankings. I can only imagine how stressful the CFP committee will be this week as they debate who should be in the top twelve, and who is out (side note, I saw the chair stepped down, so if you are looking for someone to fill in, I am available!). 

I have to take a moment to give my Penn State Nittany Lions a shout-out for their first win under interim coach Terry Smith. They beat Michigan State 28-10. It was not a pretty win, but Kaytron Allen was a beast, going for 181 yards on the ground. Also, PSU avoided a seven-game losing streak, which would have been their worst since 1931 (which happens to be their only 7-game losing streak, kinda cool). 

Okay, this week I am going to focus on the remaining games, and I will mention the number of high quality wins and quality wins each team has. The HQ wins include: beating a top ten team, beating a ranked conference opponent, beating a conference rival on the road. Qu wins are: beating a ranked team, conference win, rivalry win (particularly if the rivalry is non-conference, or has a name), also a 1-score loss to a top ten team. Any combination of those Qu wins makes it a HQ win. Make sense? This is definitely a bit subjective (I have also given HQ wins to teams for a variety of reasons–Old Dominion beating Virginia Tech–figured they are non-conference rivals + G5 over P4).

  1.  Ohio State (10-0)–#1–W 48-10 UCLA. They have Rutgers and Michigan. HQ: 2 Qu: 6
  2. Texas A&M (10-0)–#2–W 31-30 South Carolina. I gave Indiana props last week for a tough win, well now it is the Aggies turn. What a comeback! They have Samford & Texas. HQ: 5 Qu: 3
  3. Indiana (11-0)–#3–W 31-7 Wisconsin. Bye then Purdue. HQ: 4 Qu: 4
  4. Georgia (9-1)–#5–W 35-10 #9 Texas. Charlotte, Georgia Tech. HQ: 4 Qu: 3
  5. Oregon (9-1)–#6–W 42-13 #37 Minnesota. USC, Washington. HQ: 2 Qu: 4
  6. Ole Miss (10-1)–#7–W 34-24 Florida. Bye, Mississippi State. HQ: 2 Qu: 6
  7. Texas Tech (10-1)–#8–W 48-9 UCF. Bye, WVU. HQ: 2 Qu: 5
  8. Oklahoma (8-2)–#11–W 23-21 #4 Alabama. Mizzou, LSU. HQ: 2 Qu: 4
  9. Alabama (8-2)–#4–L 23-21 #11 Oklahoma. Eastern Illinois, Auburn. HQ: 4 Qu: 2
  10. Notre Dame (8-2)–#10–W 37-15 #20 Pittsburgh. Syracuse, Stanford. HQ: 2 Qu: 2. Notre Dame is a tough one since they are independent. I gave them a HQ for beating Pitt on the road, they are one of the Irish’s historic rivalries, right?
  11. BYU (9-1)–#12–W 44-13 #34 TCU. Cincinnati, UCF. HQ: 1 Qu: 5
  12. Vanderbilt (8-2)–#13–BYE. Kentucky, Tennessee. HQ: 3 Qu: 2
  13. Georgia Tech (9-1)–#14–W 36-34 Boston College. Pittsburgh, Georgia. HQ: 1 Qu: 6
  14. Utah (8-2)–#15–W 55-28 Baylor. Kansas State, Kansas. HQ: 1 Qu: 5
  15. Michigan (8-2)–#16–W 24-22 Northwestern. Maryland, Ohio State. HQ: 1 Qu: 4
  16. Virginia (9-2)–#17–W 34-17 Duke. Bye, VA Tech. HQ: 1 Qu: 4
  17. Miami (8-2)–#19–W 41-7 NC State. VA Tech, Pitt. HQ: 3 Qu: 4
  18. USC (8-2)–#21–W 26-21 #23 Iowa. Oregon, UCLA. HQ: 1 Qu: 4
  19. James Madison (9-1)–#22–W 58-10 Appalachian State. Washington State, Coastal Carolina. HQ: 0 Qu: 8
  20. Texas (7-3)–#9–L 35-10 #5 Georgia. Arkansas, Texas A&M. HQ: 2 Qu: 3
  21. Tennessee (7-3)–#25–W 42-9 New Mexico State. Florida, Vandy. HQ: 1 Qu: 3
  22. Missouri (7-3)–#26–W 49-27 Mississippi State. Oklahoma, Arkansas. HQ: 3 Qu: 3
  23. Washington (7-3)–#28–W 49-13 Purdue. UCLA, Oregon. HQ: 0 Qu: 5
  24. North Texas (9-1)–#29–W 53-24 UAB. Congrats to the Mean Green for making my Top 25! Rice, Temple. HQ: 0 Qu: 5
  25. Louisville (7-3)–#18–L 20-19 Clemson. SMU, Kentucky. HQ: 1 Qu: 3
  26. Pittsburgh (7-3)–#20–L 37-15 #10 Notre Dame. Georgia Tech, Miami. HQ: 1 Qu: 4
  27. Arizona (7-3)–HM–W 30-24 #24 Cincinnati. Baylor, Arizona State. HQ: 1 Qu: 4
  28. Tulane (8-2)–#30–W 35-24 Florida Atlantic. Temple, Charlotte. HQ: 0 Qu: 5
  29. Illinois (7-3)–#31–W 24-6 BYE. Wisconsin, Northwestern. HQ: 1 Qu: 3
  30. Cincinnati (7-3)–#24–L 30-24 Arizona. BYU, TCU. HQ: 1 Qu: 4
  31. Houston (8-2)–#32–BYE. TCU, Baylor. HQ: 1 Qu: 3
  32. Arizona State (7-3)–#34–W 25-23 West Virginia. Colorado, Arizona. HQ: 3 Qu: 2
  33. Nebraska (7-3)–#35–BYE. Penn State, Iowa. HQ: 0 Qu: 4
  34. SMU (7-3)–#38–BYE. Louisville, California. HQ: 1 Qu: 4
  35. Navy (8-2)–NR–W 41-38 #27 South Florida. Memphis, Army. HQ: 1 Qu: 4
  36. Wake Forest (7-3)–HM–W 28-12 UNC. Delaware, Duke. HQ: 0 Qu: 4
  37. Iowa (6-4)–#23–L 26-21 #21 USC. Michigan State, Nebraska. HQ: 0 Qu: 6
  38. Hawaii (7-3)–HM–BYE. UNLV, Wyoming. HQ: 0 Qu: 5
  39. San Diego State (8-2)–W 17-7 Boise State. San Jose State, New Mexico. HQ: 1 Qu: 5
  40. UConn (8-3)–NR–W 26-16 Air Force. Florida Atlantic, Bye. HQ: 0 Qu: 2

Honorable Mentions
South Florida (7-3)–#27–L 41-38 Navy
Iowa State (6-4)–HM–BYE
East Carolina (7-3)–NR–W 31-27 #36 Memphis
Old Dominion (7-3)–NR–W 33-0 Troy
Western Kentucky (8-2)–NR–W 42-26 Middle Tennessee

Bobby Dodd Stadium

We have a full slate of MACtion this week, and YouTube & Disney reached a deal! Three games on Tuesday and two on Wednesday. Listen, if you want to have fun, watch some of these games, and make some silly bets to give you something to cheer on (always bet responsibly!) during MACtion.

Friday night we have a solid game late. #38 Hawaii heads to UNLV. Timmy Chang & the Rainbow Warriors face off against Dan Mullen and his Rebels.  These are two good teams, and this should be an entertaining game. 

This is one of those weeks where the SEC plays all of their non-conference games (there are only four conference games). Mercer vs. Auburn sounds like a thrilling battle! Anyways we do have #22 Missouri at #8 Oklahoma. A battle of the old Big 8! The winner receives the Tiger-Sooner Peace Pipe. Fun fact: Oklahoma leads this series 67-25-5. Mizzou won last year, 30-23, and they have won 2 of the last 3. Before that though, the Sooners won 7 straight, which is not even their longest streak against the Tigers (14 from 1946-1959).

There are a few games with some playoff implications. #25 Louisville at #34 SMU. The Mustangs are still in the ACC title hunt. They could make the championship game, but they need some help from a few teams ahead of them. But, they have to win their games. Speaking of ACC teams that SMU will be watching: #26 Pitt at #13 Georgia Tech. This is GTs last conference game, since their final game is against Georgia. Pitt has them, then Miami. I suppose SMU would be rooting for Pitt here, then for Miami next week. The ACC is bonkers. 

I think the big game this week is #18 USC at #5 Oregon. This is a rivalry game. These old Pac-10 does have played 63 times. USC leads 38-23-2. The Ducks have won the last three times, and seven of the last ten. However, these two teams have always had an ability to ruin their rival’s season. I would think if Oregon loses, their case for the playoffs will be very tough. 

Another game to watch is over in the Big XII: #30 Cincinnati at #11 BYU. The Cougars need another big win over a solid team. The Bearcats could spoil their season with a huge upset. We should have a nice fight between Brendan Sorsby & Bear Bachmeier. Maybe they could give us one of those classic Big XII games with each QB throwing over 350 yards. A boy can dream.

I have two other games to watch for personal reasons. First off we have #33 Nebraska at Penn State. It is a night game, and the Nittany Lions have a chance to get a big win during this terrible season. Funny, when the season began, this game was considered as an easy win. The other game I want to watch is Washington State at #19 James Madison. Okay, Lindsey’s step-brother went to Wazzou and my cousin went to JMU. I like both. I want the Dukes to win so they can continue being the leading G5 team for that playoff spot. Also, I am not opposed to the Nittany Lions hiring Bob Chesney (although his name is not nearly mentioned as much as a few others). 

Tiny But Mighty
Saturday was the 98th Battle of the Ravine. Henderson State vs. Ouachita Baptist. I think this rivalry is tied for the second longest in Division II. The head coach of the Henderson State Reddies, Greg Holsworth, was on social media last week trying to convince GameDay to come there (I think they need to be there for the 100th anniversary, it would be cool). The Reddies won the game 41-14 over the Tigers. For those that do not know, the two teams are located in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. In fact, the schools are across the street (their fields are 3,696 feet apart). I saw a story on the game, the visiting team uses their own locker room, and just walks over to the stadium. Pretty cool story.

Coaching Carousel
I do not understand Penn State fans. So many of my brethren were excited about firing James Franklin, but now they are freaking out because it sounds like he is close to signing a deal with Virginia Tech. There are rumors that he will get a bunch of players to transfer with him. On top of that, there have been numerous commits who have flipped. I am sorry, but what did you expect? Did these people think that kids who Franklin convinced to come here, would just sit back and stay here when he is out? How do you think we got Trace McSorley? Trace was committed to Vanderbilt, but flipped when Penn State hired Franklin. 

Also, I think Penn State fans need to brace themselves for a down season if they decide to hire one of the coordinators that everyone is clamoring for, like Brian Hartline. I am not against this move, but fans should know that hiring a coordinator means there is no transfer portal opening for a coach leaving (like if they hire a current head coach–if your head coach leaves, the portal opens up for a short period of time, which is why you see so many guys go with their coach). 

Another thing I do not understand about our fan base: the absolute hatred for James Franklin now.  Franklin was at Old Dominion last week, on the sidelines with Ricky Rahne. And before that he was at another game, enjoying himself. Fans were pissed. Also, they got mad when he went on GameDay and said his goal is still to win a national championship. Like…what do they expect him to say? What do they expect him to do? Just go away? Personally, I hope he takes the Virginia Tech job, and I hope he ends up winning a national championship. Why? Because I like James Franklin. Yes, I thought he needed to go, but that does not change the fact that I appreciate what he did here. Some fans are assholes.

Heisman Watch
Big changes in the Heisman race, at least in my opinion.
1. Fernando Mendoza (QB)–Indiana
2. Marcel Reed (QB)–Texas A&M
3. Julian Sayin (QB)–Ohio State
4. Jeremiyah Love (RB)–Notre Dame
5. Kewan Lacy (RB)–Ole Miss
6. Jacob Rodriguez (LB)–Texas Tech

I think Marcel Reed really proved his merit against South Carolina. Being down the way they were, and he played poorly in the first half. Then he took the game over in the second half. He ended up with 439 yards and 3 TDs. Mendoza still has the edge, but if Reed can have another big game, and a big win against Texas, I think it could be his. The QBs are always going to get the love for this award (but then it just takes one bad game to drop out of the conversation). Watch Love and Lacy. They continue to be the reason their teams are winning, and could end up stealing the award from a QB. And on interesting note, there is Jacob Rodriguez, the linebacker from Texas Tech. He has four interceptions this year. 9.5 TFL, 7 forced fumbles, a recovery for a TD, and 100 combined tackles. He is a beast and every once in awhile, a defensive player gets some attention.

Okay, last week I really mailed in this post, hopefully this one is much better. 

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