the ninth week of the 2025 college football season

published october 26, 2025

introductory comments

big games for the beginning of homecoming season. the race for the sec title tightens up. it's finally cold. welcome back to college football.

the top 25

  1. texas a&m - 249 pts. (8-0, +113)
  2. vanderbilt - 236 pts. (7-1, +157)
  3. houston - 203 pts. (7-1, +81)
  4. south florida - 199 pts. (6-2, +128)
  5. virginia - 195 pts. (7-1, +118)
  6. washington - 195 pts. (6-2, +117)
  7. iowa - 193 pts. (6-2, +145)
  8. oklahoma - 189 pts. (6-2, +127)
  9. pittsburgh - 180 pts. (6-2, +146)
  10. miami - 177 pts. (6-1, +139)
  11. georgia tech - 175 pts. (8-0, +128)
  12. indiana - 173 pts. (8-0, +276)
  13. tcu - 173 pts. (6-2, +76)
  14. tennessee - 171 pts. (6-2, +118)
  15. usc - 169 pts. (5-2, +135)
  16. northwestern - 169 pts. (5-3, +46)
  17. georgia - 168 pts. (6-1, +99)
  18. ole miss - 166 pts. (7-1, +112)
  19. ohio state - 165 pts. (7-0, +214)
  20. utah - 162 pts. (6-2, +197)
  21. cincinnati - 157 pts. (7-1, +154)
  22. texas tech - 156 pts. (7-1, +250)
  23. missouri - 154 pts. (6-2, +149)
  24. mississippi state - 152 pts. (4-4, +74)
  25. texas - 148 pts. (6-2, +115)

the bottom 25

  1. army - -95 pts. (3-4, -1)
  2. liberty - -83 pts. (3-4, -17)
  3. umass - -79 pts. (0-8, -195)
  4. middle tennessee - -71 pts. (1-6, -78)
  5. toledo - -71 pts. (4-4, +126)
  6. louisiana - -56 pts. (2-6, -54)
  7. texas state - -53 pts. (3-4, +34)
  8. south alabama - -50 pts. (2-6, -34)
  9. eastern michigan - -28 pts. (2-7, -79)
  10. colorado state - -25 pts. (2-6, -64)
  11. penn state - -25 pts. (3-4, +102)
  12. arizona state - -24 pts. (5-3, +4)
  13. appalachian state - -21 pts. (4-4, -5)
  14. sam houston - -16 pts. (0-7, -153)
  15. boston college - -12 pts. (1-7, -61)
  16. northern illinois - -11 pts. (2-6, -70)
  17. akron - -5 pts. (3-6, -78)
  18. california - -2 pts. (5-3, +5)
  19. san jose state - 4 pts. (2-5, -36)
  20. buffalo - 8 pts. (4-4, +22)
  21. florida atlantic - 11 pts. (3-5, -48)
  22. tulsa - 12 pts. (2-6, -61)
  23. rice - 12 pts. (4-4, -51)
  24. oregon state - 14 pts. (1-7, -93)
  25. clemson - 16 pts. (3-4, +36)

adjustments

perceived top 25 frauds, continued: ucla @ indiana and south florida @ memphis

let me preface this by saying that underdog teams are absolutely welcome in the top 25 (look at vandy). however, that fact cannot be allowed to outweigh the fact that the top 25 is about winning. two teams in particular earned an extra deduction for violating this policy, namely ucla and south florida. in recognition of their performances this week, ucla is docked 25 points at a discounted rate for losing their game by more points than the vast majority of teams scored this week and south florida is docked 31 points so as to share the burden of that inexcusable uab loss with memphis. oh and mississippi state, i've got my eye on you. next week counts big especially given arkansas' performances so far.

indiana +7, ucla -27

memphis +16, south florida -47

illinois bought a quality loss from ea-nasir: illinois @ washington

washington was not on the radar at all until this week, and they wanted to earn their spot in the big ten this week. since they actually had an impressive showing this week, washington has been promoted to b tier. all the more interesting as after their bye they have some cupcake games that they should not lose. no pressure.

washington +37, illinois -27

punishment continues to hang round the neck of the mustangs: smu @ wake forest

wake forest is promoted to b tier for really showing up to get the tight upset win against smu this week. those who remember know that smu's woes can and should be traced back to their cheating sanctions from many years ago, and some may say it's a miracle the atlantic coast even accepted them. this loss is going to exclude them from the playoff pending any possible redemption against miami next week. good job wake forest.

wake forest +32, smu -32

well what were you doing down there: appalachian state @ old dominion

i managed to rediscover the source of why old dominion incessantly attempted to crash the top 25 party this year, and it's because they were still in e tier after everything they've done. and i know it's a bit late, but i guess at least you didn't lose to appalachian state this week, so have a prize. i got the committee to agree old dominion is promoted to d tier. happy now?

old dominion +16, appalachian state -16

death valley has been farmed: texas a&m @ lsu

congrats to a&m for taking the top spot and thanks for hanging some real points on lsu. i think we can all agree that 8-0 in the sec is significant playoff material, and so the committee declares that texas a&m is promoted to s tier. they look to earn a bid by beating some tough opponents and samford to finish off the season.

texas a&m +13, lsu -3

so you're telling me the lights were too bright... for the sun devils: houston @ arizona state

arizona state is definitely not going back to the playoff after that one. should have seen this coming after all those close games, and when it wasn't a close game they were giving up more points to utah than they scored against their fcs opponent. arizona state is demoted to b tier. the big 12 needs someone to step up, and there are all too many takers.

houston +32, arizona state -32

further notes

that gladiator kind of football: south alabama @ georgia state

if you wanted to watch someone other than the mariners be sad this week, you knew to tune into thursday night college football. two six-loss teams played for the right to not be eliminated this week, and georgia state has been removed from contention. sometimes you do just want this different kind of game, and it was certainly interesting to see.

reminding anyone of patrick mahomes is a big deal: north texas @ charlotte

sometimes a player just happens to explode with talent for one week, and this time i noticed. north texas' quarterback threw for 608 yards this week. that is impressive to say the least, and anyone getting that close to patrick mahomes' tied game record deserves some recognition. so good game, drew mestemaker. keep it up and you might win three super bowls. or you can be a normal person.

what about saturday?

anything i would have talked about had an adjustment associated with it. no big reactions from my committee aside from those about their own schools, of course omitted for bias. there really wasn't much that fits in this category.

bowl eligibility: qualification

there are some very recognizable teams here that are notably late to the party. maybe take less byes or win more games, but that's just a suggestion. congratulations to:

bowl eligibility: elimination

unfortunately we must say goodbye to more teams this week. better luck next year to:

scorigami recognition

a lot of boring 45s, 42s, and even 41s this week. but they still count. congratulations to:

the belt

louisville retains the belt and earns five points.they gave a bit of a scare, but were ultimately rightly able to pull this win off against boston college. they will continue their defense against virginia tech next week.

finishing up

more tuesday through saturday action. more eyes on the new guys. more late night hawaii football... in an away game? it's the tenth week of college football. and the article comes out sunday, sunday, sunday. only on gorkmo.fyi.