2025 CFB Polls and Rankings

[irishjim]

Arkansas also took Ole Miss and Tennessee down to the wire, teams currently ranked 5th and 11th respectively. A legit playoff committee has compare our game to those two teams and see there was no going down to the wire. "Eye test"

 

[NorthDakota]

Arkansas also took Ole Miss and Tennessee down to the wire, teams currently ranked 5th and 11th respectively. A legit playoff committee has compare our game to those two teams and see there was no going down to the wire. "Eye test"

If ND wins out, and is looking good at the end of the year, I dont see them getting left out unless it comes down to them vs TAMU (I don't see Miami dropping any games)

 

[IrishLax]

We are basically in an era of parity that we haven't seen for decades (maybe ever) because of the transfer portal + NIL.



Basically, there are no more "super teams" and now that it's not just SEC + Clemson buying players there is a lot more quality football throughout the top part of the Power 4.

 

[jprue24]

We are basically in an era of parity that we haven't seen for decades (maybe ever) because of the transfer portal + NIL.



Basically, there are no more "super teams" and now that it's not just SEC + Clemson buying players there is a lot more quality football throughout the top part of the Power 4.

Love it.

Competition balancing, while players have unprecedented freedom and are getting paid..

LOVE IT!

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

Sounds like you agree because Arkansas, Boise St and NC State are NOT considered tomato cans by any means and 2/3 have been ranked this season. Now if you said Arkansas St, Idaho and NC Central instead....😂😂

I must have missed your original point, sorry.

 

[NorthDakota]

We are basically in an era of parity that we haven't seen for decades (maybe ever) because of the transfer portal + NIL.



Basically, there are no more "super teams" and now that it's not just SEC + Clemson buying players there is a lot more quality football throughout the top part of the Power 4.

Transfer portal + NIL clearly the movers and shakers. But how much is also expanded playoff makes dream of winning a natty a reality at many more schools?

 

[NDRock]

It's funny how many people thought the NIL/transfer/12 team playoff was the end of college football when it looks like it's bringing in a "golden era". I know many think a playoff dilutes the regular season but it really makes it more exciting. In the past, ND's season would have been over after 2 games, now every game feels like a playoff game. Same with last year. There are some drawbacks but the positives way outnumber the negatives, IMO.

 

[stlnd01]

It's funny how many people thought the NIL/transfer/12 team playoff was the end of college football when it looks like it's bringing in a "golden era". I know many think a playoff dilutes the regular season but it really makes it more exciting. In the past, ND's season would have been over after 2 games, now every game feels like a playoff game. Same with last year. There are some drawbacks but the positives way outnumber the negatives, IMO.

Agree.
NIL levels the playing field considerably, and the 12-team playoff is just more fun for more fans. Which is the entire point of sports. I don't love the wild west transfer part, especially mid-major teams having their best players getting bought away, and we have yet to be on the downside of it when the vibes turn bad and our roster just evaporates. That'll happen at some point.
But on balance college football is more fun now than it was in the four-team-playoff years for sure.

 

[NDWarrior]

Transfer portal + NIL clearly the movers and shakers. But how much is also expanded playoff makes dream of winning a natty a reality at many more schools?

Agreed, I was thinking the same thing in addition to the two other factors IrishLax mentioned above. It honestly is the one thing that has helped MF and ND more than anything. We will never be CO or IU in the portal and instead, MF recruits hard and builds a magnet culture; we will pay a lot in NIL, but probably will never have a $20 mill. OSU break the bank spending spree (which was high for any team in 2024), BUT the fact that you can lose to an FCS / Group of 5 cupcake or lose your first two games against some of the top schools in FBS, but yet still have a chance to turn it around to start in a new playoff season (closer to the NFL) has been a God send for ND which can now have a hiccup (even late in the year, look at OSU last season) in its schedule, doesn't have to worry about not having a conference playoff, and be a team that starts slow and finds its identity and vastly improves as the season progresses.

This has worked so well for MF and his patient, laid back coaching style. ND no longer needs to be an undefeated team or have one close loss to a top 5 team to make its case to be selected as one of 4 top playoff teams. In MMFF we trust! 🍀🍀🍀

 

[NorthDakota]

It's funny how many people thought the NIL/transfer/12 team playoff was the end of college football when it looks like it's bringing in a "golden era". I know many think a playoff dilutes the regular season but it really makes it more exciting. In the past, ND's season would have been over after 2 games, now every game feels like a playoff game. Same with last year. There are some drawbacks but the positives way outnumber the negatives, IMO.

Its certainly an era but im not sure its golden. It does give historically bad programs a new lease on life provided they will invest (see: Indiana). But a lot of what made college football really unique was that a bad week (or two) crushed dreams.

On balance I think it will work out for Notre Dame because money should be there. But who knows

 

[NDRock]

Its certainly an era but im not sure its golden. It does give historically bad programs a new lease on life provided they will invest (see: Indiana). But a lot of what made college football really unique was that a bad week (or two) crushed dreams.

On balance I think it will work out for Notre Dame because money should be there. But who knows

- Other things that made college football unique in the past:
- Voting on national championships
- Exploiting players (can't earn money, can't transfer without penalty), while coaches, schools, conferences, the NCAA, etc... all earned millions of dollars. Much like the old Olympic amateur rules hurt athletes while all the federations made tons of money.
- Created a system where cheating was rewarded (boosters, bag man)
- More players left early for the draft
- Less teams competed for a title.

I can't imagine a scenario where I'd want to go back to the old bowl system I grew up with. Split championships, biased voters, boosters, etc.. The conference stuff is a mess today and wish they'd go back to more regional affiliations but I'd take almost everything else, especially as they are starting to get a handle on things (like shortening the transfer window).

 

[KPENN]

 

[ab2cmiller]

All this tells me is the obvious, that Arkansas doesn't play well at home.

 

[jprue24]

Love it.

Competition balancing, while players have unprecedented freedom and are getting paid..

LOVE IT!

Oh yeah... I'm trying to wait to see what the deals start looking like, but I think private equity is going to do more to wreck college football than having players being treated as employees ever could. Look at how TV money has affected the sport. The BIG wants to add investors!? What kind of influence are these companies going to demand?

Rhetorical questions and yes, I know I'm wildly off-topic.

 

[NDRock]

Oh yeah... I'm trying to wait to see what the deals start looking like, but I think private equity is going to do more to wreck college football than having players being treated as employees ever could. Look at how TV money has affected the sport. The BIG wants to add investors!? What kind of influence are these companies going to demand?

Rhetorical questions and yes, I know I'm wildly off-topic.

Explain to me how private equity in college football ball would work? It’s not exactly my expertise. Just douche bags with money?

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

Explain to me how private equity in college football ball would work? It’s not exactly my expertise. Just rich douche bags with money?

The Big Ten is set to get a huge $2.4 billion investment from UC Investments, which is connected to the CalPERS pension system. This is like a private deal where UC will own 10% of the Big Ten’s new business arm, Big Ten Enterprises. The money will be split among the 18 schools, giving each a nice chunk—around $133 million or so—to use however they need. The deal locks everything in until 2046, which means the schools are tied to the conference for the long haul, but they still control the main stuff like games and championships.I’m trying to figure out what this means financially. The contract runs to 2046, so that’s about 21 years from now. It seems like UC will get some return on their money each year based on the Big Ten’s earnings, but it might not be a big payoff. With them owning 10%, they’d get a slice of the profits, maybe starting around $65 million a year if the conference keeps growing like it has. Over time, with some growth, they could make back a bit more than they put in—maybe around $2.5 billion by 2046—but it’s not a huge win. It feels more like a steady, safe bet for UC, betting on the Big Ten’s popularity to keep climbing, especially with new TV deals and sponsorships. Still, it might take longer than 2046 to fully break even, so the return could be pretty small unless things really take off.



Maybe they will force them to take Cal?

 

[NDWarrior]

The nerve of this guy! Dem are fighting words and I hope we get a CFP rematch (Championship game would be ideal) with Day and these bucknuts.

Notre Dame's AP Ranking is Nuttier Than Squirrel Turds

"I don't care about conference pride or anything, but can we just say fuck Notre Dame? I am tired of them being given preferential treatment just because they owned teams back when there were leather helmets and no shoulder pads. I guess pioneering the forward pass gives you a 100-year exemption for being annual disappointments... That's all I got. Fuck Notre Dame. May they flip over their handlebars and knock out their front two teeth in an endless loop of sadness."

That's all I got to say...

 

[stlnd01]

The Big Ten is set to get a huge $2.4 billion investment from UC Investments, which is connected to the CalPERS pension system. This is like a private deal where UC will own 10% of the Big Ten’s new business arm, Big Ten Enterprises. The money will be split among the 18 schools, giving each a nice chunk—around $133 million or so—to use however they need. The deal locks everything in until 2046, which means the schools are tied to the conference for the long haul, but they still control the main stuff like games and championships.I’m trying to figure out what this means financially. The contract runs to 2046, so that’s about 21 years from now. It seems like UC will get some return on their money each year based on the Big Ten’s earnings, but it might not be a big payoff. With them owning 10%, they’d get a slice of the profits, maybe starting around $65 million a year if the conference keeps growing like it has. Over time, with some growth, they could make back a bit more than they put in—maybe around $2.5 billion by 2046—but it’s not a huge win. It feels more like a steady, safe bet for UC, betting on the Big Ten’s popularity to keep climbing, especially with new TV deals and sponsorships. Still, it might take longer than 2046 to fully break even, so the return could be pretty small unless things really take off.



Maybe they will force them to take Cal?

Yep, in and of itself the Big Ten selling a 10 percent stake to a PE firm (or pension plan, which in this context is functionally the same thing), doesn't seem like that big a deal.
PE has been taking minority stakes in pro teams for a bit now (look up Sixth Street Capital, which owns a stake in the Celtics, the SF Giants, and recently bought a small slice of the Patriots). For them it's probably seen as a reasonably safe investment. For the Big Ten it's a cash grab, I guess to pay buyouts for people like James Franklin (and, sure, scholarships for Olympic sports).
But, this is where it starts. Who knows where it ends.

 

[NDWarrior]

Yep, in and of itself the Big Ten selling a 10 percent stake to a PE firm (or pension plan, which in this context is functionally the same thing), doesn't seem like that big a deal.
PE has been taking minority stakes in pro teams for a bit now (look up Sixth Street Capital, which owns a stake in the Celtics, the SF Giants, and recently bought a small slice of the Patriots). For them it's probably seen as a reasonably safe investment. For the Big Ten it's a cash grab, I guess to pay buyouts for people like James Franklin (and, sure, scholarships for Olympic sports).
But, this is where it starts. Who knows where it ends.

Probably with ticket prices starting at $500 per game a la downtown Chicago parking garages being bought out by PE firms thereafter prompting $100 all-day parking fees.

 

[NDRock]

The Big Ten is set to get a huge $2.4 billion investment from UC Investments, which is connected to the CalPERS pension system. This is like a private deal where UC will own 10% of the Big Ten’s new business arm, Big Ten Enterprises. The money will be split among the 18 schools, giving each a nice chunk—around $133 million or so—to use however they need. The deal locks everything in until 2046, which means the schools are tied to the conference for the long haul, but they still control the main stuff like games and championships.I’m trying to figure out what this means financially. The contract runs to 2046, so that’s about 21 years from now. It seems like UC will get some return on their money each year based on the Big Ten’s earnings, but it might not be a big payoff. With them owning 10%, they’d get a slice of the profits, maybe starting around $65 million a year if the conference keeps growing like it has. Over time, with some growth, they could make back a bit more than they put in—maybe around $2.5 billion by 2046—but it’s not a huge win. It feels more like a steady, safe bet for UC, betting on the Big Ten’s popularity to keep climbing, especially with new TV deals and sponsorships. Still, it might take longer than 2046 to fully break even, so the return could be pretty small unless things really take off.



Maybe they will force them to take Cal?

Thank you. Would new members see any of that money or just be cut in on TV deals and such?

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

Thank you. Would new members see any of that money or just be cut in on TV deals and such?

That is to be determined. ND would be the only school that is stipulated in the TV contract and would lift all boats. Others are breakeven. In general I think it has to be just the 18 because at some point this deal is loser for CAlpers ( full disclosure i have funds within the retirement system and this deal seems stupid).

 

[CoachB]

The nerve of this guy! Dem are fighting words and I hope we get a CFP rematch (Championship game would be ideal) with Day and these bucknuts.

Notre Dame's AP Ranking is Nuttier Than Squirrel Turds

"I don't care about conference pride or anything, but can we just say fuck Notre Dame? I am tired of them being given preferential treatment just because they owned teams back when there were leather helmets and no shoulder pads. I guess pioneering the forward pass gives you a 100-year exemption for being annual disappointments... That's all I got. Fuck Notre Dame. May they flip over their handlebars and knock out their front two teeth in an endless loop of sadness."

That's all I got to say...

I think ND is way too low. I have them at 7.

 

[NDPhilly]

Things are going so well for OSU fans that they are finding things to get mad at. People care more about respect than winning, and they can’t stand that the B10 is mediocre af and they have 0 ranked wins bc of it.

 

[GATTACA!]

The Big Ten is set to get a huge $2.4 billion investment from UC Investments, which is connected to the CalPERS pension system. This is like a private deal where UC will own 10% of the Big Ten’s new business arm, Big Ten Enterprises. The money will be split among the 18 schools, giving each a nice chunk—around $133 million or so—to use however they need. The deal locks everything in until 2046, which means the schools are tied to the conference for the long haul, but they still control the main stuff like games and championships.I’m trying to figure out what this means financially. The contract runs to 2046, so that’s about 21 years from now. It seems like UC will get some return on their money each year based on the Big Ten’s earnings, but it might not be a big payoff. With them owning 10%, they’d get a slice of the profits, maybe starting around $65 million a year if the conference keeps growing like it has. Over time, with some growth, they could make back a bit more than they put in—maybe around $2.5 billion by 2046—but it’s not a huge win. It feels more like a steady, safe bet for UC, betting on the Big Ten’s popularity to keep climbing, especially with new TV deals and sponsorships. Still, it might take longer than 2046 to fully break even, so the return could be pretty small unless things really take off.



Maybe they will force them to take Cal?

With the expansion of sports betting college football viewership, and value, are both rising quickly. This is a bet on CFB as much as it is the B1G.

 

[phillyirish]

The Big Ten is set to get a huge $2.4 billion investment from UC Investments, which is connected to the CalPERS pension system. This is like a private deal where UC will own 10% of the Big Ten’s new business arm, Big Ten Enterprises. The money will be split among the 18 schools, giving each a nice chunk—around $133 million or so—to use however they need. The deal locks everything in until 2046, which means the schools are tied to the conference for the long haul, but they still control the main stuff like games and championships.I’m trying to figure out what this means financially. The contract runs to 2046, so that’s about 21 years from now. It seems like UC will get some return on their money each year based on the Big Ten’s earnings, but it might not be a big payoff. With them owning 10%, they’d get a slice of the profits, maybe starting around $65 million a year if the conference keeps growing like it has. Over time, with some growth, they could make back a bit more than they put in—maybe around $2.5 billion by 2046—but it’s not a huge win. It feels more like a steady, safe bet for UC, betting on the Big Ten’s popularity to keep climbing, especially with new TV deals and sponsorships. Still, it might take longer than 2046 to fully break even, so the return could be pretty small unless things really take off.



Maybe they will force them to take Cal?

What happens after 21 years? Their 10% goes back to the B10? Also those numbers cant be right, a $100 million dollar return after 21 years is a massive loss. They would get roughly $100 million this year alone off of the $2.4 billion in risk free government securities.

 

[Rockin’Irish]

Probably with ticket prices starting at $500 per game a la downtown Chicago parking garages being bought out by PE firms thereafter prompting $100 all-day parking fees.

Parked in a parking garage downtown Chicago for 4 hours last week…….$63 🤯

 

[FU BK]

All this tells me is the obvious, that Arkansas doesn't play well at home.

And when they do, they absolutely lay down on their coach

 

[PolishDomer]

Parked in a parking garage downtown Chicago for 4 hours last week…….$63 🤯

I know...I really hate going downtown...Spothero is a great app to find discounted parking

 

[Lord Jim]

The nerve of this guy! Dem are fighting words and I hope we get a CFP rematch (Championship game would be ideal) with Day and these bucknuts.

Notre Dame's AP Ranking is Nuttier Than Squirrel Turds

"I don't care about conference pride or anything, but can we just say fuck Notre Dame? I am tired of them being given preferential treatment just because they owned teams back when there were leather helmets and no shoulder pads. I guess pioneering the forward pass gives you a 100-year exemption for being annual disappointments... That's all I got. Fuck Notre Dame. May they flip over their handlebars and knock out their front two teeth in an endless loop of sadness."

That's all I got to say...

Simple response: At least ND can beat Michigan.

 

[RipWheeler]

Simple response: At least ND can beat Michigan.