2025 SID Sports Preseason Rankings
The Top 25 programs heading into the 2025 season
Note: This is an accompanying piece to the SID Sports Season Preview. There, you’ll find full team previews for all 136 FBS teams, conference predictions from a panel of college football Substackers and more.
We’ve done it. College football is back. Week Zero came and went with some wonderfully wild football and here we are.
Now, I realize I haven’t fully gone into the preseason rankings like we’ve seen in years past here. That’s because they’re included in the SID Sports 2025 Season Preview Magazine!
If you haven’t read it yet, please do so. And if you have read it and liked it, keep referring back to it! Even as the season goes, there’s tons of helpful information.
But, we’re not here to only talk about the Season Preview magazine. No, we’re here to talk rankings. And here they are, in their full top-25 glory ahead of the 2025 season.
And yes, they were published before the Week Zero games, so the Farmageddon nail-biter result has no bearings here.
2025 Preseason Top 25
Clemson - The Tigers have the nation’s best returning production ranking, a host of Preseason All-Americans and have invited the transfer portal into town. On paper, they’re the ones to beat.
Texas - Texas is back, and so is having a Manning under center. We’ll see Week One if Arch Manning is ready for the bright lights or not, but a stellar defense can bail him out.
Ohio State - Ohio State had a ton of draft picks, a full-fledged quarterback battle and two coordinator changes, but Ryan Day’s team has always recruited well and never slumps.
Penn State - Everyone from last year’s somewhat disappointing season is back and James Franklin poached Jim Knowles from Ohio State to form what might be the nation’s best coordinator duo.
Georgia - You can always count on a Kirby Smart team to rank high in the preseason. There’s question marks across the program - like most top teams this season - but Smart always seems to have the answers.
Alabama - Ty Simpson is a better fit than Jalen Milroe in the Kalen DeBoer-Ryan Grubb scheme, and an elite defense will certainly help.
Oregon - Another year, another new quarterback in former five-star Dante Moore. Can a strong defense full of stars and Will Stein’s quarterback-friendly scheme keep the Ducks rolling?
LSU - Garrett Nussmeier is probably the nation’s best quarterback and got the nation’s best transfer class, including a ton of standout receivers. They just need Blake Baker’s defense to step up in Year Two.
Notre Dame - Marcus Freeman had his team balling out behind Jeremiyah Love and a strong defense, but Riley Leonard may have held the Irish back. Can the untapped potential of C.J. Carr push Notre Dame further?
Miami - Carson Beck was the prize of the transfer portal, but Corey Hetherman may be the best thing Mario Cristobal added if he can fix the Canes’ broken defense. Beck and the offense will score in bunches, it’s stopping scores that’ll be the problem.
Arizona State - Kenny Dillingham’s Sun Devils broke out and pretty much everyone is back. The combo of Sam Leavitt to Jordyn Tyson is among the nation’s best and Arizona State has a surprisingly stout defense.
SMU - This is Kevin Jennings’ show. If he can kick the Mustangs into overdrive, you saw what happened last season. As long as the defense doesn’t regress too hard, though.
Kansas State - Farm O’Geddon was a rough showing for Chris Kleiman’s squad, but the second half showed some promise. Big plays are the name of the game for the offense, both with Avery Johnson’s arm and legs.
Ole Miss - At this point, you already know we have no idea what the Rebels will look like. Austin Simmons looked like he belonged under center in a game-winning drive against Georgia in relief of Jaxson Dart last season, but the defense is almost entirely new.
Texas A&M - A ton of returning production, a sleeper good quarterback in Marcel Reed, holes filled with top transfer portal gets and a good coach in Mike Elko get the Aggies up this high. Maybe this is the year they don’t disappoint.
Michigan - The defense will be good, it always is. Bryce Underwood is the X-factor. If the true freshman lives up to his billing - or is just average - watch out. The Wolverines will be dangerous.
Texas Tech - It’s all transfer portal here. Behren Morton is a known quantity, but can a fully remade offensive line and defense allow Joey McGuire’s squad to raid Jerryworld for the Big 12 Championship?
USC - An optimistic ranking, sure, but there’s progress. D’Anton Lynn has given the Trojans a legit defense. The offense has question marks that Lincoln Riley gets paid the big bucks to solve. I’m betting he solves it.
Illinois - A tough, hard-nosed, throwback Big Ten team can still win. Bret Bielema gets a ton of returning production back across the board, but a hero-ball prone quarterback can make or break the season.
Utah - Devon Dampier was a lightning rod at New Mexico, so naturally it’s time to prove it at Utah. The Utes will have a solid defense and boast one of the nation’s best offensive lines, so it’s all on Dampier and his offensive coordinator Jason Beck.
Georgia Tech - Let’s see what’s left in Haynes King’s body. The Yellow Jackets will go as far as their quarterback and top rusher, Jamal Haynes, can carry them.
Baylor - An underrated Big 12 team that caught fire at the end of last season returns the league’s best quarterback in terms of QBR and two elite running backs. If Dave Aranda can get the defense trending the right way, Baylor will be a tough out.
Iowa State - We saw both sides of Iowa State at Farm O’Geddon - in the first half, an offense that struggled to run the ball and Rocco Becht being unable to carry them, in the second half, a big-play generating machine that also played stout defense. Hope for the second more than the first.
Indiana - Yes, Curt Cignetti can do this again. He’s got some All-American defenders back on the line (Mikai Kamara) and secondary (D’Angelo Ponds) and a transfer-heavy offense that can do serious damage. Don’t underestimate the Hoosiers again.
Boise State - No Jeanty, but Maddux Madsen and a possibly elite defense can get the Broncos to where they were last season and possibly further. The Group of Six playoff bid runs through Boise.
Next Five Out: Tulane, Louisville, Iowa, Tennessee, TCU
Want to see more of the rankings and learn more about each team? I ranked and wrote a two-page preview for all 136 programs in the free SID Sports Season Preview Magazine!
And, of course, no preseason rankings list would be complete without a preseason Playoff Bracket prediction. No, I’m not calling my shot for who’s winning the championship, just who gets into the dance.
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