Early preseason rankings suggest the August 30 matchup between Texas and Ohio State could earn "Game of the Century" status. That designation typically goes to regular-season games between the top two ranked teams.
Texas holds the consensus No. 1 spot across 11 major publications surveyed by Sporting News. The Longhorns received first-place votes from seven outlets.
Ohio State sits at No. 2 in the composite rankings. The defending national champions earned three first-place votes. The Buckeyes beat Texas 28-14 in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl Classic on January 10.
The Week 1 rematch takes place at Ohio Stadium.
247Sports, Action Network, Athlon, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, USA Today and On3 contributed to the rankings analysis.
Penn State earned one first-place vote and sits third in the consensus poll. Clemson ranks fourth, while Georgia rounds out the top five.
Those five programs were the only schools to earn more than 200 points using an inverse scoring system that awards 25 points for a No. 1 vote down to one point for No. 25.
2025 Composite Preseason College Football Rankings
The composite rankings reflect total points scored across 11 publications, along with each team’s highest and lowest individual ranking:
| RANK | SCHOOL | TOTAL | HIGH | LOW |
| 1 | Texas | 244 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 236 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Penn State | 234 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | Clemson | 213 | 2 | 8 |
| 5 | Georgia | 211 | 4 | 8 |
| 6 | Notre Dame | 199 | 2 | 7 |
| 7 | Oregon | 192 | 5 | 9 |
| 8 | LSU | 185 | 6 | 15 |
| 9 | Alabama | 155 | 7 | 23 |
| 10 | Miami | 144 | 9 | 21 |
| 11 | Illinois | 136 | 9 | 17 |
| 12 | Arizona State | 126 | 9 | 21 |
| 13 | Florida | 123 | 10 | 22 |
| 14 | South Carolina | 106 | 12 | 22 |
| 15 | BYU | 96 | 10 | NR |
| 16 | Michigan | 92 | 15 | 20 |
| 17 | Kansas State | 75 | 12 | NR |
| 18 | Tennessee | 67 | 9 | NR |
| 19 | SMU | 59 | 12 | NR |
| 20(t) | Ole Miss | 56 | 11 | NR |
| 20(t) | Iowa State | 56 | 14 | NR |
| 22 | Texas Tech | 48 | 11 | NR |
| 23 | Louisville | 38.5 | 17 | NR |
| 24 | Oklahoma | 33 | 14 | NR |
| 25 | Indiana | 31 | 16 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Texas A&M 29.5, TCU 13, Auburn 9, Baylor 8, Missouri 7, Georgia Tech 6, Boise State 5, North Carolina 5, Nebraska 4, Navy 3, UNLV 3, Kansas 2, Iowa 1.
Individual Publication Rankings
The breakdown shows how each publication ranked the top teams for the 2025 season:
| SCHOOL | SN | 24/7 | ACTION | ATHLON | T-ATH | B/R | CBS | ESPN | SI | USA | ON3 |
| Texas | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Ohio State | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Penn State | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Georgia | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 8 |
| Notre Dame | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 |
| Oregon | 6 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 6 |
| Clemson | 7 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| Alabama | 8 | 8 | 23 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 |
| LSU | 9 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 15 |
| Illinois | 10 | 14 | 12 | 17 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 13 | 9 |
| Florida | 11 | 10 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 22 | 10 | 19 | 16 | 11 | 10 |
| Miami | 12 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 21 | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| South Carolina | 13 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 17 | 22 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 12 |
| Arizona State | 14 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 17 | 12 | 12 | 21 | 16 |
| Ole Miss | 15 | 18 | 21 | 18 | – | 11 | – | 24 | – | 19 | 19 |
| Michigan | 16 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 20 | 15 | 16 | 20 | 19 | 15 | 17 |
| BYU | 17 | 22 | 14 | – | 13 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 18 |
| Tennessee | 18 | – | 9 | 21 | – | 20 | 20 | – | 13 | 14 | 21 |
| SMU | 19 | 12 | 16 | 24 | – | 21 | 24 | 15 | 18 | – | 14 |
| Texas A&M | 20 | 23(t) | – | 19 | 15 | – | – | 23 | – | – | – |
| Iowa State | 21 | 19 | 22 | 23 | – | 14 | 19 | 14 | – | 20 | 23 |
| Kansas State | 22 | 20 | 18 | 13 | 25 | 18 | 13 | 18 | – | 12 | – |
| Louisville | 23 | 23(t) | 20 | – | 23 | – | 23 | 22 | 17 | 18 | 24 |
| Oklahoma | 24 | 25 | – | 20 | 14 | 24 | 18 | 25 | – | 25 | – |
| Texas Tech | 25 | 16 | – | 22 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 16 | 22 | – | 11 |
| Auburn | – | 21 | – | – | 24 | – | 25 | – | 25 | – | 13 |
| Missouri | – | – | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Kansas | – | – | 24 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Navy | – | – | 25 | – | – | – | – | – | 24 | – | – |
| Indiana | – | – | – | 16 | 18 | 25 | – | 17 | 23 | – | – |
| Boise State | – | – | – | 25 | 22 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Baylor | – | – | – | – | 21 | 23 | – | – | – | – | – |
| TCU | – | – | – | – | – | – | 15 | – | – | 24 | – |
| Georgia Tech | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 20 | – | – |
| North Carolina | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 21 | – | – |
| Nebraska | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 22 | 22 |
| UNLV | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 23 | – |
| Iowa | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 25 |
Alabama showed the biggest variance in rankings, ranging from No. 7 to No. 23 across publications. The Crimson Tide’s placement at ninth reflects uncertainty heading into the season.
Illinois cracked the top 10 in the composite rankings after an impressive 2024 campaign. The Fighting Illini ranked as high as ninth with some outlets.
Several teams received significant vote disparities, indicating split opinions among analysts about their 2025 prospects.
