EA Sports College Football 25 is on the horizon as the long-anticipated video game is set to be released on July 19. The buzz surrounding the game went into overdrive with the release of the trailer in May and the video game company is adding to the hype with the reveal of several rankings this week.
We’re getting to the nitty gritty of gameplay as on Thursday, the company revealed the Top 25 rankings for both offensive and defensive units in the game. The development team at EA Sports indicated that they used thousands of data points and even consulted Pro Football Focus to come up with these rankings. Here is the full list.
Top Offenses/Defenses in College Football 25
| Ranking | Offense | Defense |
|---|---|---|
| Ranking | Offense | Defense |
| 1 | Georgia (94) | Ohio State (96) |
| 2 | Oregon (94) | Georgia (94) |
| 3 | Alabama (91) | Oregon (90) |
| 4 | Texas (91) | Alabama (90) |
| 5 | Ohio State (89) | Clemson (90) |
| 6 | LSU (89) | Notre Dame (90) |
| 7 | Miami (89) | Michigan (90) |
| 8 | Colorado (89) | Texas (88) |
| 9 | Missouri (89) | Penn State (88) |
| 10 | Clemson (87) | Utah (88) |
| 11 | Utah (87) | Florida State (88) |
| 12 | Penn State (87) | Oklahoma (88) |
| 13 | Ole Miss (87) | Iowa (88) |
| 14 | Kansas (87) | Virginia Tech (86) |
| 15 | Arizona (87) | Wisconsin (86) |
| 16 | NC State (87) | USC (86) |
| 17 | Notre Dame (85) | Auburn (86) |
| 18 | Texas A&M (85) | LSU (84) |
| 19 | Memphis (85) | Texas A&M (84) |
| 20 | SMU (85) | Colorado (84) |
| 21 | UCF (85) | Oklahoma State (84) |
| 22 | Florida State (83) | Louisville (84) |
| 23 | Oklahoma (83) | North Carolina (84) |
| 24 | Virginia Tech (83) | Kansas State (84) |
| 25 | USC (83) | Florida (84) |
Offense
Offensively, EA Sports’ rankings mostly track with the exception of a few outliers. Using SP+ metrics by ESPN’s Bill Connelly, most of these offenses appeared in the top 25 of both the final batch of 2023 SP+ rankings released in January and the first batch of post-spring rankings released in May.
What immediately jumps out is that nearly every team on the offensive list has either a returning starter at quarterback or a veteran transfer QB that we’re already familiar with. This is apparent right at the top with No. 1 Georgia and Carson Beck, who is the preseason Heisman Trophy favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook, and No. 2 Oregon with Dillon Gabriel, who is an established transfer vet through his stints at UCF and Oklahoma. This is also the case for teams such as No. 14 Kansas with returning senior Jalon Daniels and No. 16 NC State, who will be led by Coastal Carolina transfer Grayson McCall.
The reality is that the transfer portal has made it even more difficult to prognosticate how teams will perform as we see massive amounts of roster turnover happening as late as the summer. So it makes sense why EA Sports would heavily weigh teams with established QBs, given that an entire unit can look completely different personnel-wise from year to year.
However, I do have a few gripes with this list, and one of them is Colorado clocking in at No. 8 on offense. OK, look, I get that the Colorado-Deion Sanders hype machine will carry over into another season. I get that Shedeur Sanders is good and has a chance to be the first QB taken in the 2025 NFL Draft. I get that weapons like Jimmy Horn Jr. and game cover-boy Travis Hunter will be back. But did anyone actually watch this offense through the final month of the season? Did you see how dysfunctional it was as offensive coordinator Sean Lewis was effectively demoted for Pat Shurmur? Did you see how Shedeur was basically under duress every other play because of a poor offensive line? And you’re putting this unit in the top 10? Come on, EA.
While Colorado at No. 8 is a huge reach, a notable snub from the top 25 entirely is Tennessee. Josh Heupel’s offense is a system that was built for this video game and we’ve seen them put up monster numbers over the past few years with Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton operating the controls at QB. Prized five-star starter prospect Nico Iamaleava is finally taking the reigns as the starter this year and there’s already hype over him being a possible Heisman Trophy finalist. The Vols are probably victims of Iamaleava not being an established starter like most of the QBs of teams on this list. But not even the top 25?
Defense
EA Sports’ defensive rankings weren’t too much of a surprise as the top of the list is comprised of programs that are routinely dominant on that side of the ball.
Ohio State’s defense may very well be OP in real life and that is reflected by them having the highest-ranked unit in the entire game. A unit that already had All-Big Ten starters like DE Jack Sawyer, DT JT Tuimoloau, and CB Denzel Burke returning added former Alabama S Caleb Downs, who already has a case for being the best defensive back in the country. Unless you’re playing on Freshman mode, good luck moving the ball against the Buckeyes.
Georgia, Oregon, Alabama, and Clemson rounding out the top five is no surprise given that these have been some of the most dominant defensive programs in the country and simply reload whenever they lose talent to the NFL. A program that should quietly be in this neighborhood is Iowa, which EA Sports has pegged as the No. 13 defense in College Football 25. For as pathetic as the Hawkeyes’ offense has been in recent years, their defense has been equally lethal under DC Phil Parker and the unit was ranked third in defensive SP+ to close the 2023 campaign. The likes of Lukas Van Ness, Jack Campbell, Riley Moss, and Cooper DeJean have been notable early-round selections over the last two NFL Drafts and they’re bound to crank out even more elite defenders as the years go on. The Hawkeyes should be ranked higher here. If you want to go nuts in dynasty mode and install the Air Raid offense, you should have a killer defense to complement it.
My only other real gripe with these rankings is, ummmm, WHAT THE HECK IS USC DOING HERE?! EA Sports, have you not seen their movies? Did you not see how the Caleb Williams era was basically squandered because they couldn’t stop anyone? Yeah, they finally got rid of Alex Grinch at defensive coordinator, but you don’t get the benefit of the doubt anymore Trojans. The top 20 for this unit is egregious.
Which team should you use?
I already gave a guide on which team you should use for dynasty mode, but there are also good options based on these rankings. You could lean totally into offense with a team like Memphis or use defense as your guiding light like the aforementioned Hawkeyes. If you want a program that is in the top 25 of both rankings and would be a nice reclamation project, then I’ll point you in the direction of Virginia Tech.
Va. Tech sits in an interesting spot, checking in at No. 24 on offense and No. 14 on defense. The Hokies are entering Year 3 of their rebuild under head coach Brent Pry and after an encouraging finish to last season, some have pegged them as an ACC darkhorse heading into 2024. Kyron Drones is a fun dual-threat quarterback who was made for this video game and you could make opponents’ life even more difficult by having him hand the ball off to all-purpose back Bhayshul Tuten. Throw in a returning All-ACC defensive end in Antwaun Powell-Ryland and you have a roster that will be ready to take off quickly thanks to EA Sports’ rankings.