Steve Sarkisian may not think we’ll see another college football team go undefeated ever again, given the longer season and expanded playoff, but recent history suggests there’s plenty of precedent for a school to go wire-to-wire in a given year.
So far, 21 teams have run the table in this century, Michigan being the most recent after going 15-0 in 2023 en route to a College Football Playoff national title.
National champion Georgia went undefeated in 2022, as did Alabama in 2020.
What teams have the best chance of playing a perfect season in the 2025 season?
Recently, the ESPN Football Power Index set about making its predictions for the coming year, setting up 10 programs with a shot to go without a loss.
1. Texas ─ 8.9 percent
2. Ohio State ─ 8.6 percent
3. Notre Dame ─ 7.0 percent
T-3. Penn State ─ 7.0 percent
5. Georgia ─ 6.3 percent
6. Clemson ─ 4.7 percent
T-6. Miami 4.7 percent
8. UNLV ─ 4.6 percent
9. Oregon ─ 4.4 percent
10. Alabama ─ 3.9 percent
Those are all pretty low percentages, as might be expected given the new scheduling landscape in college football after some historic conference realignment and the enlargement of the playoff to 12 teams.
But it’s still a lot of the usual suspects at the top of these rankings, predictably with the SEC and Big Ten outgunning the competition once again.
─ The big hurdle on the Longhorns’ schedule comes in Week 1 on the road against Ohio State in a rematch of the CFP semifinal, this time with Arch Manning at the helm, but Texas fields a formidable roster and should be favored in most of its games, save a date at Georgia late in the year.
─ Likewise for the Buckeyes, that opener against Texas is a major litmus test, debuting two new coordinators and plenty of new faces on the field, and they play on the road to Washington, Illinois, Wisconsin, and the finale at Michigan.
─ The index is very confident in the Fighting Irish, who play at Miami and host Texas A&M in the first two weeks, go to Arkansas two weeks later, and host playoff team Boise State the week after that.
─ Penn State hosts Oregon and goes to Ohio State in what will be the two biggest threats to its quest for perfection, and a trip to Iowa could prove a challenge if the Hawkeyes’ defense is able to maintain its usual standard, and if quarterback Mark Gronowski can revive this offense.
─ Those three tough road tests Georgia faced a year ago, going 1-2 in those games, all come between the hedges, hosting Ole Miss, Alabama, and Texas, but the Bulldogs go to Tennessee.
─ Clemson opens against LSU in a massive test for both playoff hopefuls, and the Tigers travel to North Carolina, Louisville, and finish at South Carolina.
─ Miami hosts the Irish, Florida, and Louisville and finishes at Virginia Tech and Pitt, all serious tests for the Hurricanes’ flashy new transfer, quarterback Carson Beck.
─ Dan Mullen steps in to lead UNLV, hopefully back into playoff contention as the Group of Five pick, but the Rebels go to Boise State this year and welcome UCLA, and really need to get something more from an aerial attack that was 127th in FBS last fall.
─ Oregon avoids the Buckeyes, but goes to Penn State and Iowa, and there’s a long trip to Rutgers as the Ducks will travel the most of any Big Ten team this year (8,931 miles).
─ Alabama opens at Florida State, and we’ll see if the Seminoles have rebounded from their 2-10 identity crisis from a year ago, but the Tide also goes to Georgia, South Carolina, and Missouri while hosting Tennessee, LSU, and Oklahoma.
More … ESPN reveals 2025 preseason college football rankings
Michigan leads all current Division I FBS college football programs with 16 undefeated seasons, a number that increases to 24, also the most, when adding ties to the record.
Notre Dame is second on that list with 13 perfect seasons, undefeated without ties, followed by Alabama and Oklahoma (11 each), and USC, Texas, and Nebraska (9 each).
—
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
