Early Top 25 College Football reaction

Even though the 2025 college football season has been over for barely a week, most, except perhaps Indiana fans, have shifted their attention to the 2026 season.

NCAA.com released its way-too-early Top 25 for the upcoming season with some surprising choices and some that the average college football viewer could have predicted from a mile away. Overall, the rankings can be broken into a couple of categories as follows.

Juggernauts

Ohio State and Oregon took the top two spots on the list, with the Buckeyes ranked first and the Ducks second. Both teams come off somewhat surprising College Football Playoff losses, Ohio State to Miami and Oregon to Indiana. Despite their losses, these two teams are consistently at the top of early top 25 projections because of their highly regarded recruiting classes and consistent regular-season success.

It wouldn’t be shocking to see either of these teams win the national championship, but both teams have fanbases who will be sorely disappointed by anything less than a No. 1 finish.

No. 5 Georgia could belong in this category, but the Bulldogs seem to fall somewhere between the powerhouse and the redemption categories after a successful 2025 season that ended with a loss to Ole Miss

Looking for redemption

These teams struggled in 2025 for several reasons, but were ranked in the top 10 regardless: No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 Texas, No. 7 LSU and No. 10 BYU will all enter the 2026 season with a chip on their shoulder.

Texas and LSU were both expected to have Heisman contenders and make it into the playoffs, but neither did. Texas stayed the course with quarterback Arch Manning and coach Steve Sarkesian, who settled into their systems later in the season. LSU took a more dramatic approach, firing Brian Kelly, hiring Lane Kiffin, and adding more than 40 new players via the transfer portal.

Notre Dame opted out of the bowl season after it felt it should have been included in the 12-team playoff. After their lack of conference seemingly caught up to them, they will look to back up their No. 3 ranking in this coming season.

BYU was left out of the playoffs this past season despite finishing No.12, mostly because of its two decisive losses to Texas Tech. The Cougars enter this new season with a well-paid coach and a solid recruiting class that they hope to capitalize on.

Underrated

These teams all had notable 2025 seasons with No. 6 Indiana winning the national championship, No. 9 Oklahoma finishing No. 8 in the rankings after a first-round exit in the College Football Playoff, and No. 16 Louisville won nine games, including the Boca Raton Bowl.

Indiana seems to forever be underrated, no matter what Curt Cignetti does to prove his doubters wrong. Another national championship would be impressive, but another trip to the final game of the season does not seem out of reach for the Hoosiers.

Oklahoma’s success hinges primarily on John Mateer’s health, if he can play to his full ability a Heisman Trophy as well as a national championship win could be in the cards for the Sooners.

Louisville is the only truly underrated team in this category, sitting four spots away from a projected playoff berth. They return running back Issac Brown and bring in former Ohio State quarterback Lincoln Kienholz, which sets them up well for a potential run in the 12-team playoff.

Just Right

These early rankings rarely get it right, but these three teams seem to be where they belong. No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 11 Texas Tech and No. 15 Houston are all middle of the pack, could make the playoff teams, and their rankings reflect that.

Texas A&M returns its star quarterback, Marcel Reed, who is an early Heisman contender who could lead the Aggies to a championship. Texas Tech will rely heavily on its transfer portal class for a second year in a row and look to return to the playoffs while maintaining its hold on the Big 12.

Houston also has a good portal class that could lead them to the playoffs, but will likely just pave the way for a future team to stretch their season into January.

Prove it

No. 12 Southern California, No. 13 Michigan and No.22 Virginia were all overrated. Without any games having been played, it’s impossible to declare that they’ve been ranked too high, but these three teams have their work cut out for them.

USC returns quarterback Jayden Maiava, but they’re also losing notable players to the NFL. This team always has so much expected of them in the preseason, but we will have to wait and see if this is the year they back their ranking up on the field.

Michigan gets a new coach in Kyle Wittingham, who will do his best to steady this wavering Wolverine team. They will need a higher quality of play from Bryce Underwood in 2026 if they want to keep their No. 13 ranking. Virginia landed transfer quarterback Beau Pribula, and they have therefore been ranked; whether they are able to support Pribula’s talent is the question.

Floundering

No. 14 Ole Miss and No. 19 Washington might have quarterbacks next season; No.17 Alabama and No. 21 Miami still need to decide who they want to quarterback their team next season. These teams all have the potential to play well in 2026, but they all seem to be held back by legalities and logistics from thriving next season.

Ole Miss is fighting an ongoing legal battle to retain their quarterback, Trinidad Chambliss, who is looking for a sixth year of eligibility. Washington’s Demond Williams Jr. openly declared for the transfer portal only to be informed that he is contractually obligated to remain with the Huskies; his willingness to play for them has yet to be demonstrated.

Alabama and Miami both have options on their team and in the transfer portal, but they will need to decide quickly to make the most of their spring training.

Just Happy to Be Here

No. 18 SMU, No. 20 Penn State, No. 23 Boise State, No. 24 Utah and No. 25 Arizona are all teams that have the potential to outperform their ranking in 2026. This isn’t to say that they’re underrated; at least two of these teams will likely have fallen out of the Top 25 by the time that December 2026 comes around. However, being in the Top 25 is a good baseline for them to determine what they want their 2026 to look like.

Gwen Evans is a second-year student studying broadcast journalism. To contact her, email gme5218@psu.edu.