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Mike's top 25 college football teams heading into Week 13 of the 2025 season. His complete top 25 rankings, including Ohio State Oregon, Indiana, and more.
Week 13 College Football Power Rankings
Crazy weekends are a given anymore. We’re not even surprised at this point. It was mostly the bottom of the rankings that got cleared out this week, but we’ll see a few changes closer to the top as well. We’ll also see the ranking of the first three-loss team of the season in my rankings. It’s a sad day. The ACC took another hit, and the American Conference decided that maybe it doesn’t want an invitation to the CFP either. Let’s see where the dominoes fall after Week 12.
25. Navy (8-2)
Last week: NR
Result: W 41-38 vs (25) South Florida
Navy’s two losses are on the road to good teams (North Texas and Notre Dame). How ironic that Navy finally cracks the rankings now when they couldn’t do it as an undefeated team. Navy still only has one conference loss, so they are firmly planted in the American Conference logjam. No one is going to admit this, but Navy’s shot at the playoff is as good as Tulane, North Texas, East Carolina, or James Madison. You want to know the kicker? Navy could win the American Championship Game and get a bid to the playoff all before the Army game. What happens if they lose to Army?
24. Louisville (7-3)
Last week: 21 (⇓3)
Result: L 19-20 vs. Clemson
I’m torn on what to do with Louisville. Isaac Brown is an elite talent, but Keyjuan Brown has done well in Isaac’s absence. It’s hard to blame either of these two losses with Isaac Brown out on his absence. With Cal, it was the total meltdown of the defense. Against Clemson, it was horrendous kicking. Again, not Brown’s fault. The win over Miami still looms large for Louisville since most other three-loss teams don’t have a win of that caliber.
23. Wake Forest (7-3)
Last week: 24 (⇑1)
Result: W 28-12 vs. North Carolina
We can make the argument that Wake should be 8-2, but those who didn’t watch the Georgia Tech game won’t get the reference. We’ll just have to rely on the win over Virginia to do the talking for the Demon Deacons. That’s better than any win Tennessee or Missouri has.
22. James Madison (9-1)
Last week: NR
Result: W 58-10 vs. Appalachian State
The knock on the Dukes reaching the CFP is going to be the loss to Louisville. The collapse of the Cardinals is a problem for James Madison since their inclusion into the CFP likely depends on the complete collapse of the ACC. That no longer seems likely since Virginia mauled Duke. This loss came while the Dukes were still using two quarterbacks, often during the same drive, which directly resulted in the loss.
21. North Texas (9-1)
Last week: 23 (⇑2)
Result: W 53-24 at UAB
Hey, they beat UAB. Memphis couldn’t! Aside from that, the win over Navy is about the only thing of note for North Texas. Hanging 59 on a Washington State defense that has been otherwise solid is also a bit of a flex. Being blown out by South Florida at home is going to hurt in the eyes of the CFP committee.
20. Tulane (8-2)
Last week: NR
Result: W 35-24 vs. Florida Atlantic
Fortune is going to shine on the Green Wave thanks to all of the chaos around them in the American Conference. Tulane has wins over Memphis in Memphis and against East Carolina. Power 4 wins over Duke and Northwestern — both of which could be bowl teams — puts the Wave at the top of the Group of 5 for now. Things are changing by the week!
19. Michigan (8-2)
Last week: 18 (⇓1)
Result: W 24-22 at Northwestern
Michigan turned it over five times last week and still managed to beat a bad Northwestern offense. Michigan has two good losses (at Oklahoma, at USC), but has no big wins. The win over Nebraska in Lincoln and over Washington isn’t anywhere close to the Texas wins over Oklahoma and Vanderbilt.
18. Virginia (8-2)
Last week: 19 (⇑1)
Result: W 34-17 at Duke
The Florida State win doesn’t mean much now, but the wins and Louisville and at Duke are comparable to Michigan’s wins. And, well, Virginia didn’t look like they were trying to lose this week. The Wahoos still have a shot at the ACC title game and soundly beat one of the teams that was competing with them for the same slot.
17. Texas (7-3)
Last week: 11 (⇓6)
Result: L 10-35 at (5) Georgia
I’m being more than fair to Texas. They got smacked in the fourth quarter in Athens. The loss to Florida borders on inexcusable. The facts are that Texas has lost to two teams in the top 5 and beaten two other top 15 teams. At some point, we have to overlook the Florida loss a little bit. Those big wins keep Texas as the highest-ranked three-loss team.
16. USC (8-2)
Last week: 17 (⇑1)
Result: W 26-21 vs. Iowa
Iowa obliterating Minnesota is not reason enough to rank them, so I didn’t have them ranked. It was a hard-fought win for USC, but when the Trojans don’t play Ohio State or Indiana and haven’t played Oregon yet, what do we really know about them? The win over Michigan is carrying the Trojans.
15. Georgia Tech (9-1)
Last week: 16 (⇑1)
Result: W 36-34 at Boston College
The Wreck struggling on Chestnut Hill the week after SMU obliterated the same team at the same venue suggests that Tech is likely overrated. The best win for Tech is Duke. You know, the team that got blown off the field by Virginia. I need another reason to move the Wreck down. I’ll get it soon enough. They play Pitt and Georgia to close the season.
14. Vanderbilt (8-2)
Last week: 13 (⇓1)
Result: BYE
Wins over “names” Virginia Tech, Auburn, South Carolina, LSU, and Missouri mean almost nothing when the only one of those teams that might end the season ranked is Missouri. Utah’s wins are better right now, but it is a fluid situation.
13. Utah (8-2)
Last week: 15 (⇑2)
Result: W 55-28 at Baylor
There’s a lot of chatter about Utah. Both of their losses are to top 10 teams, but the wins over Arizona State and Cincinnati are losing luster. The Utes can’t match the wins of Miami or Notre Dame. The Arizona State win was against a team without its starting quarterback. Context still matters, people.
12. Miami (FL) (8-2)
Last week: 14 (⇑2)
Result: W 41-7 vs. North Carolina State
Both Miami and Notre Dame demolished North Carolina State. Now comes the question: what means more, good wins or bad losses? Miami has the head-to-head over Notre Dame, but the other big wins are over Florida, Florida State, and South Florida. All three of those look weak right now. The Irish beat USC and Pitt. Solid wins. Miami lost to SMU and Louisville. Both are solid teams, but the Irish lost to A&M and Miami. Both are ranked teams and have been all season.
Here’s the way I look at it. It’s easy to get amped up for a game against a highly ranked team or a rival. Anyone can win those games. It says more when you lose the games that you are supposed to win. SMU and Louisville will get solid bowl games. A&M is a lock for the CFP, and Miami might get in as well. Those lesser losses keep the Canes behind the Irish.
11. Notre Dame (8-2)
Last week: 10 (⇓1)
Result: W 37-15 at (20) Pittsburgh
It was a convincing win by Notre Dame, but when you lose to the two best teams on the schedule, the strength of schedule metric means less. The Irish can’t compare to wins over Georgia for Alabama and Alabama for Oklahoma. Notre Dame’s best win is over USC, but at least the Irish are looking good doing it.
10. Alabama (8-2)
Last week: 4 (⇓6)
Result: W 21-23 vs. (12) Oklahoma
This isn’t a bad loss, but it doesn’t make much sense to rank Alabama ahead of one-loss teams or ahead of the team that just beat them. The Alabama defense didn’t allow a drive longer than 41 yards and had over 400 yards of offense against a top 5 defense, but still managed to lose.
9. Oklahoma (8-2)
Last week: 12 (⇑3)
Result: W 23-21 at (4) Alabama
It was only a matter of time before this defense started forcing turnovers. If you played this game another nine times, Oklahoma might lose all of them. The offense lacked explosiveness. 17 points off of Alabama turnovers were the difference in this game. Allowing 326 passing yards to Ty Simpson is a bit of a concern for the Oklahoma defense. That said, 244 of them were in the first half.
8. Oregon (9-1)
Last week: 8 ⇔
Result: W 42-13 vs. Minnesota
I’m not sure that the officials were watching the same game. Noah Whittington very clearly lost control of the ball before crossing the goal line and never controlled it again before going out of the back of the end zone. That should have been a touchback. He had both hands on it during one frame, but that’s clearly not possession. The catch by Jeremiah McClellan was likely in bounds thanks to a great toe tap, but he never survived the ground on the catch. That has been a sticking point in many college and pro games, and these passes have consistently been called incomplete. Not here. Oregon still would have won, but the committee and AP voters who heavily influence the committee sometimes only look at the score. It wasn’t as impressive as it looked.
7. BYU (9-1)
Last week: 9 (⇑2)
Result: W 44-13 vs. TCU
The win over Utah is more impressive than any Oregon win. I’m also not a fan of Oregon’s pouring it on Minnesota with the help of the officials. One of those calls was definitely not a touchdown. BYU beat on TCU — a team that many “experts” thought would give the Cougars some trouble — without controversy.
6. Mississippi (10-1)
Last week: 7 (⇑1)
Result: W 34-24 vs. Florida
I wanted to move Ole Miss down for an uninspired performance against Florida, but their win in Norman is better than BYU’s win against Utah at home. Both have good road losses. The game isn’t nearly as big now. BYU is playing like its playoff hopes depend on it, despite the same record. We didn’t get that fire out of Ole Miss here, but with only the Egg Bowl left, the Rebels are in even with an Egg Bowl loss. BYU doesn’t have that same luxury.
5. Texas Tech (9-1)
Last week: 5 ⇔
Result: W 48-9 vs. Central Florida
Texas Tech playing almost every bad team in the Big 12 is finally catching up with them. Beating both of the other top teams in this league helps, and a good argument can be made for the Red Raiders being undefeated if they had played Arizona State with a healthy Behren Morton. That’s an argument for another day.
4. Georgia (9-1)
Last week: 6 (⇑2)
Result: W 35-10 vs. (11) Texas
Blowing out Texas moves the Bulldogs back into the top 5. Texas Tech’s wins are comparable, but Georgia has the better loss.
3. Texas A&M (10-0)
Last week: 2 (⇓1)
Result: W 31-30 vs. South Carolina
I’m sorry, but you don’t get to play an awful half of football against a 3-6 team, then pound your chest like it’s some kind of great achievement to win. The comeback was the largest in A&M history, and the largest in the conference since 2000. This is not some kind of “Heisman performance” out of Marcel Reed, especially when he was one of the reasons that the Aggies were down 30-3 at halftime. It was a great comeback, but in all honesty, it shouldn’t have been necessary.
I’m moving the Aggies down for struggling with an average South Carolina at home. This is the first 10-0 start for the Aggies since 1992. Oh, and if the Gamecocks don’t fire Shane Beamer over strutting off the field at halftime, then coming out flat, the Gamecocks are stuck with him until he decides to quit. It won’t get any worse for the optics than that.
2. Ohio State (10-0)
Last week: 3 (⇑1)
Result: W 48-10 vs. UCLA
It was another methodical win for the Buckeyes, who were once again without Carnell Tate. Jeremiah Smith was also “limited” in this game, but it’s likely just resting them for more important games. Ohio State played a team with the same record at A&M did, but with a much different result.
1. Indiana (11-0)
Last week: 1 ⇔
Result: W 31-7 vs. Wisconsin
The gap at the top got a little bit wider this week. Indiana still dominated without Elijah Sarratt. The strange part is that Wisconsin looked better than they have at any other time this season. If Luke Fickell is still the coach in Madison next year, we may finally see some growth out of the Badgers.
