2025 SID Sports Week 12 Top 25

Ranking the top programs after Week 11's action

Nov 10, 2025

It’s clear that there’s a one-word theme for this college football season: Chaos. Each and every week, there’s an upset, a crazy play, a near miss, a coaching disaster. Every high is paired with an equally low low. And that’s why this season is the best since SID Sports got its start.

With all this chaos, it’s time to take stock of the top of the league. Who’s better than others? Who’s on the rise? Who’s tumbling down?

And, remember, we’ll take a look at how these rankings translate to playoff chances on Thursday with the weekly Bracketology article.

2025 Week 12 Top 25

Ohio State (9-0) LW: 2
Indiana’s near-miss against a Penn State team that Ohio State dominated moves the Buckeyes up to the top slot. Their offense is only getting better, the defense stingier, and the team better. While they haven’t gotten into high gear yet, we’ll likely see the Buckeye’s best against Michigan.
Indiana (10-0) LW: 1
Omar Cooper Jr.’s levitation act is what separates Indiana from remaining a top-two team and them plummeting into at-large chaos. For the first time since an early season trip to Kinnick, the Hoosiers looked beatable. I’m sure Cignetti will never allow that to happen again.
Texas A&M (9-0) LW: 3
I spent last weekend’s Games of the Slot trying to find ways for Texas A&M to fall back to their 8-4 expectations. Instead, Mike Elko’s team banded together and took down a hobbled Missouri on the road by multiple scores. No more Aggie curses - this is a team that can go the distance.
Alabama (8-1) LW: 4
LSU really didn’t stand a chance, did they? The Tide offense were stifled a bit by a very good Tiger defense, but there was no way Alabama could lose with the way their defense was playing. The held LSU to only 232 yards, forced two fumbles, held the Tigers to 2.3 yards per carry, and notched three sacks.
Georgia (8-1) LW: 5
The Dawgs had another ho-hum win over Mississippi State, with both the offense and defense playing truly well for what may be the first time this season. It’s true that they’re not the elite teams of yesteryear, but if Kirby Smart’s Georgia team can keep stacking performances like this, they’re a good bet to make a solid run.
Texas Tech (9-1) LW: 9
Texas Tech is jumping up in the polls after a one-sided domination of BYU, proving to everyone that this team does have the physicality and talent to beat anyone. The defense was suffocating, the offense found a rushing game, and Behren Morton didn’t make any mistakes. All around a great showing for a team with title aspirations.
Ole Miss (9-1) LW: 6
It’s no fault of the Rebels’ that they’re dropping a spot, but Texas Tech’s win was that impressive. Ole Miss simply did what they were supposed to with a 49-0 win over The Citadel.
Oregon (8-1) LW: 7
That was a quality win for the Ducks over a really good Iowa program at Kinnick. The passing performance was concerning, but the rainstorm made throwing and catching difficult and you’re going against Iowa’s secondary, so I’ll look past it. But wow, where was Oregon hiding this rushing attack? 261 total yards and a 7.3 yard per carry average against this defense will play anywhere.
Notre Dame (7-2) LW: 10
Yes, I found a path for a Navy win in my Games of the Slot this past weekend. No, Notre Dame didn’t allow that to happen. As is the standard in the modern era, the Irish dominated every facet of their yearly showdown with the Naval Academy. 49-10 is a beatdown a playoff team should put on a strong Group of Six contender.
Texas (7-2) LW: 11
Listen, I don’t like it either, but Texas sits in the top 10 after a chaotic week for mid-tier contenders. Luckily for the Longhorns, they got the week off. Perhaps unluckily is the rest of their schedule - with two of their three final games coming against top-five foes.
Oklahoma (7-2) LW: 12
Oklahoma also got the week off, which is great for John Mateer’s health. Still, a loss to Texas head-to-head keeps the Sooners a step below their rivals and out of the playoff picture.
BYU (8-1) LW: 8
Let’s not let this get away: BYU got roundly beat by Texas Tech this weekend. Still, the Cougars have played outstanding ball until their trip to Lubbock went sideways. Having L.J. Martin healthier the rest of the way should help, but the offense is limited by what true freshman Bear Bachmeier is able to do with his arm. He’s shown off his magician skills in the past, but that magic ran out in an ugly showing against the first true elite team BYU came across.
Georgia Tech (8-1) LW: 15
The Yellow Jackets are back on top of the ACC after another upside down week for top contenders. They’ll have a chance to show they belong down the stretch, but can the defense recover after allowing 46 points to NC State? Haynes King and the offense can score points by the boatload, but they need their defense to have a pulse to make it the rest of the way on top.
USC (7-2) LW: 13
Northwestern, as we assumed, wasn’t really a challenge for the Trojans. The wideout duo of Makai Lemon and Ja’Kori Lane are among the best in the nation. USC’s defense gave Northwestern more leeway than I expected, but we all knew that was the weaker side of the ball. We’ll see if that comes back to haunt the Trojans, who are still very much in reach of the playoff.
Vanderbilt (8-2) LW: 17
It seems counter-intuitive to have the Commodores as an arrow-up team after an overtime scare against the fired-coach-bump Auburn Tigers, but Vandy did things they hadn’t in the past. Namely, pull off a gutsy 10-point comeback against an SEC opponent. They still have a ton to figure out on defense, don’t get that wrong, but Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt aren’t out of it yet.
Miami (7-2) LW: 18
A Syracuse team missing a working quarterback under center was never going to be a problem. Shannon Dawson got into his bag on some trick plays, so maybe The U has its swagger back. If they’re making a run, Miami fans better hope that swagger is back.
Utah (7-2) LW: 19
A week off leads to little change for the Utes aside from jumping a few teams that got caught unawares and fell in the rankings. We'll see if Utah is anything more than the separation line between “good” and “elite” like Joe Flacco was for so many years.
Michigan (7-2) LW: 23
I really don’t know what to make of this Michigan team besides thinking they’re very similar to Utah: good defense, hit or miss offense, able to beat most teams but struggling against elite teams. This is the eastern half of the country’s Utah line.
Virginia (8-2) LW: 14
Turns out Virginia, in fact, could not keep getting away with it. The Hoos finally tripped up in-conference against a Wake Forest team that mostly followed the game plan I laid out in last weekend’s Games of the Slot. Well, that and Chandler Morris left the game with an injury. There’s no updates on his status, but Virginia might be cooked without their leader.
Louisville (7-2) LW: 16
There must be some program-linking voodoo tying Virginia and Louisville with each other this year. Both teams were positioned to party crash in the ACC, and now both lost. Louisville’s loss may be worse with how healthy the Cardinals were, but the defense simply couldn’t hang with the lightning show that is Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele.
Tulane (7-2) LW: NR
Welcome back to the Green Wave, who is the leader after last week’s Group of Six chaos. Tulane rebounded from a tough outing against UTSA to stave off a torrid Memphis comeback and assert themselves as this week’s class of the American. Jake Retzlaff and the offense looked great in the first half and pedestrian in the second. The same can be said of Tulane’s defense. Jon Sumrall, we need stability.
South Florida (7-2) LW: 24
The Bulls are still very much a part of this race. Where Tulane got beat by UTSA by multiple scores, South Florida just put almost that exact same beating on the Roadrunners. As we’ve seen all season, the Bulls are all gas, some brakes. Byrum Brown and the offense are more than good enough, but can the Bull defense play up to the task?
Cincinnati (7-2) LW: 25
The Bearcats needed this week off to get right following their decimation by Utah. Now, let’s see if Scott Satterfield, Brendan Sorsby and company have figured out what went wrong. Cincinnati is definitely offense-first, but the Bearcat defense can make plays when they need to. Both sides of the ball have to be the best they can down the stretch.
Pittsburgh (7-2) LW: NR
Welcome to the show, Pittsburgh! The Panthers sniff the rankings for the first time behind a red-hot five-game winning streak engineered by true freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel. He’s looked like he may be the next big thing, but Eli Holstein looked that way last year. Still, this is a Pat Narduzzi team that ranks sixth in scoring offense and 11th in passing offense. Scary stuff.
James Madison (8-1) LW: Next Five Out
A breakthrough at long last, as JMU has been hanging out in the Next Five Out for months at this point. The Dukes just keep tearing through Sun Belt competition and will walk to the conference championship. Remember, they played Louisville tight earlier this year. The defense, which gets a lot less attention, has also been great, allowing just 16.9 points per game this season.

The coaching carousel stops for nobody. To stay up to date on each job opening, take a look at our Coaching Shortlists!

Next Five Out: North Texas, Tennessee, SMU, Memphis, Missouri

North Texas and star quarterback Drew Mestemaker are just on the edge of being a serious problem in the American. Their defense is simply average, but the offense scores at a clip we don’t see much of anywhere else. Well, aside from Tennessee, which has a similar all gas, no brakes style behind Josh Heupel and quarterback Joey Aguilar. Too bad Aguilar throws too many picks. SMU is also hanging out on the fringes of the race, but a Kevin Jennings ankle injury might stop the Mustangs from going on another magical run. Memphis’s hopes are on life support after their loss to Tulane, but the Tigers have positioned themselves well in the American. Speaking of life support, someone check in on Matt Zollers, because Missouri just got dominated by Texas A&M. The youngster may evolve into a solid player, but it’s too much too early for him.

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