Most Overrated Teams in CFP Top 25

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Most Overrated Teams in CFP Top 25

Kyle Wood · Athlon Sports

Wed, Nov 12, 2025 ·

5 min read

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The second College Football Playoff rankings dropped on Tuesday night, reflecting the reaction to a key result in the Big 12 and a handful of upsets in the ACC.

The SEC and Big Ten make up the first five teams in the rankings. Big 12 representative Texas Tech jumped up two spots to No. 6 in the latest update after a big win over BYU , which fell to. 12. As it stands, the Big 12 and ACC are in danger of being one-bid leagues. That opens the door for more at-large spots for teams from the SEC and Big Ten, plus No. 9 Notre Dame.

After no Group of 5 teams cracked the initial rankings, No. 24 South Florida made the top 25 this week. The Bulls are the projected American champion for the moment.

Below is the latest 12-team bracket, via ESPN:

No. 13 Oklahoma and No. 14 BYU are the first two teams out in the current playoff picture. Below is the complete top 25:

1. Ohio State — 9-0 (6-0 Big Ten)
2. Indiana— 10-0 (7-0 Big Ten)
3. Texas A&M— 9-0 (6-0 SEC)
4. Alabama — 8-1 (6-0 SEC)
5. Georgia— 8-1 (6-1 SEC)
6. Texas Tech— 9-1 (6-1 Big 12)
7. Ole Miss — 9-1 (5-1 SEC)
8. Oregon — 8-1 (5-1 Big Ten)
9. Notre Dame— 7-2
10. Texas— 7-2 (4-1 SEC)
11. Oklahoma— 7-2 (3-2 SEC)
12. BYU— 8-1 (5-1 Big 12)
13. Utah— 7-2 (4-2 Big 12)
14. Vanderbilt— 8-2 (4-2 SEC)
15. Miami— 7-2 (3-2 ACC)
16. Georgia Tech — 8-1 (5-1 ACC)
17. USC— 7-2 (5-1 Big Ten)
18. Michigan — 7-2 (5-1 Big Ten)
19. Virginia — 8-2 (5-1 ACC)
20. Louisville — 7-2 (4-2 ACC)
21. Iowa — 6-3 (4-2 Big Ten)
22. Pittsburgh— 7-2 (5-1 ACC)
23. Tennessee — 6-3 (3-3 SEC)
24. South Florida— 7-2 (4-1 American)
25. Cincinnati— 7-2 (5-1 Big 12)

After the release of the second College Football Playoff rankings, Athlon Sports identified two teams that are being overvalued by the committee based on their current résumés.

No. 21 Iowa

Iowa Hawkeyes huddle in the redzone as Oregon Ducks defensive lineman Bear Alexander (1) watches Nov. 8, 2025 during a Big Ten Football game at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.

AP Ranking	Coaches Ranking	Last Week
NR (29)	NR (28)	L vs. Oregon (18-16)

The Hawkeyes almost upset a top-10 Oregon team over the weekend. Almost. That would have had a massive ripple effect on the rankings, sending the Ducks tumbling down and Iowa way up. But the Hawkeyes couldn't hang on at home, dropping their third game of the season. Their punishment was ... sliding a single spot?

There's no one-to-one comparison in this round of rankings, as BYU was blown out and dropped five spots accordingly. The same goes for Virginia and Louisville, two teams that fell five spots for upsets to unranked opponents. There wasn't much that was truly surprising in this round of rankings, but Iowa remaining in the top 25 — after falling out of the AP and coaches polls — came as a shock.

Iowa is now the highest-ranked three-loss team in the CFP rankings without a signature win. Minnesota is still the only team with a winning record that coach Kirk Ferentz's team has defeated. Yes, the Hawkeyes played Indiana and Oregon exceptionally tight. They also lost to an Iowa State team that's fallen off a good deal. A trip to face No. 17 USC on Saturday is another chance to validate their standing. Still, that would be Iowa's best win to date while two-loss teams with better victories are ranked lower or unranked entirely.

No. 23 Tennessee

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel speaks with an official during his team's game against Oklahoma at Neyland Stadium on Nov. 1, 2025.

AP Ranking	Coaches Ranking	Last Week
21	20	Idle

It wasn't surprising to see the Volunteers remain in the rankings, particularly after two teams also ranked in the 20s lost. But Tennessee, like Iowa, is an outlier at the moment in the top 25 as the only three-loss teams. The Vols' résumé is also still wanting for a quality win.

Kudos to Tennessee for playing Syracuse at a neutral site to open the year, but that win doesn't look as good as it once did. The Vols' best victory came in overtime at Mississippi State . Again, much like the Hawkeyes, Tennessee has played tough teams tight. There was the overtime loss to Georgia and a one-possession loss to Oklahoma.

The Vols at No. 25 in the initial rankings made sense. This is a quality team that could very well knock Vanderbilt out of the CFP discussion in the regular-season finale. But moving them up two spots, the same respect the Commodores and USC received for winning conference games last week, seems a bit rich. South Florida and Cincinnati are two-loss teams with comparable or perhaps even better wins than Tennessee. And that's to say nothing of the teams that just missed the top 25, such as James Madison and Tulane.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Nov 12, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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