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Mike's top 25 college football teams heading into Week 15 of the 2025 season. His complete top 25 rankings, including Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana, and more.
Week 15 College Football Power Rankings
Rivalry week was fun. The first part of the coaching carousel went off the rails as expected. We are now in a position where two Group of 5 teams could get into the CFP, and two 11-1 teams may be left out. That’s for them to sort out (though I would love the chance to do it for them). This season highlights why I don’t like the idea of a set number of automatic bids per conference, or automatic bids in general. The problem is that the CFP committee is not fair, and they are never fair unless they are forced to be. The rational solution would be to have a maximum number of bids per conference, but we all know that will never happen.
I’m just here to explore what happened during the chaos of rivalry week. The chaos of the CFP is of its own creation, and I have no sympathy for them. The bad part is that they are going to use it as an excuse to further belittle the regular season, and to take everything away from the Group of 5 or 6, depending on how the Pac-12 looks next year. Let’s get to the rankings!
25. Iowa (8-4)
Last week: NR
Result: W 40-16 at Nebraska
The Hawkeyes blow out one of their rivals to end the season. Iowa lost four games by a combined 15 points, all to teams that were ranked at the time.
24. Navy (9-2)
Last week: NR
Result: W 28-17 at Memphis
The Middies lost to Notre Dame and North Texas — both on the road. They closed the season by ending the hopes of South Florida and Memphis. Navy is not going to be a fun team to face in a bowl game.
23. Georgia Tech (9-3)
Last week: 20 (⇓3)
Result: L 9-16 vs. (4) Georgia
Arizona has better wins than Georgia Tech. The Wreck played their best game of the season against Georgia again.
22. Arizona (9-3)
Last week: 25 (⇑3)
Result: W 23-7 at Arizona State
Arizona pulled a Baylor and won five in a row to close the season. Will there be similar buzz surrounding Arizona coming into the 2026 season? There may be if Noah Fifita returns to Tucson.
21. James Madison (11-1)
Last week: 22 (⇑1)
Result: W 59-10 at Coastal Carolina
News has already leaked that Bob Chesney will be the next coach of UCLA. The official announcement is supposed to be after the Sun Belt Championship game this weekend. UCLA has agreed to let Chesney coach the Dukes should they make the CFP.
20. North Texas (11-1)
Last week: 21 (⇑1)
Result: W 52-25 vs. Temple
I think letting Eric Morris finish out the season is the right thing to do for North Texas. Lane Kiffin thinking he could get the same grace from Mississippi after shaking them down, holding them hostage, and making everything about himself is comical. There are no hard feelings between North Texas and Morris. There may be if he takes Drew Mestemaker, Wyatt Young, and Caleb Hawkins with him to Stillwater…
19. Tulane (10-2)
Last week: 19 ⇔
Result: W 27-0 vs. Charlotte.
Tulane was just making sure no one got hurt. The one that really matters is coming up.
18. Michigan (9-3)
Last week: 17 (⇓1)
Result: L 9-27 vs (2) Ohio State
I’m not going to dock Michigan too much for losing to an Ohio State team that is clearly better. I know that the fans are disappointed, but you beat the Buckeyes four straight times. Three of those times were with inferior teams.
17. USC (9-3)
Last week: 18 (⇑1)
Result: W 29-10 vs. UCLA
The Trojans still have to take a Pac-12 bowl slot. We could theoretically see a rematch of the Illinois or Michigan game in the Alamo Bowl. Aren’t these behemoth conferences fun?
16. Virginia (10-2)
Last week: 16 ⇔
Result: W 27-7 vs. Virginia Tech
The Cavs didn’t face SMU, Miami, Pitt, or Georgia Tech (never mind the “out-of-conference” loss to North Carolina State) and still got into the ACC Championship game. All that they need to do to crash the CFB party is to beat the Duke team that they smoked in Durham less than a month ago.
15. Utah (10-2)
Last week: 13 (⇓2)
Result: W 31-21 at Kansas
Utah was a victim of scheduling. UCLA wasn’t the good non-conference win that Utah thought it would be when they scheduled the game. They lost to both good teams (Texas Tech and BYU). Wins over Arizona State and blowing out Colorado are largely forgotten after the Utes struggled with both Kansas teams to end the season.
14. Vanderbilt (10-2)
Last week: 14 ⇔
Result: W 45-24 at (24) Tennessee
I loved watching Vanderbilt, and I hope that Diego Pavia plays in the bowl game (and gets another year). When it comes down to it, wins over South Carolina, Missouri, Auburn, and Tennessee just don’t rank with the rest of the two-loss teams. They are close to Notre Dame, but the Irish beating USC was better than any Vanderbilt win.
13. Notre Dame (10-2)
Last week: 11 (⇓2)
Result: W 49-20 at Stanford
Notre Dame has coasted to the finish by beating on bad teams. Other teams were winning games within the conference and over rivals. Notre Dame was bound to get jumped at some point. Two good losses don’t count for much when the best wins are USC and Navy. Not when you have one two-loss team with a win over you, and a couple of other two-loss teams with top 10 wins.
12. Texas (9-3)
Last week: 15 (⇑3)
Result: W 27-17 vs. (3) Texas A&M
What means more, good wins or bad losses? When you have three wins against teams currently in the top 15 (all were in the top 10 when Texas beat them), it has to mean more. Texas has a neutral site win over Oklahoma and wins against Vandy and A&M at home. Yes, the 25-point loss to Georgia looks bad. The inexplicable loss to Florida is being punished since Texas will be just on the outside of the CFP rankings.
11. Miami (FL) (10-2)
Last week: 12 (⇑1)
Result: W 38-7 at Pittsburgh
Not only does Miami have a head-to-head win over Notre Dame, but they beat North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, and Stanford worse than the Irish did. Notre Dame’s days of riding good losses and blowing out bad teams for their good ranking have finally come to an end.
10. Alabama (10-2)
Last week: 10 ⇔
Result: W 27-20 at Auburn
Alabama is now in the unenviable position of being forced to play in a game in which they have everything to lose and nothing to gain. A third loss, even to a top 3 team, would likely leave the Tide on the outside looking in. There are too many good teams with one or two losses that are just as deserving as Alabama. If a third loss knocks Texas out, it probably should knock Alabama out as well.
9. Oklahoma (10-2)
Last week: 9 ⇔
Result: W 17-13 vs. LSU
Oklahoma doesn’t win pretty, but they win. The defense is elite. The offense could be if John Mateer threw to his teammates more than the other team…
8. Texas A&M (11-1)
Last week: 3 (⇓5)
Result: L 17-27 at (15) Texas
I struggle with keeping A&M this high because beating up on the entire bottom half of a super-mega-big-ass conference doesn’t necessarily make you a good team. The Aggies didn’t play Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, or Tennessee. The win over Notre Dame has helped the Aggies a lot this season. It’s the only thing keeping them afloat right now.
7. BYU (11-1)
Last week: 7 ⇔
Result: W 41-21 vs. Central Florida
I think the thing that bothers me most about all of the BYU hate is that no one is saying a damn thing about Oregon. Oregon lost at home to Indiana by 10. BYU lost in Lubbock by 22. There’s not a giant difference there. Oregon beat a name in USC. BYU beat a rival in Utah, and a team that has looked as good or better than USC has. If you want to poke at BYU playing three of the bottom teams in the Big 12, fine. Just don’t go acting like Oregon’s body of work is that much better.
6. Oregon (11-1)
Last week: 8 (⇑2)
Result: W 26-14 at Washington
Oregon’s last two wins (USC and Washington) give them a slight bump over BYU, but it’s close. I’ve been critical of Oregon’s schedule in conference (and outside of it) for much of the year. To be fair, when they scheduled Oklahoma State, it looked like a good opponent. Wisconsin, Rutgers, and Penn State aren’t any worse than West Virginia, UCF, and Colorado. Oregon has the extra win in Iowa City, and the Wisconsin win looked a bit better with how the Badgers closed the season.
5. Mississippi (11-1)
Last week: 6 (⇑1)
Result: W 38-19 at Mississippi State
I’m not the CFP. I’m not going to punish the players because the coach is a narcissistic putz who makes everything about him. So, Lane Kiffin is leaving and taking the whole offensive staff. Was all of the offensive success this year the scheme or the players? Against Oklahoma, it was Trinidad Chambliss making plays after the original play broke down. Kewan Lacy’s running ability isn’t all because of coaching. I’m going by what the players have proven, and the players have proven that this is a team worthy of being ranked in the top 5.
4. Texas Tech (11-1)
Last week: 5 (⇑1)
Result: W 49-0 at West Virginia
Texas Tech has proven the most in my “eye test.” This team is loaded at every position, and the line play on both sides has bordered on exceptional. If not for the loss at Arizona State without QB Behren Morton, the Red Raiders might be my top team. They beat Utah by 20 on the road and BYU by 22 at home. We have reason to think Tech can hang with anyone, but, you know, the college football media machine tells people that they haven’t played anyone or proven anything. Go watch for yourselves. This is a complete team.
3. Georgia (11-1)
Last week: 4 (⇑1)
Result: W 16-9 vs. (20) Georgia Tech
As much as I wanted to knock Georgia down a peg for struggling with Tech, I can’t do it. The body of work is still far, far ahead of Texas Tech.
2. Indiana (12-0)
Last week: 1 ⇔
Result: W 56-3 at Purdue
Indiana still has a more impressive win than Ohio State, but the Buckeyes looked better against common opponents (there weren’t many). You could classify them as 1a and 1b. The deciding factor was Indiana struggling against Penn State, and Ohio State didn’t. That’s the slim margin that we’re dealing with.
1. Ohio State (12-0)
Last week: 2 (⇑1)
Result: W 27-9 at (17) Michigan
Ohio State finally ascends to the top of my rankings. The cracks in Indiana’s foundation were there when they needed a miracle to beat Penn State. Only one team has played Ohio State to within a touchdown. That was Texas in the opener. That probably says more about Ohio State’s schedule than anything else, but Indiana’s schedule wasn’t any tougher. The win at Oregon is better than any singular Ohio State win, but winning against Texas and at Michigan, plus beating on Penn State, where Indiana struggled, is enough to get the Buckeyes over the hump.
