2025 Preseason College Football Polls Dominated By The SEC And Big Ten

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – Coach Steve Sarkisian and actor Matthew McConaughey prior to a game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field on November 30, 2024 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

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The super conference model is not yet a part of the college football landscape. It might as well be, however, as the SEC and Big Ten continue to operate within a sphere far removed the others. Such proof can once again be found in the top 25 preseason polls where the two conferences combine to occupy 16 spots in the AP and 15 in the coaches’. The tally was 15/15 last year.

Led by No. 1 Texas, the Big Ten and SEC together occupy seven of the top nine spots in both polls, and 11 of the top 15. Such dominance, of course, is in part a byproduct of the rich getting richer. Both conferences added inventory following the 2023-24 season when the SEC expanded to 16 teams by welcoming Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12, and the Big Ten swelled to 18 teams with the addition of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington from the Pac-12.

It all makes for an even juicier heavyweight matchup August 30 when the top-ranked Longhorns travel to Columbus to meet the No. 3/2 Buckeyes in the season opener for both. The teams met in a CFP semifinal last season with eventual national champ Ohio State prevailing, 28-14.

Led by the Super 2, here are a few (alphabetical) observations from the preseason polls ahead of the season kicking off August 23 in Dublin with a Big 12 clash between No. 17/20 Kansas State and No. 22/21 Iowa State.

Alabama

The No. 8/8 Crimson Tide do not open as a top-five team for the first time since Nick Saban’s initial season in Tuscaloosa. That was 2008 when ‘Bama was No. 24/NR before reeling off 16 straight appearances in the top five of both polls. By the way, the Tide went 12-2 in Saban’s debut on the Bryant-Denny Stadium home sideline and finished No. 6/6. Kalen DeBoer went 9-4 and No. 17 in both polls in his 2024 debut with Alabama.

Arizona State

The Sun Devils went from consecutive 3-9 seasons to the playoff last year and there is belief among the pollsters that third-year coach Kenny Dillingham has his squad poised for more good things in 2025 even with running back Cam Skattebo in the NFL. In fact, the No. 11/11 preseason showing is the Sun Devils’ highest since opening at No. 8/9 in 1998, a season that resulted in a 5-6 mark under Bruce Snyder.

Boise State

The Broncos’ pulling up the bottom of both polls is notable for the fact no non-power conference team was ranked in either poll heading into the 2024 season. Spencer Danielson’s team started 3-1 last season with the only loss by a field goal at Oregon. BSU worked its way into the top 10 and, as the leader of the pack among the Group Five, advanced to the playoff where they lost to Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl. Heisman finalist Ashton Jeanty is in the NFL, though plenty of production on both sides returns, including junior quarterback Maddux Madsen.

Florida

The No. 15/17 Gators return to the preseason polls following a three-year hiatus. In fact, it has been since the 1960s that they went four straight years without being included. A strong finish to 2024 – four straight wins, including over ranked LSU and Ole Miss – resulted in an 8-5 season and plenty of optimism that rolled into the offseason in Gainesville. That optimism carries over big time thanks largely to quarterback D.J. Lagway, who could very well be part of the Heisman conversation in his first season as the starter out of the chute.

Georgia

Make it eight straight years the No. 5/4 Bulldogs have appeared in the top five of both preseason polls. In a larger picture that begins in 2012 under Mark Richt, UGA has now opened in the top 10 in 11 of 14 years. Believe it or not, the 2025 season is Kirby Smart’s 10^th at the helm in Athens. His first season (2016, preseason No. 18) was the last time Georgia opened outside the top 15.

Illinois

The last time No. 12/12 Illinois and No. 20/19 Indiana (below) were in the preseason polls together? You can stop searching because this is a first. Bret Bielema’s Fighting Illini were one of five Big Ten teams with at least 10 wins last year (10-3), which was the first such season for Illinois since Ron Turner led his squad to a 10-2 mark and Sugar Bowl appearance in 2001. The good feeling heading into this season swirls around a bevy of returning starters on both sides of scrimmage, including QB Luke Altmyer and DB Xavier Scott.

Indiana

This marks the second time this decade the No. 20/19 Hoosiers open a season in the top 25 after concluding the previous one in the polls. See also 2020-21 under Tom Allen. Curt Cignetti’s first season in Bloomington was a magic carpet ride of sorts as an 11-2 campaign (that began 10-0 ) represented the first time in school history the Hoosiers won more than nine games. While Oregon and Penn State played for the Big Ten conference title, Indiana went straight to the playoff, a first-round defeat at Notre Dame. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke was one-and-done at IU, and filling his shoes is a major task.

Notre Dame

The No. 6/5 Fighting Irish are the highest ranked non-B10/SEC team in the coaches’ poll, though Clemson, at No. 4, has that distinction in the AP. Coach Marcus Freeman will turn to a new starting quarterback – either redshirt freshman C.J. Carr or sophomore Kenny Minchey – during a demanding start to the season that features a trip to Miami and visit from Texas A&M.

Ohio State

The last time the No. 3/2 Buckeyes were not in the preseason rankings? That was 1988 in John Cooper’s first season and with the Buckeyes were coming off a 6-4-1 campaign in Earle Bruce’s final year at the helm in Columbus. Things got worse before they got better under Cooper as Ohio State went 4-6-1 in ’88. The Buckeyes extended their record of being ranked in the preseason to 72 years. This is also the 13^th straight year they will open among the top six teams.

Oklahoma

There is no greater disparity in the polls than the Sooners checking in at No. 18 in the AP and being the best of the rest among the coaches who voted. With 221 voting points in the latter, OU is 25 points in arrears of No. 25 Boise State. This marks the third consecutive preseason the Sooners are outside the top 10, something that last happened 1996-2000, a stretch that included four years being unranked.

SMU

It was 40 years ago that the No. 16/16 Mustangs were last ranked in the preseason. A death penalty, continued residency in Southwest Conference and membership in the WAC, Conference USA, American and, currently, the ACC, have followed since Bobby Collins’ squad opened the 1985 season at No. 3. Alas, this was no Pony Express of Eric Dickerson/Craig James fame. Rather, the season was a ho-hum 6-5. Such a record looked like something special given the Mustangs, thanks to their NCAA-imposed two-year ban (1987-88) from the gridiron, would not win more than a half dozen games until 2009. The 2025 season will be their second enjoying the riches of the ACC.

South Carolina

Steve Spurrier was in charge when the Gamecocks last appeared in the preseason polls in 2014. That was the last full season in Columbia for the ‘Head Ball Coach’ following a trio of 11-2 showings, seasons that were capped by bowl wins and top-10 finishes. Shane Beamer has a pair of postseason rankings on his resume in four years as South Carolina’s coach, incluidng No. 19/19 last season. This year marks the first time the No. 13/13 Gamecocks open a season ranked on his watch.

Texas Tech

The preseason polls represent the first time the No. 23/24 Red Raiders are ranked at any point since they appeared at No. 25 for one week in 2018 under Kliff Kingsbury. A decade earlier, Mike Leach’s squad soared as high as No. 2 before winding up the 2008 season where they started: at No. 12. That was Tech’s last appearance in the preseason top 25.