New Preseason College Football Rankings Show SEC, Big Ten Dominance
More big conference dominance
The Ohio State Buckeyes are defending champions after a dominant performance in the College Football Playoff. And if a new set of preseason rankings are to be believed, they might just be favorites to repeat in this upcoming season's edition too.
Bill Connelly from ESPN published his latest set of SP+ rankings on Thursday, and after a year of dominance from some of the biggest programs in the country, we're looking at more of the same. Particularly from the SEC and Big Ten Conference.
SP+ uses returning talent, essentially, how many players are coming back from the previous year's roster, recent recruiting rankings, and how well a program has performed over the past few years. It's also meant to be a predictive, forward-looking system, not necessarily a resume ranking. So what does it say about the 2025 regular season? Well, Ohio State fans could have more reasons to celebrate, and don't count out the Alabama Crimson Tide yet either.
Dec 31, 2024; Tampa, FL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer looks on before running onto the field before a game against the Michigan Wolverines at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
New College Football Season Rankings Hint At More SEC, Big Ten Dominance
Here's how the preseason rankings look, per SP+:
- Ohio State
- Alabama
- Penn State
- Georgia
- Texas
- Notre Dame
- Oregon
- Clemson
- LSU
- Michigan
- Ole Miss
- Miami
- Tennessee
- Florida
- Texas A&M
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- Kansas State
- Illinois
- SMU
- Missouri
- Arizona State
- Indiana
- Louisville
- Auburn
A few things immediately jump out: the top five are all members of the Big Ten or SEC. Eight of the top 10 are also in the Big Ten or SEC, with just Clemson out of the ACC and independent Notre Dame joining. This is an era of consolidation, where the top two conferences overwhelmingly dominate the sport. And it's hard to see that changing anytime soon.
Strength of schedule in both conferences is going to be extremely high, setting up more frustration for Big 12 or ACC schools that miss out on seeding or a playoff berth entirely due to underwhelming conferences.
For example, Oklahoma has an absurd list of opponents this year: Michigan, Auburn, Texas, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri and LSU.
That's nine teams in this preseason top 25. In one year. Four of the top 10 and five of the top 11. The Sooners could easily lose three games this year and be one of the country's top teams. Meanwhile, Arizona State doesn't play a single team in the top 25. Clemson, at least, has three: LSU, SMU and South Carolina.
With how hard it's going to be to get through the two big conferences, the playoff debate for the 2025 season could once again hinge on strength of schedule. How valuable is it to lose two or three games against an elite schedule, compared to winning more games against a much easier slate. Oh, and whether Ohio State is the latest dynasty in the making.