John Adams, Knoxville News SentinelMon, December 1, 2025 at 10:06 AM UTC·6 min readScary thought heading into the College Football Playoff: Ohio State is getting better. Michigan can vouch for that.
The Wolverines beat the Buckeyes with a power-running game last season. This time, Ohio State had the better running game, thanks to Bo Jackson. It also had the better passing game and the better defense and … well, you get the idea.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSo, I’ve moved Ohio State past Indiana into first place in my Big Ten/SEC top 25.
1. Ohio State: The Buckeyes’ domination is impossible to ignore. No one has come close to them since Texas in the season opener.
2. Indiana: The Hoosiers have beaten only one team that’s currently ranked in the top 25. But their 10-point win against Oregon at Autzen Stadium might be the most impressive single-game performance of the season.
3. Georgia: The Bulldogs’ 16-9 victory over Georgia Tech was a testament to their defensive improvement since last season. Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King rushed for 110 yards against Georgia in 2024. He gained only 39 yards this time.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement4. Texas A&M: The Aggies will be a better team in the playoffs if running back Le’Veon Moss is in good health and quarterback Marcel Reed is on target. Their running game struggled without Moss against the Longhorns, and Reed threw two fourth-quarter interceptions.
5. Oregon: The Ducks defense came on strong in the last five games, giving up an average of just 14.6 points. It repeatedly pressured Washington star quarterback Demond Williams in a 26-14 victory. Williams completed 15 of 30 passes for only 129 yards and threw two interceptions.
6. Ole Miss: The Lane Kiffin drama didn’t distract the Rebels. They pulled away from Mississippi State for a 38-19 victory to complete an 11-1 regular season.
Ole Miss already has clinched a school-record three consecutive seasons with 10 or more wins.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement7. Oklahoma: The Sooners didn’t dazzle anybody offensively, but they closed out the regular season by winning four consecutive games against winning teams. Three of those opponents were nationally ranked.
The defense is outstanding, and quarterback John Mateer − who can be hit or miss − makes just enough clutch plays.
8. Alabama: The Tide scored 27 points in a seven-point win over Auburn despite gaining fewer than 300 yards. No one should have been surprised by the outcome.
Alabama has won its last three games at Jordan-Hare Stadium, all by seven points or fewer.
9. Vanderbilt: Anyone who doesn’t regard Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia has a serious Heisman Trophy candidate hasn’t been paying attention. He had 433 yards of total offense in a 45-24 rout of Tennessee, a week after totaling 532 yards against Kentucky
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement10. Texas: Steve Sarkisian’s play-calling and quarterback Arch Manning’s running figured prominently in Texas’ comeback against the Aggies. But the three-loss Longhorns don’t belong in the playoffs.
Sure, that was a huge win against the Aggies, and one of their three losses was against Ohio State. But they had a couple of bad losses. Georgia beat them by 25 points, and they also lost to an awful Florida team. Moreover, they were fortunate to beat two other losing teams, Kentucky and Mississippi State.
11. Michigan: History took a beating in Ann Arbor. Never mind the Wolverines recent success against Ohio State. They were no match for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State was better in every phase of the game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement12. Southern California: The Trojans finished the regular season 9-3 with a 29-10 victory over UCLA, which is 3-9. The crosstown rivals haven’t been this far apart since 1969 when the Trojans were 10-0-1, and the Bruins were 2-7-1.
13. Iowa: The Hawkeyes couldn’t handle Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson, who rushed for 217 yards. But it didn’t matter.
They closed out their regular season with eight wins, but they will be haunted by the four close losses: three points to Iowa State, five to Indiana, five to Southern California, and two to Oregon.
14. Tennessee: The Vols were overwhelmed by Vanderbilt’s versatile offense. That’s not surprising.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTennessee gave up more than 30 points in seven of its eight SEC games.
15. Missouri: The Tigers have been remarkably consistent in an 8-4 season. They’re 0-4 against nationally ranked teams, and 8-0 against everybody else.
16. Illinois: Northwestern’s Preston Stone passed the Illini to a 20-13 victory in their regular-season finale. Stone threw three interceptions, including two to Miles Scott in the last five minutes.
17. Nebraska: The Cornhuskers were excited about extending coach Matt Rhule’s contract through the 2032 season. But what do they have to show for it?
They’re 7-5 after absorbing a 40-16 beating from Iowa.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement18. LSU: These Tigers had the same problem as Missouri’s. They went 0-5 against nationally ranked teams.
Perhaps, Kiffin can change that record.
19. Minnesota: The Gophers’ 17-7 victory over Wisconsin on a snowy afternoon wasn’t as close as the series, which Minnesota now leads, 64-63-1.
20. Northwestern: The Wildcats’ 5-2 start is a distant memory. They lost four of their last five games but still managed to be bowl eligible.
21. Penn State: Running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton were expected to carry the Nittany Lions into the playoffs this season. That didn’t work out.
But they at least carried them to bowl eligibility by combining for 312 yards rushing in a 40-36 victory over Rutgers.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement22. Auburn: A fourth-quarter fumble killed the Tigers' drive for a possible tying score in a 27-20 loss to Alabama. But they found a coach, South Florida's Alex Golesh.
23. Mississippi State: The Bulldogs couldn’t keep up with Ole Miss, but freshman quarterback Kamario Taylor gave fans hope for the future by rushing for 173 yards on 20 carries in his first start.
24. Rutgers: Sophomores Antwan Raymond and KJ Duff weren’t enough to beat Penn State. But they could have enhanced their opportunities in the transfer portal.
Raymond, who has averaged better than 100 yards rushing per game, gained 189 yards against Penn State. Duff caught five passes for 127 yards to pass the 1,000-yard mark in receiving.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementADAMS: Vanderbilt, Diego Pavia shake Tennessee football to its core
25. Kentucky: Go ahead and laugh. But the Wildcats did win five games, and coach Mark Stoops hadn’t been fired as of this writing after a 41-0 loss to Louisville.
Also, Kentucky was better in the second half of the season (3-3) than the first half (2-4).
Full disclosure: I didn’t want to leave the 25th spot vacant in my final regular-season rankings.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Ohio State football surges to No. 1 in my Big Ten/SEC top 25
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