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Mike's top 25 college football teams heading into Week 11 of the 2025 season. His complete top 25 rankings, including Ohio State Oregon, Indiana, and more.
Week 11 College Football Power Rankings
There are only four weeks left of the regular season. Where did this season go? There is still a lot to be figured out in the last month of the season, but one thing that wouldn’t need to be sorted out is the four-team playoff. The top four teams are very clear at this point. Everything else is just fluff. That’s a discussion for another day. This week, we saw three more top 10 teams take a dive. You can bet my rankings are going to handle them accordingly.
25. Cincinnati (7-2)
Last week: 19 (⇓6)
Result: L 14-45 at (18) Utah
Cincinnati was never in the game. Maybe the win over Iowa State still means something, but probably not. Cincinnati, Pitt, and Tennessee are interchangeable at this point.
24. North Texas (8-1)
Last week: 29 (⇑5)
Result: W 31-17 vs. (36) Navy
Now you see why I wasn’t ranking Navy. I’m not being difficult. Who you play has to mean something still. I’ll be honest…the North Texas wins over Army, Navy, and a blowout of Washington State are more impressive than anything Tennessee or Pitt has done.
23. Memphis (8-1)
Last week: 25 (⇑2)
Result: W 38-14 at Rice
Memphis still has to prove that they belong in the CFP. They end the season with Tulane, East Carolina, and Navy. They are a combined 18-6 with losses to BYU, South Florida, and North Texas.
22. Washington (6-2)
Last week: 24 (⇑2)
Result: BYE
When teams in front of you lose, you win by doing nothing!
21. Michigan (7-2)
Last week: 22 (⇑1)
Result: W 21-16 vs. Purdue
Struggling with a team that is winless in the Big Ten should count as a loss, but I can’t even drop Michigan because they beat Washington, and Tennessee hasn’t beaten anyone of substance besides Tennessee.
20. USC (6-2)
Last week: 21 (⇑1)
Result: W 21-17 at (31) Nebraska
I’ll give USC credit for beating Michigan, but it’s hard to give them too much credit for beating Nebraska. Dylan Raiola broke his leg with Nebraska up by eight points early in the third quarter. USC had its worst passing day in seven years and still won because Nebraska could no longer move the ball consistently. If Raiola doesn’t get hurt, it’s reasonable to expect that USC loses.
19. Georgia Tech (8-1)
Last week: 12 (⇓7)
Result: L 36-48 at North Carolina State
Losses hurt worse when you don’t have a good win or a good loss to fall back on. Tech’s signature win is probably at Duke. Yikes! The Wreck losing made life much easier for the CFP.
18. Missouri (6-2)
Last week: 17 (⇓1)
Result: BYE
Believe it or not, Missouri’s wins over Kansas, South Carolina, and Auburn are arguably better than Georgia Tech’s wins. Both Missouri losses are to ranked teams. Tech got handled by North Carolina State.
17. Miami (FL) (6-2)
Last week: 7 (⇓10)
Result: L 20-26 at SMU
There is a world where it’s a real possibility that Miami still makes the CFP with two losses and does not make the ACC Championship. That is not a world that I am interested in. Get mad all you want, but wins over Notre Dame and South Florida are better wins than anyone else in the ACC has. The playoff field after the top four teams is so weak. It may provide “good” games, but what it has cost the regular season isn’t worth it.
16. Louisville (7-1)
Last week: 14 (⇓2)
Result: W 28-16 at Virginia Tech
Louisville’s win in Miami doesn’t mean as much as it did. It’s a mess at the top of the ACC. The bottom isn’t much better (or much different, for that matter).
15. Virginia (8-1)
Last week: 16 (⇑1)
Result: W 31-21 at (49) California
No part of me thinks Virginia is better than Louisville, but they have a head-to-head win in Louisville, and the Wahoos lead the ACC. Virginia is 8-1 for the first time since 1990. That’s what a cake schedule can do for you. Beat Louisville and coast to the College Football Playoff. Not a bad gig if you can get it. Tell me why Virginia Tech is a “bad” job compared to the other openings?
14. Utah (7-2)
Last week: 18 (⇑4)
Result: W 45-14 vs. (19) Cincinnati
This was a statement win over a solid Cincinnati team. Utah’s losses are to the top two (and both are top 10 overall) teams in the Big 12. Add that to a statement win, and it’s hard to argue against Utah’s inclusion here.
13. Oklahoma (7-2)
Last week: 15 (⇑2)
Result: W 33-27 at (20) Tennessee
You know, we’re at the point where it’s easier to justify getting your ass beat by a rival than it is to justify how piling up wins against bad teams is a good thing. A road win against Tennessee is solid. So is a home win against Michigan. Believe it or not, that’s better than most teams Oklahoma shares a boat with.
12. Vanderbilt (7-2)
Last week: 6 (⇓6)
Result: L 31-34 at (27) Texas
Road losses to Alabama and Texas are solid. Wins over Missouri and…uh…Missouri isn’t bad. Virginia Tech, South Carolina, and LSU aren’t who we thought they were. Vandy can coast to the Tennessee game now and could be sitting pretty despite the lack of big wins because few other teams have them either.
11. Texas (7-2)
Last week: 27 (⇑16)
Result: W 34-31 vs. (6) Vanderbilt
I punished Texas for struggling with SEC bottom-feeders Mississippi State and Kentucky. Now I have to recant and rank Texas above Vandy and Oklahoma since the Longhorns beat both of them.
10. Notre Dame (6-2)
Last week: 13 (⇑3)
Result: W 25-10 at Boston College
This was not the style of win that the Irish needed, but it’s too easy to beat the drum that Notre Dame has an easy schedule. There are maybe 10 teams that don’t have an easy schedule this year. Thank you, super-mega-big-ass conferences! The loss to A&M is good. The loss to Miami takes a hit, but what other two-loss team has a better win than USC right now? Games against Pitt and Navy are also against winning teams. Compare that to Indiana, which doesn’t play another team with a winning record and has teams that are a combined 0-17 in the Big Ten. Maybe Notre Dame’s schedule is “easy,” but it’s unfair to pretend that it’s that much easier than everyone else.
9. Oregon (7-1)
Last week: 9 ⇔
Result: BYE
We are at the point where one “good” loss (at home, mind you) is enough to overshadow not beating a good team. Northwestern is Oregon’s best win. I may have to start ranking two-loss teams with decent wins up here instead.
8. BYU (8-0)
Last week: 11 (⇑3)
Result: BYE
Hey, at least BYU has a good win. Oregon doesn’t, and Vanderbilt has two losses. The absolute garbage pile at the bottom of the Big Ten should hurt that entire conference. There is simply no excuse.
7. Mississippi (8-1)
Last week: 10 (⇑3)
Result: W 30-14 vs. South Carolina
The only big win for Ole Miss got boosted a bit when Oklahoma beat Tennessee. Relax, it’s the age of super-mega-big-ass conferences. Not many teams play ranked teams anymore. Some don’t even play good teams…
6. Texas Tech (8-1)
Last week: 8 (⇑2)
Result: W 43-20 at Kansas State
A star quarterback, two star running backs (neither of which was supposed to start), and the best linebacker in college football. That’s what NIL money can do if you spend it in the right places.
5. Georgia (7-1)
Last week: 5 ⇔
Result: W 24-20 vs. Florida
Beating a rival is never easy. Acting like it is is disingenuous. I’m not going to take Georgia out of this perch until they deserve to be moved.
4. Alabama (7-1)
Last week: 4 ⇔
Result: BYE
This is the first time in a long while that we haven’t had any shakeups in the top 5.
3. Ohio State (8-0)
Last week: 3 ⇔
Result: W 38-14 vs. Penn State
As much as I can, do, and have complained about A&M’s conference schedule, they have an out-of-conference win on the road against Notre Dame. Ohio State has nothing of the sort.
2. Texas A&M (8-0)
Last week: 2 ⇔
Result: BYE
The last four games are all very winnable for the Aggies. That means that this “elite” conference could have the table run by a team that hasn’t won a conference title since before your great-grandparents were born. Why? Because A&M didn’t have to play Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Vanderbilt, or Oklahoma — teams that are a combined 44-7 this season. Super-mega-big-ass conferences, am I right?
1. Indiana (9-0)
Last week: 1 ⇔
Result: W 55-10 at Maryland
We can argue all we want about Indiana’s schedule but beating Oregon this year is better than anything they did last year. They are also smacking inferior opponents.
