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–Conference Championships

Ngewo

The conference championship games were fantastic. People saying that they are pointless now, and that teams should just forfeit since they will not affect their playoff standing are idiots. Winning the conference is still a big deal, players want to be the best of the SEC, Big Ten, Big XII, etc. You play against those teams all season, they want that trophy, and the bragging rights against rivals. 

The rankings shifted around a bit because of some of those games. Unlike the committee, I do punish teams for playing poorly in these games. This is why I should be on the committee!

  1. Indiana (13-0)–#2–W 13-10 #1 Ohio State. The Hoosiers did it! They took down the Buckeyes, and they won the Big Ten outright for the time in like 80 years. Amazing season.
  2. Ohio State (12-1)–#1–L 13-10 #2 Indiana. Hard to punish the Buckeyes for this loss. It was a great game.
  3. Georgia (12-1)–#3–W 28-7 #8 Alabama. The Bulldogs avenged their only loss, and they did it in dominant fashion.
  4. Texas Tech (12-1)–#6–W 34-7 #14 BYU. Another dominant win over BYU convinced me that they are one of the top four teams. That defense is impressive to watch.
  5. Oregon (11-1)–#4–OFF
  6. Ole Miss (11-1)–#5–OFF
  7. Oklahoma (10-2)–#7–OFF
  8. Texas A&M (11-1)–#9–OFF
  9. Miami (10-2)–#11–OFF
  10. Notre Dame (10-2)–#12–OFF
  11. Alabama (10-3)–#8–L 28-7 #3 Georgia. The Tide looked awful. They had negative yards in rushing. That is insane.
  12. Texas (9-3)–#13–OFF
  13. Vanderbilt (10-2)–#10–OFF
  14. BYU (11-2)–#14–L 34-7 #6 Texas Tech. I was never high on this team, so I think they were appropriately ranked.
  15. Utah (10-2)–#15–OFF
  16. Michigan (9-3)–#17–OFF
  17. USC (9-3)–#18–OFF
  18. Arizona (9-3)–#19–OFF
  19. Virginia (10-3)–#16–L 27-20 OT Duke. Losing to a team that you beat easily a few weeks ago…yeah, that is not good.
  20. James Madison (12-1)–#20–W 31-14 Troy. The Dukes are a good team, but it is hard to put them above Virginia, since their only loss was to Louisville.
  21. Tulane (11-2)–#22–W 34-21 #21 North Texas. The Green Wave took down the Mean Green for the AAC championship. Guess who they beat earlier in the year? Duke.
  22. Georgia Tech (9-3)–#23–OFF
  23. Tennessee (8-4)–#24–OFF
  24. Washington (8-4)–#25–OFF
  25. Duke (8-5)–HM–W 27-20 OT #16 Virginia. I am happy for Manny Diaz and the Blue Devils. What a weird season!
  26. North Texas (11-2)–#21–L 34-21 #22 Tulane. Great season North Texas!
  27. Navy (9-2)–#26–OFF (they play Army next week)
  28. Missouri (8-4)–#27–OFF
  29. Pittsburgh (8-4)–#28–OFF
  30. Iowa State (8-4)–#29–OFF
  31. Iowa (8-4)–#30–OFF
  32. Arizona State (8-4)–#31–OFF
  33. SMU (8-4)–#32–OFF
  34. South Florida (9-3)–#33–OFF
  35. Illinois (8-4)–#34–OFF
  36. Louisville (8-4)–#35–OFF
  37. UConn (9-3)–#36–OFF
  38. Houston (9-3)–#37–OFF
  39. TCU (8-4)–#38–OFF
  40. Kennesaw State (10-3)–HM–W 19-15 Jacksonville State. This was probably my favorite game of the conference championships. It was exciting.
M&T Bank Stadium

We get the Army/Navy game this coming week. I highly suggest listening to the podcast, Campus Files, they did an episode about the time in 1965 when five cadets from West Point kidnapped the Navy’s goat named Billy before the big game. Plus there are tons of stories about how these two have battled each other over the years. 

And the match-ups are set for the playoffs!
#20 James Madison at #5 Oregon
#21 Tulane at #6 Ole Miss
#9 Miami at #8 Texas A&M
#11 Alabama at #7 Oklahoma

Tiny But Mighty
I have two teams I want to mention this week. First of all, can we just take a moment to appreciate what Kennesaw State did this year? They were 2-10 last year. Their coach quit when they were 0-8 (he claims they fired him, the school says they did not, who knows). They hired Jerry Mack in the off-season and he led them to a conference championship in their second year at the FBS level. Even crazier? Kennesaw State did not have football until 2015. 

The other team that needs to get some love this week is Illinois State. The Redbirds upset North Dakota State in the second round of the FCS playoffs. They managed to score a late TD, then got the 2-point conversion to take the lead and hold the Bison off. NDSU was undefeated, and they beat Illinois State earlier in the year. The Redbirds face UC Davis in the next round.

Coaching Carousel
Penn State has a head coach, finally! Welcome Matt Campbell. But there have been a ton of other moves. I think the jobs open at the moment are: Southern Miss (Charles Huff is going to Memphis), Coastal Carolina, Toledo, and Washington State. The name I am lobbying for the Chanticleers is Mike Jacobs. He is the head coach at Mercer, where he has done quite well. He also coached at Lenoir-Rhyne, a D-II school in North Carolina. He is another one of those guys who has had success wherever he goes. Plus, he just looks like a guy who would love Myrtle Beach.

Heisman Watch
After Indiana upset Ohio State, I think Mendoza has the award locked down. But, I could see the Heisman folks deciding that Jeremiyah Love was the best player, and give him the award. 

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