Yes, the “Way-Too-Early Top 25” rankings for an upcoming football season are virtually pointless. There’s not a lot of weight to them, and oftentimes, they’re a better reflection of the past season than the one to come.
For example, ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25 for the 2024 season had Arizona at No. 9, Utah at No. 13, Oklahoma at No. 15, Florida State at No. 16, and Oklahoma State at No. 19—Only one of those teams went bowling, and none of them finished above .500.
Still, it is interesting to see what the perception of an upcoming season is among the media contingent, and it’s impossible not to wonder what transfers and the coaching carousel will cause next season to look like. After all, that’s why it’s so difficult to refrain from checking to see if there are any surprises on those graphics when you scroll past one.
This week, I decided to approach things in a different way, though. Instead of scrolling aimlessly past every Way-Too-Early list that graced itself upon my screen, I logged the rankings in a spreadsheet and started to take a poll of my own.
After compiling 10 Way-Too-Early Top 25 lists from the biggest college football media entities, I aggregated the data to create a comprehensive poll comprised of the data from:
- ESPN
- FOX
- NCAA
- Pro Football Focus
- On3
- The Athletic
- 247Sports
- Sports Illustrated
- Yahoo Sports
- CBS Sports
My hope was to capture the overarching feeling of what next season should look like, according to the experts.
Here’s what it ended up looking like:
Let’s talk about some of the things that stood out.
Texas Earns No. 1 Spot
Texas earned the top ranking in six of the 10 polls we used in this measure while placing second in three others and were fifth (Yahoo Sports) at the lowest of any poll. The Longhorns will have to replace three-year starter Quinn Ewers, their entire offensive line, the majority of their pass catchers, and a few key pieces on defense.
However, in place of what they’ll lose, UT gets to finally give the reins to Arch Manning and has the most talented roster in football behind him.
The 2024 Playoff Field is Well-Represented
Each of the top seven teams in this cumulative list was a part of the 2024-25 College Football Playoff Field, and 11 of the 12 teams who made the field are included in the Top 25: Texas (1), Ohio State (2) Penn State (3), Notre Dame (4), Oregon (5), Georgia (6), Clemson (7), Tennessee (T-10), and Arizona State (12).
Indiana (17) and SMU (18) are outside the Top 12, and only Boise State (RV) is missing from the poll, but the other nine teams find themselves close to where they finished the 2024 season.
Oklahoma Doesn’t Make the Cut
To say that Oklahoma football has fallen on hard times is an understatement. Oklahoma has finished the season unranked just four times since 2000, but two of those occasions have come in the last three seasons under Brent Venables. Now, the Sooners are on the verge of reaching a new low, as it appears they’ve lost the national media, even after making some major offseason additions.
OU was not listed among the Top 25 in seven of the 10 lists used and just barely made the cut at No. 25 in two of their three appearances. Their highest ranking was No. 18 (On3), but even that is well below what used to be the standard in Norman.
Arizona State is the ‘Team to Beat’ in the Big 12
Kenny Dillingham’s Sun Devils appear to be the media darling of the Big 12 after their showing in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. ASU checked in at No. 12 in the cumulative poll and was ranked as high as 9th (The Athletic) among our test group.
This puts the Sun Devils quite a bit ahead of the other teams in the Big 12, with BYU coming in as the second-highest-ranked team at No. 16, followed by Kansas State and Iowa State at No. 22 and No. 23, respectively. Additionally, teams like Texas Tech, Baylor, and Colorado are all receiving votes and were all included by at least one of the polls, so the Big 12 appears to have tons of potential for parity once again.
Some Major Surprises Inside Top 15?
The final two teams inside the top 15 of our cumulative poll might jump off the graphic at people, and likely for different reasons. Illinois being at No. 14 and as high as No. 7 in one poll probably surprises a lot of folks, but the Illini are coming off a 10-win season and will return a ton of production for Brent Bielema next season. They’ll be a sneaky darkhorse team to follow in the Big Ten race next year.
Florida at No. 15 is surprising, considering how tough the 2024 season started for the Gators. At one point, it felt like Billy Napier’s time in Gainesville was all but over, but then his decision to infuse DJ Lagway into the offense changed everything. UF finished 2024 with an 8-5 record and four-straight wins over LSU, Ole Miss, Florida State, and Tulane. The Gators rank as high as No. 9 in these polls and are an intriguing team to follow over the coming months.
