Fixing EA Sports College Football 25’s top offensive, defensive rankings

As if college football weren't controversial enough, here comes EA Sports College Football 25 video game with another rankings list. On Tuesday, the developers started with what has been labeled the College Football 25 Rankings Week Showcase, ranking first the toughest places to play, then the sights and sounds deep dive on Wednesday. On Thursday, they released the top offenses and defenses.

As you can imagine, the places-to-play list started a myriad of debates, and now the top offenses and defenses list has only escalated that. Here's how EA Sports developed their first offensive and defensive power rankings:

“The Development Team meticulously examined hundreds of thousands of data points to arrive at our team power rankings. With help from our friends at Pro Football Focus (PFF), the team analyzed all 134 rosters, thousands of players, years worth of game film, and mountains of stats, ultimately arriving at our Team Power Rankings.

“Rankings are subject to change in future updates.”

Here's all 50 rankings for EA Sports College Football 25's offense and defense:

EA Sports College Football 25 top 25 offensive and defensive power rankings

Offensive power rankings;

1. Georgia – 94 OVR
2. Oregon – 94 OVR
3. Alabama – 91 OVR
4. Texas – 91 OVR
5. Ohio State – 89 OVR
6. LSU – 89 OVR
7. Miami – 89 OVR
8. Colorado – 89 OVR
9. Missouri – 89 OVR
10. Clemson – 87 OVR
11. Utah – 87 OVR
12. Penn State – 87 OVR
13. Ole Miss – 87 OVR
14. Kansas – 87 OVR
15. Arizona – 87 OVR
16. NC State – 87 OVR
17. Notre Dame – 85 OVR
18. Texas A&M – 85 OVR
19. Memphis – 85 OVR
20. SMU – 85 OVR
21. UCF – 85 OVR
22. Florida State – 83 OVR
23. Oklahoma – 83 OVR
24. Virginia Tech – 83 OVR
25. USC – 83 OVR

Defensive power rankings:

1. Ohio State – 96 OVR
2. Georgia – 94 OVR
3. Oregon – 90 OVR
4. Alabama – 90 OVR
5. Clemson – 90 OVR
6. Notre Dame – 90 OVR
7. Michigan – 90 OVR
8. Texas – 88 OVR
9. Penn State – 88 OVR
10. Utah – 88 OVR
11. Florida State – 88 OVR
12. Oklahoma – 88 OVR
13. Iowa – 88 OVR
14. Virginia Tech – 86 OVR
15. Wisconsin – 86 OVR
16. USC – 86 OVR
17. Auburn – 86 OVR
18. LSU – 84 OVR
19. Texas A&M – 84 OVR
20. Colorado – 84 OVR
21. Oklahoma State – 84 OVR
22. Louisville – 84 OVR
23. North Carolina – 84 OVR
24. Kansas State – 84 OVR
25. Florida – 84 OVR

What was wrong with College Football 25's offensive rankings?

We're mainly going to be sticking with the top 10 from each category, as that is really the most heavily debatable. We'll start with the offense.

Georgia football at No. 1 in College Football 25 offensive power rankings isn't that surprising. They do have quarterback Carson Beck back and a total of nine offensive starters returning. But it's also a unit that lost Brock Bowers, the team's top receiver the last few years, and top rushers from last season in Daijun Edwards and Kendall Milton. However, it's not like the Bulldogs are short on talent in many areas.

Oregon at either one or two seems pretty fair considering how talented this group was last year and should be yet again in 2024. The Ducks are top five in Pro Football Focus's top-rated units for running backs, receivers, offensive line, and even quarterback room. Dan Lanning did well in replacing last year's Heisman Trophy candidate Bo Nix with Dillon Gabriel out of the transfer portal.

Miami makes a significant jump offensively in comparison to last season when quarterback and receiver play were poor. The Canes were 31st in total offense last year, averaging 431.2 yards per game. But there's a lot more promise on this side of the ball for Miami in the coming season than there has been in maybe decades. Portal additions of quarterback Cam Ward, running back Damien Martinez, and receiver Sam Brown add to what was already set to have valuable pieces.

Two of the bigger surprises are Clemson and Colorado football. The Buffaloes at No. 8, or really, in the top 25 at all, seems way too high. Now, it goes without saying that we're talking about video game rankings and projections at that. But still, this unit has a lot to prove coming off last season, especially with the offensive line that allowed 56 sacks. Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter make Colorado's offense interesting and potentially dangerous, but not top 25 worthy…yet.

Clemson couldn't hold onto the ball last season and was yet again a shell of past Tigers' offenses from years past, ranking 52nd in points scored. Cade Klubnik has yet to prove he is the answer behind center. And though Phil Mafah is back at running back, there's still some talent and depth to be had at wide receiver that hasn't been there in the last couple of seasons.

If we are talking about projections of talent here, then it's puzzling why Tennessee football isn't anywhere in the top 25 of College Football 25's offenses at all. Perhaps no quarterback in the country has more promise than former five-star Nico Iamaleava, who looks to put the Vols' offense back as one of the best in the country. Also, Ole Miss feels entirely too low at No. 13, especially with the skill position players they have under Lane Kiffin's offensive guidance.

What was wrong with College Football 25's defensive rankings?

Surprisingly, this is one that the video game may have gotten at least somewhat right, although not without its own set of errors. Six of last year's top 10 ranked total defenses stayed in that range in Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, Notre Dame, Michigan, and Penn State. Honestly, you could shuffle most of those up and be close no matter how it played out. But where it starts getting questionable is actually past the top 10.

How on earth did either USC or LSU football make it into College Football 25's top 25 defensive power rankings? Just off last year's numbers alone, neither one deserves to be even considered in such a category.

The Trojans scored a very generous 16th ranking from the game, and the only feasible reason they're receiving that ranking is for two reasons. One, new defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn replaces Alex Grinch, who was fired midway through last season. And two, they're USC and have name notoriety. That's it because last year's team ranked 104th in the country in yards allowed per play with a 118th ranked scoring defense, allowing 34.38 points per game.

LSU football, who claimed two spots below USC at No. 18, was one of the worst third-down units in the country last season, allowing opponents to convert more than 50 percent of the time. They ranked 104th in the country in total defense, allowing 6.05 yards per play and 409.2 yards per game.

Finally, leaving Iowa out of the top 10 in College Football 25's defensive power rankings seems a bit egregious. The Hawkeyes' offensive ineptitude shouldn't count against how impressive their defense was last season. For starters, they have nine defensive starters coming back this season, even if one of them is not Cooper DeJean. Last year's unit ranked 7th in total defense and 4th in scoring defense.