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Mike's "next 25" college football teams heading into Week 9 of the 2025 season. His complete rankings for teams 26-50, including Nebraska, LSU, Tulane, and more.
College Football's Next 25 Rankings For Week 9
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 already seen a few teams transition between this and the top 25 this season. Who are the teams toiling just below the surface of recognition that could crash the College Football Playoff party? Consider this my “others receiving votes” section. It’s just a little larger than the AP version.
26. Texas (5-2)
Last week: 21 (⇓5)
Result: W 16-13 at Kentucky (OT)
If Kentucky weren’t complete and total morons, Texas would have lost this game, so I’m penalizing them as if it were a loss. I set a precedent for this in my rankings when I moved Georgia Tech down after a win over Wake Forest a few weeks ago. I know that struggling in Lexington is an SEC rite of passage, but this was more than a struggle. Texas looked horrible on offense, and the defense was shaky at times.
27. LSU (5-2)
Last week: 12 (⇓15)
Result: L 24-31 at (10) Vanderbilt
I’m penalizing LSU because…where’s the good win? I understand that it’s not their fault that Florida and Clemson are in the tank and South Carolina continues to struggle. What is the Tigers’ fault is not playing well in any of those games. The 24 points against Vanderbilt were the most scored by LSU on an FBS team this year. This was supposed to be an elite offense…
28. Tulane (6-1)
Last week: 30 (⇑2)
Result: W 24-17 vs. Army
Tulane won on one of the craziest plays you’ll ever see. Think of it like Duce Robinson’s bobble in the second overtime of the Virginia game, except that Shazz Preston completed this catch. Jake Retzlaff continues to do Jake Retzlaff things in the Big Easy.
29. Houston (6-1)
Last week: 32 (⇑3)
Result: W 31-28 vs. (46) Arizona
There is a very real possibility that Arizona is Houston’s best win. The Cougars have played the worst of what the Big 12 (16) has to offer aside from Texas Tech. Now the schedule gets a little tougher with the other Arizona team on the road before a bye week against West Virginia. At this point, the bye may put up more of a fight…
30. North Texas (6-1)
Last week: 36 (⇑6)
Result: W 55-17 vs. UTSA
The Mean Green demolished a solid UTSA team. Drew Mestemaker got back on track after a rough second half against South Florida. He threw for four touchdowns and ran for another in the rout. Perhaps more impressive was the North Texas defense holding Owen McCown to just 84 yards passing on 11 completions.
31. TCU (5-2)
Last week: 37 (⇑6)
Result: W 42-36 vs. (44) Baylor
TCU was in control of this game before the lightning hit. Baylor had a defensive touchdown and a 95-yard drive in about a minute late in the fourth quarter to make it interesting. I will say that for a game that featured the top two yardage passers in FBS accounting for just 549 passing yards combined was a bit of a letdown. TCU picked off Sawyer Robertson three times in the fourth quarter to secure victory and held Bryson Washington to just 23 rushing yards.
32. Pittsburgh (5-2)
Last week: 38 (⇑6)
Result: W 30-13 at Syracuse
That’s two big road wins overall, and three straight wins for the Panthers with freshman Mason Heintschel leading the offense. What this team was in the first month of the season means little right now. This is a different team under Heintschel. With games against Georgia Tech and Miami to close out the regular season, this team still has everything in front of them except for losing the tiebreaker to Louisville.
33. Washington (5-2)
Last week: 31 (⇓2)
Result: L 7-24 at (27) Michigan
It’s a road loss in one of the toughest places to play. Michigan’s defense controlled the game, picking off Demond Williams Jr. three times and keeping him out of the end zone. This was likely the toughest test Williams has faced in his young career. He failed, but I’m interested in seeing how he bounces back.
34. Nebraska (5-2)
Last week: 25 (⇓9)
Result: L 6-24 at Minnesota
Nebraska hasn’t beaten the Gophers since 2018. No matter how good things might be looking for Nebraska, they can’t get over the P.J. Fleck hump. Nebraska allowed more sacks (9) than they scored points (6). Some of that is on Dominic Raiola holding the ball too long, but a lot of it is on the line. Minnesota lived in the backfield in the second half.
35. Iowa State (5-2)
Last week: 35 ⇔
Result: BYE
Iowa State needed to get some things figured out in the bye week, like how to replace its top two cornerbacks. If they get that figured out, the Cyclones are still a contender.
36. Navy (6-0)
Last week: 39 (⇑3)
Result: BYE
Navy’s schedule is heavily backloaded. Yeah, they haven’t played anyone, but with a Memphis loss, the Middies have everything in front of them. Navy plays Memphis, North Texas, and South Florida. If they manage to beat Notre Dame, there may be a path for two teams from the American to get in the CFP. By the end of the season, Navy will have a better SOS than Virginia, Georgia Tech, and Memphis.
37. Memphis (6-1)
Last week: 24 (⇓13)
Result: L 24-31 at UAB
Jalen Kitna isn’t getting his job back. Ryder Burton was stellar in his first career start, and in a rivalry game! Memphis losing Brendon Lewis early in the second half was a big problem. AJ Hill only completed 13 of his 25 passes. The UAB defense stopping the Memphis run game was key in this one. Alex Mortensen has earned this job after just one game. If UAB doesn’t keep him, someone else will. Oklahoma State has to have some kind of interest in him. Memphis didn’t look crisp, even with Lewis in there. This was a giant letdown for the Tigers, who were the Group of 5 favorite after beating Arkansas.
38. James Madison (6-1)
Last week: 40 (⇑2)
Result: W 63-27 vs. Old Dominion
The Dukes win the Royal Rivalry yet again in dominant fashion. The only loss is to Louisville, which looks better now than it did then. After a couple of lackluster offensive outputs, Alonza Barnett III exploded with four rushing touchdowns and two more through the air.
39. Northwestern (5-2)
Last week: 43 (⇑4)
Result: W 19-0 at Purdue
This was Northwestern’s first shutout of an FBS opponent since 2017, and they are off to their first 5-2 start since 2015. David Braun has this program heading in the right direction, though I tend to think that what is really the right direction is continuing to play games in the palace by the lake.
40. Boise State (5-2)
Last week: 48 (⇑8)
Result: W 56-31 vs. (34) UNLV
Take away conference affiliation for a minute. Losses to Notre Dame and South Florida would be considered good losses for just about any team. Beating an undefeated UNLV team by 25 points is a pretty good win. Some Power 4 programs don’t have a comparable win.
41. Minnesota (5-2)
Last week: NR
Result: W 24-6 vs. (25) Nebraska
Drake Lindsey looked like the better quarterback in this one. Darius Taylor is looking like the star we thought he would be. That defense is stacked up front. Things are falling into place again for the Gophers. They have the big win over Nebraska and a win over possible MAC Champion Buffalo (who needed a miracle to beat UMass, but that’s a different story). The loss to Cal is off-putting.
42. UNLV (6-1)
Last week: 34 (⇓8)
Result: L 31-56 at (48) Boise State
The Rebels got blown out, but it was bound to happen sometime. This team has allowed 234 points in seven games. That includes games against Sam Houston and Wyoming, who are only slightly above Wisconsin in offensive prowess. The defense stopped the Rebels from having a special season. 10 wins still isn’t out of the question. The last five games on the schedule are all winnable. The Rebels should be favored in all of those.
43. San Diego State (5-1)
Last week: 47 (⇑4)
Result: BYE
Carnage happened throughout the rankings last week. 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.
44. California (5-2)
Last week: 49 (⇑5)
Result: W 21-18 vs. North Carolina
The win over Minnesota is propping up Cal. The loss to San Diego State looks better, but Cal needed a fumble out of the back of the end zone on what would have been the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter against a bad North Carolina team to survive. If Cal doesn’t put talent around Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, he’ll go the way of the triumvirate of talented freshmen that were in Berkeley in 2023. J. Michael Sturdivant left after the 2023 season. Fernando Mendoza and Jaydn Ott left after last year.
45. Wake Forest (4-2)
Last week: NR
Result: BYE
If not for a herd of zebras with an agenda, Wake would be 5-1. The “big win” is over Kennesaw State, or maybe Virginia Tech. A deserved win over Georgia Tech would go a long way towards viewing Wake in a much different light.
46. SMU
Last week: NR
Result: W 35-24 at Clemson
Sure, they beat Clemson without Cade Klubnik, but most voters don’t know that. We’re running out of two-loss teams, and SMU has wins over Clemson and Syracuse, which sound good. Both losses are to Big 12 teams.
47. Baylor (4-3)
Last week: 44 (⇓3)
Result: L 36-42 at (37) TCU
It was a road loss to Baylor’s chief rival, but the three interceptions from Sawyer Robertson in the fourth quarter have to be a bit concerning. A win over SMU is helping the Bears along. The K-State win doesn’t mean much since Army beat them at home, and North Dakota should have beaten them at home.
48. Mississippi State (4-3)
Last week: 29 (⇓19)
Result: L 21-23 at Florida
This last game was so ugly that the winning coach got fired. Mississippi State is only still here because of the win over Arizona State. They lost to both Tennessee and A&M, but really could have beaten Florida. Not like that means much anymore…
49. Iowa (5-2)
Last week: 42 (⇓7)
Result: W 25-24 vs. Penn State
The Hawkeyes should have lost to a Penn State team without a coach and a QB making his first start. On top of that, Iowa’s five wins have a combined record of 9-26 with a combined zero conference wins between all of them. I shouldn’t even have Iowa this high…
50. UCLA (3-4)
Last week: NR
Result: W 20-17 vs. (45) Maryland
Judging this UCLA team by the team that it was before Deshaun Foster was fired seems unfair. The Bruins have three straight solid wins under Tim Skipper against Penn State, Michigan State, and Maryland. This feels like a top-50 team right now.
