STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI – Sam Leavitt of the Arizona State Sun Devils reacts before the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium on September 06, 2025 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
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Two full weeks into the 2025 college football season and we have seen major movement in the AP poll, especially outside the top 10. Three playoff teams from last season have already dropped out of the top 25. A pair of teams from the Sunshine State, one that received eight votes in the preseason poll and one that was nowhere to be found, are in the top 20. Then there is the SEC, which has residency in a healthy 44 percent of the poll.
Of course, things will continue to change as non-conference play mostly wraps up and the conference slate commences in earnest in the next couple of weeks.
Early losses hurt 2024 CFP teams
First it was Boise State in Week 1, then Arizona State and SMU in Week 2. Three teams that went to the 12-team playoff a season ago tumbled out of the top 25 as a result of losses in the season’s first two full weeks.
The Broncos, who represented the group of non-power conference teams at the playoff table last season thanks largely to the running of Ashton Jeanty, opened this season at No. 25. A 34-7 loss at USF, in a game that 10-7 at the half, was the Broncos’ worst loss to an unranked team in six years, knocked them out.
Defending Big 12 champ Arizona State, which took Texas to double overtime in the playoff, began the season at No. 11 despite not having the services of star running back Cam Skattebo, who like Jeanty is in the NFL. The Sun Devils predictably toppled Northern Arizona before losing in the final minute at unranked Mississippi State.
SMU opened the season at No. 16 and took care of East Texas A&M prior to allowing 601 yards and losing in double OT at unranked Baylor. In their ACC debut a season ago, the Mustangs lost to Clemson in the conference championship game before making the playoff cut at No. 12. Their season ended at Penn State.
It was not as though Boise State, Arizona State and SMU suffered embarrassing losses. After all, USF followed its victory over the Broncos by going up to Gainesville (see below) and winning. Mississippi State may be coming off a 2-10 season, but Starkville is no picnic. Though Baylor has had its share of peaks and valleys the past decade or so, the Bears have won seven of nine since the mid-point of last season.
Statements in Tallahassee and Tampa
Florida State opened the season receiving eight votes in the AP poll after last season’s 2-10 disgrace. The retooled ‘Noles wasted no time in doing something about it as they took the field at Doak Campbell in Week 1 and upended Alabama. They not only cracked the top 25, but pole-vaulted to No. 14. That gave the state of Florida three teams in top 25 (also Miami and UF) heading into Week 2 for the first time since the final Saturday of September 2023. The Gators were run over by Ray Davis at Kentucky that day and did not return to the top 25 until this year’s preseason poll.
Three Florida teams remain in the poll heading into this weekend’s action, though not without change. USF, coming off a season-opening win versus then-No. 25 Boise State, drove a couple of hours up I-75 and beat the Gators on a Nico Gramatica field goal as time expired. At No. 18, the Bulls are ranked for the first time since Charlie Strong’s squad opened 7-0 in 2018. The Gators? They entered the USF game No. 13, and not only tumbled out of the poll, but in essence fell 16 spots to fourth among those receiving votes outside the top 25.
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – Nico Gramatica of the South Florida Bulls celebrates after making a game winning field goal against the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 06, 2025 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
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USF’s win in the Swamp sets up an in-state matchup among ranked teams in Miami this week when the Bulls face the No. 5 Hurricanes. Meanwhile, the Gators travel to No. 3 LSU – including neutral site, UF is 0-11 against ranked opponents away from Gainesville under Billy Napier – and the No. 10 Seminoles, who demolished (77-3) East Texas A&M, have a week off before hosting Kent State in a game that includes a $1.2 million payday for the Golden Flashes.
SEC polling approval
While the Gators fell off the face of the AP poll, Auburn and Missouri joined the ranks at No. 24 and No. 25, respectively, to give the SEC 11 teams in the top 25. Auburn opened the season by defeating visiting Baylor by two touchdowns, a good win to begin with and one that looks better after the Bears outlasted SMU. The Tigers then manhandled Ball State. Mizzou opened with a rout of Central Arkansas before climbing out of a first-quarter hole to defeat Kansas in the first Border War in a decade.
Florida could expand the SEC’s inventory of ranked teams to a dozen should Napier’s Gators topple No. 3 LSU in Baton Rouge this week. Such an outcome is unlikely given UF’s recent history against ranked teams away from the Swamp as noted above, but you never know. Though stingy, the Bengal Tigers have scored only 40 points in wins over Clemson (17-10) and Louisiana Tech (23-7).
Tennessee has gained the most ground among teams that were in the preseason ranking. The Vols opened at No. 24 and have climbed nine spots to No. 15 following wins over Syracuse and East Tennessee State. Josh Heupel’s team lifts the curtain on SEC play with a visit from No. 6 Georgia on Saturday.