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Mike's "next 25" college football teams heading into Week 8 of the 2025 season. His complete rankings for teams 26-50, including Nebraska, Maryland, Tulane, and more.
College Football's Next 25 Rankings For Week 8
Top 25 lists are everywhere after every week. Let’s go a little deeper into the rankings of college football and find the teams that are just outside of recognition but could wind up in the spotlight if everything breaks right. We have seen a few teams move between both this and the top 25 already this season. Who are the teams toiling just below the surface of recognition that could crash the College Football Playoff party?
26. Nebraska (5-1)
Last week: 32 (⇑6)
Result: W 34-31 at (34) Maryland
What is this sorcery? Why is this team winning close games this year? Coaching. It’s almost all coaching. The team finally believes that it can win one-score games. It’s hard to call the Michigan loss a one-score game. Nebraska was down 10 with under a minute to go. They scored a touchdown to make it look like a better loss. I wonder what’s going to happen to this team after Matt Rhule takes another third-year team to a 10-win season, then leaves Lincoln for home when Penn State hires him in December. Will Dylan Raiola follow him?
27. Michigan (4-2)
Last week: 20 (⇓7)
Result: L 13-31 at (31) USC
You can’t blame this loss on Bryce Underwood. You can’t even blame it on the injury to Justice Haynes. Jordan Marshall was nearly as effective as Haynes in this game. This is on the Michigan defense. USC ran for 224 yards on just 36 carries against the Wolverines. True freshman King Miller dominated with 158 rushing yards on 18 carries. It’s safe to say that Waymond Jordan is now his backup. The reign of King Miller I has begun in Southern California
28. BYU (6-0)
Last week: 29 (⇑1)
Result: W 33-27 at (44) Arizona (2OT)
This is probably BYU’s best win, though the win in Boulder is looking much better in recent weeks. Who would have thought that BYU would still start 6-0 after the Jake Retzlaff saga and the commitment to starting the first true freshman ever in his first game? Bear Bachmeier has been tested more by tougher defenses, but he’s still a lot for opposing defenses to handle.
29. Mississippi State (4-2)
Last week: 26 (⇓3)
Result: BYE
I still think the win over Arizona State is a good one, though it won’t be in the eyes of the pollsters. I’m convinced that 75% of the AP voters had no idea that Sam Leavitt didn’t play in the blowout loss to Utah. The Bulldogs’ ranking is giving them credit for losing to good teams. That can’t happen forever. They’ll need another win at some point.
30. Tulane (5-1)
Last week: 30 ⇔
Result: W 26-19 vs. East Carolina
The Pirates showed up for this one. They had a lead going into the fourth quarter. I love the way that Jon Sumrall called the end of this game. He didn’t just sit on the ball and think a field goal attempt was a certain win. He knew that ECU was getting the ball back anyway and didn’t want a field goal to be able to tie it. So, he used as much time as he could before punching it in and letting his defense hold on for the final 30 seconds. More coaches need to do this.
31. Washington (5-1)
Last week: 33 (⇑2)
Result: W 38-19 vs. Rutgers
Demond Williams Jr. posted a career high in passing yards (402) and in rushing yards (136). He’s drawing a lot of comparisons to Lamar Jackson, and he should be. Williams is one of the most electric players in college right now, and he’s still only 19. Rutgers was able to bottle up Jonah Coleman, but they had no answer for Williams.
32. Houston (5-1)
Last week: 37 (⇑5)
Result: W 39-17 at Oklahoma State
The Oklahoma State win means little in the grand scheme of things, but Houston’s win over Colorado is looking better, and the loss to Texas Tech is far from a bad one. Besides, everyone around the Cougars keeps losing. They get to move up.
33. Louisville (4-1)
Last week: 36 (⇑3)
Result: BYE
The win over James Madison is a solid one. The win over Pitt looks better. Most will forget that Mason Heintschel didn’t start against the Cardinals. The loss to Virginia isn’t a bad one. The Wahoos are likely winning 10 games this year. Louisville gets a true test this week in Miami.
34. UNLV (6-0)
Last week: 39 (⇑5)
Result: W 51-48 vs. Air Force
No one ever said that UNLV’s defense is a strong point. There were 42 combined points in the fourth quarter of this one. It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable games of Week 7. With this win over Air Force, UNLV matches Navy’s best win. Also, that win over UCLA is going to end up being a really good one for the Rebels. This is the first 6-0 start for UNLV since 1974, when they were a Division II school.
35. Iowa State (4-2)
Last week: 23 (⇓12)
Result: L 17-24 at Colorado
Yes, Iowa State got totally screwed when the flag for pass interference was picked up. It shouldn’t have been. However, there were still seven minutes left in the game after that, and the Cyclones still didn’t gain any traction. I love Abu Sama III as a featured back. An uncharacteristically off day from Rocco Becht sunk the Cyclones. I still think the win over Kansas State is a solid one. So is Iowa. However, those aren’t the big wins that Iowa State is going to need to keep afloat.
36. North Texas (5-1)
Last week: 35 (⇓1)
Result: L 36-63 vs. (14) South Florida
It sucks to get blown out in the biggest game in school history, but I’m not going to dock the Mean Green much for it. This is still a better loss than many in this area of my rankings had last week. If the Mean Green loses to UTSA, well, that’s a different story…
37. TCU (4-2)
Last week: 28 (⇓9)
Result: L 28-41 at Kansas State
Getting roughed up by K-State isn’t a great look. The SMU and Colorado wins are still solid. The Horned Frogs get a reprieve in the Revivalry this weekend against a weak Baylor defense.
38. Pittsburgh (4-2)
Last week: NR
Result: W 34-31 at (27) Florida State
This is a different team with Mason Heintschel under center. He doesn’t make the mistakes that Eli Holstein does, and he has a lot more touch on his passes already. So, I’m going to take this the same way as I did the Arizona State loss without starting QB Sam Leavitt. That wasn’t an accurate representation of Arizona State that Utah beat on. The first month of Pitt football isn’t an accurate representation of what this team will be going forward.
39. Navy (6-0)
Last week: 40 (⇑1)
Result: W 32-31 at Temple
Well, a win is still a win. Navy is winning ugly, and I don’t see how many see them as one of the favorites in a loaded American Conference this year.
40. James Madison (5-1)
Last week: 41 (⇑1)
Result: W 24-14 vs. Louisiana
The Dukes have been sloppy with the football in recent weeks, but the defense is still more than enough to win them the Fun Belt this year.
41. Duke (4-2)
Last week: 43 (⇑2)
Result: BYE
Duke has three decent ACC wins (at Cal, North Carolina State, and at Syracuse), but how far can that carry them?
42. Iowa (4-2)
Last week: NR
Result: W 37-0 at Wisconsin
I’m going to give Iowa some credit for playing a good Indiana team to within five points. Even Oregon couldn’t do that. Recording the first shutout at Camp Randall since 1980 is a good look as well. That’s not just for Iowa. That’s for any team visiting Madison.
43. Northwestern (4-2)
Last week: 48 (⇑5)
Result: W 22-21 at Penn State
This win was so big that it got Penn State to pay nearly $50 million to get rid of the coach. The wins over UCLA and Penn State may not mean a lot down the road, but they do now. Those are better wins than Maryland has. Losses to Oregon and Tulane are still good losses.
44. Baylor (4-2)
Last week: 46 (⇑2)
Result: BYE
The K-State win looks better than it did last week. The loss to Auburn at home allows SEC parrots to continually claim the Big 12 is less than.
45. Maryland (4-1)
Last week: 34 (⇓11)
Result: L 31-34 vs. (32) Nebraska
That’s two tough losses by a combined seven points for the Terps at home. This isn’t about the losses. It’s about the wins, or more specifically, lack thereof. Beating Wisconsin in Madison doesn’t mean much right now. It’s so easy, Iowa could do it.
46. Arizona (4-2)
Last week: 44 (⇓2)
Result: L 27-33 vs. (28) BYU
Arizona put up a fight against a good BYU team. The Kansas State win is looking better. Now, about getting decimated by Iowa State…
47. San Diego State (5-1)
Last week: NR
Result: W 44-10 at Nevada
This team has outscored the four opponents since the embarrassing loss to Washington State by a combined 129-37. That includes a game against Cal and a 6-3 tilt with Northern Illinois. This offense has figured something out. Jayden Denegal is the best passer the Aztecs have had in at least the last decade.
48. Boise State (4-2)
Last week: NR
Result: W 41-25 vs. New Mexico
The two losses are to top-15 South Florida and Notre Dame teams. Wins over Air Force and Appalachian State look solid enough to put the Broncos here over a 3-3 team that hasn’t won a conference game in 12 months or other 3-3 teams without a good win.
49. California (4-2)
Last week: NR
Result: BYE
Both Duke and San Diego State are good teams. The win over Boston College doesn’t mean a lot, but beating a solid Minnesota team is looking better. I don’t think people realize how many average 4-2 teams are out there.
50. Auburn (3-3)
Last week: 45 (⇓5)
Result: L 10-20 vs. (9) Georgia
According to Auburn, they would be 6-0 without the intervention of zebras. I get it. Oklahoma was on the wrong end of several calls from 2007-08, and it sucked. The bad part for Auburn is that most of the ones that they were complaining about were called correctly. The bad part is that it really shifted momentum, and the commentators in the booth sided with Auburn and fanned the flames. The non-call on the PI in the Oklahoma game was awful. It should have been called. I was surprised that the fumble recovery for a touchdown was overturned, especially since it was called a touchdown to begin with. I think they got it right. Am I 100% sure? No.
What I am sure about is that the Auburn defense has bordered on excellent, and is being wasted by an inept offense. It starts with the line, but Jackson Arnold was never the solution. Take it from an Oklahoma fan; he’s always going to be more problem than solution.
