the tenth week of the 2025 college football season

published november 2, 2025

introductory comments

this was an interesting week to say the least. interesting scores, interesting upsets, and a very interesting top 25 as you will soon see. can we even attempt to say, two thirds of the way in, who might be the champion? over the end of the season, we will find out.

the top 25

  1. texas a&m - 249 pts. (8-0, +113)
  2. vanderbilt - 220 pts. (7-2, +154)
  3. oklahoma - 205 pts. (7-2, +133)
  4. virginia - 203 pts. (8-1, +128)
  5. south florida - 199 pts. (6-2, +128)
  6. pittsburgh - 196 pts. (7-2, +161)
  7. washington - 195 pts. (6-2, +117)
  8. iowa - 193 pts. (6-2, +145)
  9. usc - 185 pts. (6-2, +139)
  10. utah - 183 pts. (7-2, +228)
  11. indiana - 180 pts. (9-0, +321)
  12. texas tech - 177 pts. (8-1, +273)
  13. georgia - 176 pts. (7-1, +103)
  14. ole miss - 174 pts. (8-1, +128)
  15. ohio state - 173 pts. (8-0, +238)
  16. tcu - 173 pts. (6-2, +76)
  17. northwestern - 169 pts. (5-3, +46)
  18. mississippi state - 168 pts. (5-4, +77)
  19. texas - 164 pts. (7-2, +118)
  20. houston - 162 pts. (7-2, +71)
  21. miami - 161 pts. (6-2, +133)
  22. tennessee - 155 pts. (6-3, +112)
  23. old dominion - 155 pts. (6-3, +76)
  24. new mexico - 155 pts. (6-3, +39)
  25. missouri - 154 pts. (6-2, +149)

the bottom 25

  1. middle tennessee - -87 pts. (1-7, -81)
  2. army - -87 pts. (4-4, +2)
  3. umass - -79 pts. (0-8, -195)
  4. toledo - -71 pts. (4-4, +126)
  5. liberty - -70 pts. (4-4, +12)
  6. south alabama - -61 pts. (2-7, -43)
  7. texas state - -61 pts. (3-5, +2)
  8. louisiana - -40 pts. (3-6, -45)
  9. penn state - -33 pts. (3-5, +78)
  10. sam houston - -32 pts. (0-8, -194)
  11. eastern michigan - -28 pts. (2-7, -79)
  12. colorado state - -25 pts. (2-6, -64)
  13. appalachian state - -21 pts. (4-4, -5)
  14. boston college - -14 pts. (1-8, -76)
  15. northern illinois - -11 pts. (2-6, -70)
  16. clemson - -11 pts. (3-5, +35)
  17. california - -10 pts. (5-4, -5)
  18. akron - -5 pts. (3-6, -78)
  19. rice - 4 pts. (4-5, -75)
  20. iowa state - 7 pts. (5-4, +53)
  21. unlv - 7 pts. (6-2, +21)
  22. arizona state - 8 pts. (6-3, +9)
  23. florida atlantic - 11 pts. (3-5, -48)
  24. tulsa - 12 pts. (2-6, -61)
  25. boise state - 15 pts. (6-3, +73)

adjustments

your field is ugly but good job anyways: marshall @ coastal carolina

coastal carolina gets to escape the bottom tier with a high scoring performance against marshall this week. they sit on the cusp of having a good record this year, but they really need to win out to be impressive. nevertheless, upsets get promotions, so coastal carolina is promoted to d tier. how about we get that point differential back in the positives, hm?

coastal carolina +21, marshall -16

an overdue overcompensation: virginia @ california

virginia has been near the top of the list for quite some time, deservedly so as a one-loss team. they shot up so far after beating california this week that we had to take a look at the adjustments record and found out that virginia had not yet been the subject of any adjustment so far this season and were still in c tier. so just for this special occasion, virginia is promoted to a tier. two tiers in one game is rare, especially for the same team. you better beat wake forest next week.

virginia +8, california -8

de-pointing disappointments for the third week in a row: west virginia @ houston

houston. what is this. letting in 45 points and losing to a 2-6 team when even the ap trusted you to be a top 25 team? for shame. houston missed the spread by 25 points, so houston loses 25 points. good teams don't disappoint this many people at once.

west virginia +21, houston -41

the mean green football machine: navy @ north texas

after north texas' last few performances and this week's dethroning of another undefeated team, north texas has earned an overlooking of their egregious loss to south florida and a promotion. the committee has decided that north texas is promoted to c tier, and awaits what should be an easy finish in the american to vie for the coveted group champion playoff bid. godspeed and you better win out because you are about to go on a week of rest and play just about the three worst teams in the conference. a win will disappoint us greatly.

north texas +16, navy -16

give up 40+ once, shame on you, give up 40+ twice, demotion on you: new mexico @ unlv

unlv was by far the lowest ranked undefeated team due to terrible strengh of schedule until they lost that status in week eight. but now, on full rest after their bye, they gave up 40 points for the second time in a row against new mexico, which moves them into the bottom 25 list. the only reason they aren't even lower is that this performance definitely earned a demotion. unlv is demoted to c tier, and it's a wonder they're even bowl eligible at this point. if we end up with a surplus of eligible teams, unlv should be one of the first ones out unless they do something real cool to finish off.

new mexico +37, unlv -32

yeah three losses this year where you only score a single touchdown is pretty bad: fresno state @ boise state

boise state did indeed do that, losing by 23 points to fresno state and just barely earning them a spot in the bottom 25. it's like these teams keep giving up just as soon as they have six wins. you know if you qualify this early you have something better to play for, right? stop doing things like this and embarrassing yourself. boise state is demoted to c tier.

fresno state +32, boise state -32

another dethroning: georgia tech @ nc state

nc state finally has a real win against a good team, and this time it ends georgia tech's perfect streak. that almost makes 5-4 look halfway decent, and the committee noticed. they have decided that nc state is promoted to b tier just in time for what would have been an intimidating opponent in miami after some rest this week. it's a mad dash for the title in the acc, but some teams step up.

nc state +37, georgia tech -27

promotion by a thousand tiny accomplishments: arkansas state @ troy

arkansas state got what would have been their third upset in four games. therefore as the final adjustment in a long list this week, the committee has decided that arkansas state is promoted to d tier.

arkansas state +16, troy -16

further notes

why north texas is the last hope for the american: tulane @ utsa

tulane lost a conference game by 22 points. that's why. so if you think there are other contenders, let's disqualify everyone else who's at least playing .500 football: south florida lost to memphis who lost to uab, temple gave up 45 points this week and barely beat tulsa, navy would have to beat notre dame and that isn't happening, east carolina was directly beaten by tulane who lost badly in this game, memphis lost to uab, and army is off in the corner doing their weird thing. the american is a mess.

another reason for miami not to be belt-worthy: miami @ smu

smu, of all teams, has handed miami their second loss of the season when i initially expected them to win out and take the belt to the playoff. but miami wanted to play the kind of conference where you just let a good team win, and the acc is not that conference. so miami now sits in imminent danger of falling out of consideration with another loss. terrible bye placement this season by the way.

iowa football played by someone who is not iowa: kentucky @ auburn and washington state @ oregon state

two of the late games last night combined for thirty points total among four teams. that is less than indiana's margin of victory this week. now auburn and kentucky is just another game that shows that non-elite teams in the sec are just kinda there, but the other game is notably one of two games in this year's pac 12. oregon state, despite being eliminated from bowl season, won at least half of the conference championship and completely delegitimized this year's washington state team. i mean, you could excuse some of washington state's losses before, but not after a performance like that. their only hope is to win the rematch in rivalry week.

bowl eligibility: qualification

the next party bus is here for teams that have secured their .500 record. some of these may surprise you. congratulations to:

bowl eligibility: elimination

some other teams got on the wrong bus and ended up in a lovely farm to wait out the offseason. better luck next year to:

scorigami recognition

indiana wishes they returned to the top of the list this week, but that honor goes to liberty along with some escape from the bottom of the table. congratulations to:

the belt

louisville retains the belt and earns five points. they defeat another struggling team in virginia tech this week by just twelve points, putting some amount of doubt on their next defense against california next week. how long will their first reign last? find out next time.

finishing up

next week will have more teams on bye, more tuesday through saturday action, another hawaii home game, and the beginning of sec teams playing cupcakes at the end of their schedules because they hate me personally. if they lose, they will be mocked. it's college football.