Post-spring preseason top 25 is out ahead of college football’s 2025 season and there are several included teams whose voting results were widely skewed. It’s time to project the possible contenders and pretenders from the way-too-early rankings because with every preseason poll, there’s always a handful of programs who fail to meet — or shoot past — outside expectations.
At least half of last season’s College Football Playoff teams in the first year of expansion should be back in the mix, with a bevy of others in contention. But which teams will leak oil by midseason?
In the past 20 years, only three top–ranked teams in the preseason AP poll went on to win the national championship — 2004 USC, 2017 Alabama and 2024 Ohio State. The Buckeyes took the long road to get there after losing twice in the regular season last fall before running the gauntlet in the playoff and defeating Notre Dame for a crown.
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Here are contenders and pretenders from our post-spring top 25 based on where they slot…
