College Football rankings: Joel Klatt's way-too-early top 10 for 2025

Joel Klatt

Lead College Football Analyst

The 2024 college football season is in the books. As we toasted Ohio State following its national championship win, we turn the page to 2025 with my way-too-early top 10.

This is a very different operation than these way-too-early top 10 lists have been in the past. For a long time, you could pencil in Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State along with maybe Clemson and Texas into the top 10. There would typically be a big drop-off after No. 5, with some interchangeable teams.

I think it’s totally different now because of the transfer portal and name, image and likeness (NIL). More teams are investing in their rosters, making a lot of teams similar. Now, there are some teams that I obviously view as the best few entering 2025, but I don’t think there’s a big drop-off after that top group. The difference between the teams ranked seventh through 10th and 11th through 18th is minuscule, at best.

So, I had a tough time picking which teams to fill out this list. We still have another transfer portal window to go through, leaving some uncertainty around these rosters. But I wanted to share that thought to help frame the top 10. We had more parity this past season than we’ve ever had. Next season, I think we’ll see even more parity.

BYU, Arizona State, Florida, Tennessee, Illinois, South Carolina and Alabama are among the teams that just missed the cut. I like the way that Florida with DJ Lagway closed out the 2024 season, and the Gators won’t have as tough of a schedule in 2025. Tennessee returns a more seasoned Nico Iamaleava. Bret Bielema has Illinois positioned to be next season’s Indiana. Alabama is in an unusual spot, sitting outside the top 10, but I’m not sure who the Tide’s quarterback will be.

Still, those teams each had a strong case for making the top 10.

Michigan built as much momentum as anyone over the last month of the season. It was able to flip quarterback Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 recruit in the 2025 class, beat Ohio State and defeat Alabama in its bowl game to close out the season. In a new era where fewer teams win their last game outside the national champion, the only other team that has a real positive sentiment moving into the offseason is Michigan.

Of course, the Wolverines are losing some big names. Defensive tackle Mason Graham, defensive tackle Kenneth Grant, cornerback Will Johnson and tight end Colston Loveland are all great players. However, Michigan was able to beat Alabama without any of them. The culture at Michigan remains intact.

It feels like Sherrone Moore has leaned into that culture even more. The defense that shut down Jalen Milroe will essentially be Michigan’s defense for next season. Wink Martindale figured it out as Michigan’s defensive coordinator as the year went along. Maybe he returns to the NFL this offseason, but that system will remain the same in Ann Arbor even if Martindale does leave.

In the portal, Michigan has made some good additions along the defensive line. The Wolverines also picked up Fresno State quarterback Mike Keene, who could serve as a nice bridge to Underwood with his 34 career starts.

The offense just can’t be worse than it was last season, either. It was 129th in yards last season. That was its problem. If Michigan fixes that, some of those close losses turn into close wins. The Wolverines added Alabama running back Justice Haynes to go with Jordan Marshall, who the program is really high on. Indiana wide receiver Donaven McCulley was another big add for Michigan in the portal.

The conference schedule also breaks in Michigan’s favor, avoiding Oregon and Penn State next season.

This is a critical year for Brian Kelly. LSU needs to show a significant step in the right direction.

I don’t think that’s out of the question. LSU has been active in the portal, hauling in the top transfer class to this point. It’s replenished its wide receiver room and offensive line through the portal.

More importantly, LSU is getting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier back for 2025. Experienced quarterbacks are running college football right now, with this past season’s national championship game being just one of the many recent examples of veteran quarterbacks controlling the sport.

LSU’s defense should also improve after a good first year from defensive coordinator Blake Baker. Linebacker Harold Perkins returns and this group should have some better injury luck in 2025.

Miami will have another veteran quarterback in 2025. Carson Beck will try to replicate what Cam Ward did in 2024. I’m not sure if Beck will be as good as Ward, who was sensational in so many ways. But Beck’s a very good option and I never felt Georgia’s offensive problems were on him. The Bulldogs led the nation in drops. What else can you do as a quarterback?

So, I think Beck’s play will probably improve. He’ll also be playing behind one of the better offensive lines in the country. That’s what Mario Cristobal has done really well, stockpiling talent at the line of scrimmage. That depth should pay off.

The defense was a clear and obvious weakness for Miami in 2024. I like its new defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman, who it hired from Minnesota, a lot. Miami also brought in several portal additions to boost its secondary and other parts of its defense.

We’ll find out everything we need to know about Miami when it takes on Notre Dame in Week 1 and Florida later on. That’s a tough first month.

This was one of the harder ones to project. I love what Clemson’s doing and that Cade Klubnik is back for his third season as its starting quarterback. Dabo Swinney is finally dabbling in the portal.

Yet, Clemson lost to a South Carolina team that returns many of its top contributors and I didn’t include the Gamecocks in my top 10. You see the issue, right? To be very fair, I could’ve been talked into putting Clemson 15th.

That’s just how tight I view several of these teams, though. But Clemson won the ACC and had an impressive showing against Texas in the CFP to go along with Klubnik’s return. Clemson also hired Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen for the same role, and he’ll improve the Tigers’ defense. There are pieces there after a disappointing showing on that side of the ball in 2024 to go along with some portal additions.

Clemson has home games against LSU and SMU while avoiding Miami, so there’s a good path for the Tigers to make the CFP.

I love what Marcus Freeman is building in South Bend. That team was overmatched in the title game, but it continued to battle and made Ohio State sweat a little at the end. That’s a testament to the culture at Notre Dame.

On top of that strong culture is an elite roster. I would be shocked if Notre Dame isn’t back in the CFP next season. That’s the level of coach Freeman is now. It’d be great if he stays at Notre Dame because I think he could win a national title there soon. The NFL is going to come knocking really soon, though. Also, Ohio State looms as a possibility for Freeman if Ryan Day were to ever leave. The former Buckeye would be the first call athletic director Ross Bjork would make.

Quarterback Riley Leonard is leaving, with either Steve Angeli or CJ Carr likely replacing him. Carr was a top 50 recruit in the 2024 class, so there’s upside there. I think Notre Dame will have the best offensive line entering next season, while returning running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price.

The defense will lose some key pieces, but what Notre Dame is building from a culture and depth standpoint showed it could lose guys to injury this past season and have a strong year. So, I have confidence in Freeman steering Notre Dame to another strong year.

5. Oregon

Everyone who follows me knows that I love Dan Lanning and I actually think Oregon could be ranked higher than this. Someone can talk me into ranking Oregon at No. 2 or No. 3 after having the best regular season last season.

Oregon has to replace quarterback Dillon Gabriel, but unlike what it’s had to do twice in Lanning’s time at Eugene, the Ducks already have their next quarterback on the roster. They picked up Dante Moore last offseason after he won UCLA a bunch of games as a true freshman. He has experience and was able to watch Gabriel for a season, learning offensive coordinator Will Stein’s system.

Lanning’s building this team the right way, continuing to beef up the trenches as it should have an excellent defensive line again. At wide receiver, Tez Johnson departs, but Evan Stewart returns.

Oregon continues to do really well in recruiting and in the portal, landing Tulane running back Makhi Hughes after recording the fifth-most rushing yards in FBS over the last two seasons. It also added three offensive linemen who can start next year.

From a schedule perspective, Oregon avoids Ohio State and Michigan in 2025. It plays at Penn State, but that is in September.

Last season was just a down year for Georgia. Yet it navigated the hardest schedule in the country, won the SEC and was competing in the CFP with a backup quarterback.

Georgia continues to be impressive from a roster-building standpoint and I think you’d be sorely mistaken to believe the Bulldogs are heading in the wrong direction. Kirby Smart is too driven and I don’t have a lot of questions about a team that has had a top-three recruiting class over the last four years. They’re loaded with talent, even if they lost some players.

Gunnar Stockton wasn’t the reason why Georgia lost to Notre Dame. Georgia needs to upgrade on the outside, but it also needs to become a better and more dominant run team. It played that way in its two title-winning seasons, though it wasn’t able to play that way in 2024. Nate Frazier looked good as a true freshman running back and they added Zachariah Branch and Noah Thomas at wide receiver, so there’s help coming. Tight end Oscar Delp is also back, giving Stockton some pieces to work with.

Oregon & Georgia in Joel Klatt’s way-too-early top 10

Georgia’s schedule is still tough next season, but unlike last season, most of its toughest games are at home.

The national champs will look a lot different next season, but it’ll be a very elite team. In fact, I think Ohio State will have the best offensive player (wide receiver Jeremiah Smith) and defensive player (safety Caleb Downs) in the nation next season. It’s hard to take a huge step back when you have the best player on both sides of the ball.

However, the defense around Downs is going to look dramatically different. It showcased a lot of depth on that side of the ball, so Downs will have some players with experience around him, but Ohio State has to rebuild its defensive line and break in a pair of new safeties in Jim Knowles’ three-safety defense. I’m not sure if Ohio State will be able to have the same structure that allowed Downs to play the way he did in 2024, which also made the Buckeyes the best defense in the nation.

Offensively, every game plan for next season has to go through Smith. Ohio State can’t go through periods of the game where he disappears. It won’t be as dynamic around Smith as it was this season, losing TreVeyon Henderson and Emeka Egbuka. Obviously, Ohio State will have very good players at the skill positions. They aren’t as proven, though, and going through Smith will open up areas for the less experienced players.

Julian Sayin will probably be Ohio State’s starting quarterback, although Tavien St. Clair is a really good-looking prospect. That’ll be quite a battle at quarterback as Ohio State made additions at running back (West Virginia’s CJ Donaldson) and offensive tackle in the portal.

The opener against Texas will be huge, and you haven’t seen the Longhorns on this list yet, so it’ll be a matchup between two top-three teams on this list. Ohio State also has Penn State at home to go with games at Illinois, Washington and, of course, Michigan.

It’s officially Arch Manning time in Austin. This is so rare in college football and Steve Sarkisian will be the beneficiary of a quarterback with an incredible amount of patience from him and his family. Granted, this family has such a unique perspective. He was able to sit and develop for two years under Sarkisian.

Sarkisian’s offense will also look a little different because of Manning’s ability to run the football. It won’t be the offenses Texas ran when it had Vince Young, but when Manning can take off and affect the defense scrambling, that’ll be huge for the Longhorns. That wasn’t something they had with Quinn Ewers.

Texas remains at an elite level recruiting, and it did well in the transfer portal. The offense will look a lot different, having to replace four of its five starting offensive linemen. So, that’s my big concern for Manning and Texas. The Longhorns also lose some talent at wide receiver, they’ve got some reinforcements there and running back C.J. Baxter will return after missing the entire 2024 season due to injury. He was the best running back on Texas’ roster and it came so close to a national title without him. Manning and Baxter should be able to help the inexperienced offensive line.

There are a few tough road games for Texas, having to travel to Ohio State, Georgia and Florida. It’s certainly a difficult schedule, but Texas is capable of handling it, and I’d be surprised if it’s not one of the better teams in the country.

Texas & Ohio State in Joel Klatt’s way too early top 10

There has been a clear blueprint that’s been established in college football over the last two years: You’ve got to have veteran, experienced players. It’s even more valuable when you’re able to return core players from your program. That’s what happened at Michigan in 2023 and Ohio State in 2024, with players on those teams turning down the opportunity to head to the NFL in order to successfully attempt winning a national championship.

That’s what’s happening right now at State College. Penn State has gotten better in each of the last few years, with James Franklin continuing to knock on the door. The Nittany Lions were so close to making it to the CFP final this year, and now they’re bringing almost all of those key players back.

Ohio State was able to weather the storm from its losses this past season due to its core players, who were previously Buckeyes. They built a culture, chemistry and togetherness.

That culture has to be built by players who have been in the program for years. Quarterback Drew Allar, running back Kaytron Allen, running back Nicholas Singleton and defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton are among the notable names returning. When those decisions were rolling in after the Orange Bowl, I immediately thought, “There’s the blueprint team.”

Now, Penn State isn’t head-and-shoulders above the rest of the sport in terms of its roster like Ohio State was last year. You could talk me into dropping Penn State as far as No. 6.

But Allar is one of the more experienced quarterbacks in college football with 29 starts. Singleton and Allen will be starting together for a fourth season. Four of its five starters on the offensive line are back. It also has depth, so it can run the ball continuously. Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki is back, allowing him to learn from his mistakes in Year 1.

Penn State has to replace tight end Tyler Warren, but it has five-star sophomore Luke Reynolds ready to be a serviceable option. It added USC’s Kyron Hudson and Troy’s Devonte Ross to improve at wide receiver. It might need to snag another wide receiver.

There are more questions defensively, losing defensive coordinator Tom Allen, edge rusher Abdul Carter and linebacker Kobe King, among others. But Dennis-Sutton is just one of many key players returning, and I trust Franklin to make the right hire at defensive coordinator because he always does.

Penn State still needs to prove that it can beat a team that its even with. If it can do that, watch out. It’ll have Oregon at home in September and travel to Ohio State, but the schedule is relatively reasonable.

Joel Klatt is FOX Sports’ lead college football game analyst and the host of the podcast “The Joel Klatt Show.” Follow him at @joelklatt and subscribe to the “Joel Klatt Show” on YouTube.

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