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Mike's top 25 college football teams heading into Week 10 of the 2025 season. His complete top 25 rankings, including Ohio State Oregon, Indiana, and more.
Week 9 College Football Power Rankings
While we didn’t have as many ranked vs. ranked matchups this week, there were still some really good games. Some were surprising. Some shouldn’t have come as a surprise because Vegas told us what was going to happen. Those guys are right sometimes, you know. Backup quarterbacks affected the outcome of games differently than others. Once again, a college football weekend delivered a little bit of everything…and threw a wrench into the rankings. There aren’t as many shakeups as last week, but we still had some changes.
25. Memphis (7-1)
Last week: 37 (⇑12)
Result: W 34-31 vs. (10) South Florida
Wins over Arkansas and South Florida are a big deal. Losing your only rivalry trophy game to a team that had just fired its coach? Woof!
24. Washington (6-2)
Last week: 33 (⇑9)
Result: W 42-25 vs. (22) Illinois
The two losses are to two of the best defensive teams in the conference. Michigan and Ohio State are on a very short list of teams that could control Demond Williams Jr. The Illinois win is the best one for the Huskies so far, but there are still some teams that can’t claim that.
23. Houston (7-1)
Last week: 29 (⇑6)
Result: W24-16 at (21) Arizona State
There’s a somewhat big win for the Cougars. The Sun Devils were without all-world receiver Jordyn Tyson, and it showed. The Sun Devils didn’t score until the fourth quarter. There are some good teams in the Big 12, even if ESPN refuses to acknowledge the conference now (despite still having a TV deal with them).
22. Michigan (6-2)
Last week: 25 (⇑3)
Result: W 31-20 vs. Michigan State
That Washington win looks really good now. The Nebraska win is solid. Losses to Oklahoma and USC aren’t prohibitive. Maybe they just have a soft spot for Lincoln Riley and his former teams.
21. USC (5-2)
Last week: 24 (⇑3)
Result: BYE
How does USC move up three spots in a bye week? It’s carnage, baby! Everyone around them lost, and the Trojans hold the head-to-head over Michigan.
20. Tennessee (6-2)
Last week: 20 ⇔
Result: W 56-34 at Kentucky
Another week, another Tennessee win in which they give up way too many points to an SEC bottom-feeder. The Vols win the Bring Back The Beer Barrel Bowl to move to 3-2 in the conference. Tennessee has two really good losses in Georgia and Alabama. The conference wins are over three teams that are a combined 0-13 in SEC play.
19. Cincinnati (7-1)
Last week: 23 (⇑4)
Result: W 41-20 vs. (47) Baylor
It was another big win against another perceived good team. Kansas, Iowa State, and Baylor aren’t what we expected, but Cincinnati passes the eye test. The Nebraska loss is still holding this team back a little.
18. Utah (6-2)
Last week: 19 (⇑1)
Result: W 53-7 vs. Colorado
It was a win in impressive fashion with a freshman backup quarterback against a team that beat Iowa State and pushed Houston and Georgia Tech.
17. Missouri (6-2)
Last week: 18 (⇑1)
Result: L 10-17 at (7) Vanderbilt
How does Missouri lose and still move up? They lost on the road by one yard to a top 10 team with a backup quarterback in for the last 20 minutes or so.
16. Virginia (7-1)
Last week: 16 ⇔
Result: W 17-16 at North Carolina (OT)
Another week, another heart attack for Virginia fans. This time, it was a missed Carolina two-point conversion in overtime. I understand Bill Belichick going for two since Carolina wasn’t supposed to be in this game anyway. The Wahoos have won the last four games via two overtime wins, a double overtime win, and a safety within the final two minutes of a tie game. If ever there were a team of destiny, it’s the 2025 Virginia Cavaliers. Their loss technically is not a conference loss.
15. Oklahoma (5-2)
Last week: 11 (⇓4)
Result: L 26-34 vs. (15) Mississippi
Oklahoma had plenty of chances in this game, but stupid penalties, overthrown receivers, and a fumble by Isaiah Satgena III after Oklahoma finally had momentum ended the playoff hopes. Two losses don’t technically eliminate the Sooners, but there is no way this team is winning out with the remaining schedule.
Trinidad Chambliss was a huge problem for Oklahoma. The line did a good job pressuring him, but not containing him once he got out of the pressure. The play of Chambliss was every bit as important to Mississippi’s win as the Sategna fumble.
14. Louisville (6-1)
Last week: 17 (⇑3)
Result: W 38-24 vs. Boston College
Beating Boston College by 14 certainly counts as a letdown after knocking off Miami. What was not a letdown was Isaac Brown. The sophomore from Miami ran for 113 yards on his hometown team and followed that up with a 205-yard performance against the Eagles on just 14 carries. A healthy Brown is one of the best running backs in the nation.
13. Notre Dame (6-1)
Last week: 12 (⇓1)
Result: BYE
Both losses are to top 10 teams. Two losses should disqualify you from championship talks. The Irish lost the first two games and will still get in without having to play a conference championship game. It’s not a bad gig if you can get it. The bad news is that no one aside from Notre Dame would get this treatment.
12. Georgia Tech (8-0)
Last week: 14 (⇑2)
Result: W 41-16 vs. Syracuse
The AP voters are much more impressed with Tech’s body of work than I am. The truth is, they should have lost to Wake Forest if the game had been officiated correctly, and beating Clemson and Colorado doesn’t take much this year.
11. BYU (8-0)
Last week: 13 (⇑2)
Result: W 41-27 at (35) Iowa State
The Cyclones scored on the first play from scrimmage and put up 17 points in the first quarter. It was all downhill from there. BYU picked off Rocco Becht three times, including once for a touchdown. Bear Bachmeier looked like the seasoned veteran in this one. Bear threw for 307 yards and a pair of touchdowns while leading the team with 49 rushing yards and another touchdown on the ground. The only knock is on the BYU defense for getting carved up by Carson Hansen and Abu Sama III.
10. Mississippi (7-1)
Last week: 15 (⇑5)
Result: W 34-26 at (11) Oklahoma
There’s that good-looking win. Mississippi controlled this game defensively and solved the Oklahoma defense. This was a defining game for why Mississippi sticks with Trinidad Chambliss. His escapability won this game for the Rebels. Oklahoma made its share of costly mistakes, but Mississippi took advantage. The defense allowed two big plays. Aside from those, this was the Land Sharks that Rebel fans were used to from a few years ago.
9. Oregon (7-1)
Last week: 9 (⇓1)
Result: W 21-7 vs. Wisconsin
I’m not going to penalize Oregon too much for not blowing out Wisconsin when they lost their starting quarterback in the third quarter. Granted, Oregon wasn’t going to win in blowout fashion anyway. They’ll lose one spot because Texas Tech left no doubt, AND they were already on the backup quarterback when the game started.
8. Texas Tech (7-1)
Last week: 9 (⇑1)
Result: W 42-0 vs. Oklahoma State
No tortillas, no problem! Ja’Koby Williams returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and scored again on Texas Tech’s first play from scrimmage. Backup Will Hammond was hurt in the second quarter. Third-stringer Mitch Griffis came in. Oklahoma State couldn’t stop him either.
7. Miami (FL) (6-1)
Last week: 6 (⇓1)
Result: W 42-7 vs. Stanford
Stanford scored the first touchdown, then disappeared for the last three quarters. This was a methodical game for Carson Beck, which is exactly what he needed after the disaster against Louisville last Friday.
6. Vanderbilt (7-1)
Last week: 7 (⇑1)
Result: W 17-10 vs. (18) Missouri
Would this game have ended differently if Beau Pribula had finished the game? We’ll never know. This was a hard-fought game. You know…the kind of game that College GameDay hopes they will have when they show up. The Commodores aren’t done yet! We can debate over whether Missouri was a prove-it game or not, but the Tigers have been a solid presence in the SEC since they joined. It’s not fair to call them a “mid” team.
5. Georgia (6-1)
Last week: 5 ⇔
Result: BYE
The Bulldogs (and the fans) have had a week off to prime for the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
4. Alabama (7-1)
Last week: 3 (⇓1)
Result: W 29-22 at South Carolina
It took two Germie Bernard touchdowns in the last three minutes for Alabama to escape with the win. So, yes…I feel justified in moving the Tide down. Ohio State hasn’t struggled with any team, not even Texas.
3. Ohio State (7-0)
Last week: 4 (⇑1)
Result: BYE
As mentioned before, Ohio State didn’t struggle with Texas and didn’t struggle with Illinois on the road. They didn’t struggle with Washington on the road either.
2. Texas A&M (8-0)
Last week: 1 ⇔
Result: W 49-25 at (27) LSU
The Aggies dominated the second half of this game. Even the benching of Garrett Nussmeier didn’t help. I still think that there is something wrong with Nussmeier, or he changed his mechanics. Whatever it is, it has taken him from a possible first-round pick to an undrafted free agent. At this point, Michael Van Buren Jr. is a better option for the Tigers.
LSU has held to just 28 yards in the second half. This is the best that the Aggies’ defense has played all season. Yeah, the LSU offense has been nothing special for most of the season, but it’s still hard to hold an offense down for an entire half. Marcel Reed took over again with Le’Veon Moss out.
1. Indiana (8-0)
Last week: 1 ⇔
Result: W 56-6 vs. (50) UCLA
How many more 50-point wins does Indiana have to pile up before the national media starts to pick up on it? This is the best team I have watched this year. Period. Fernando Mendoza is the difference maker. Will that translate to a Heisman Trophy? He’s not piling up a bunch of stats. This is just a complete team.
