Fans of Mr College Sports have likely read through the 2025 Forecast Top 35 (listed below), but have asked the question: What other teams were considered for the Top 25/35 for 2025? So I present below the other 11 (not just ten, but this list goes to eleven!) that were considered for the Top 35. Given the challenges with picking how college football seasons are going to play out, it’s likely that some of the teams in the Top 35 will underachieve, and several of these teams could take their places.
Note these are not ranked but are listed by conference in alphabetical order
ACC
DUKE – A dream season for the Blue Devils in Manny Diaz’s first year as HC, going 9-3 in the regular season including wins over all 3 tobacco road rivals plus name programs in FSU and VA Tech. You’d probably expect Duke to be a net loser in the transfer portal era, but as Michel Scott would say ‘how the turntables!”. Duke paid a lot of money to get former Tulane QB Darien Mensah, the top rated QB in all of G6 (and in the top 10 in FBS). He’ll operate behind an o-;ome that is experienced, but struggled most of the year. On the other side of the ball, Manny knows D; 3 of their starters on the d line are back, plus CB Chandler Rivers, who was 1st team All America. The conference schedule includes Clemson, but none of the other top contenders (Miami, Louisville, SMU). The non conference features some sneaky challenging games, including Illinois at home and visits to Tulane and UConn. Duke has been underestimated many times before, and I strongly considered them in the top 35. But I was swayed by the fact they were 5-1 in 1 score games last year and typically this evens out over time. But the Blue Devils are definitely one to watch.
FLORIDA STATE – An unprecedented collapse of a program occurred in year 4 of the Mike Norvell era, when a reliance on transfers blew up and a 13-1 season was followed by a 10 loss season. Since Norvell had just signed a new long term deal, FSU could not afford to fire him; but both coordinators were let go in a major reset. On defense, new DC Tony White comes from Nebraska where he produced Top 25 defenses each of the last 4 years – 2 in Lincoln, which followed 2 at Syracuse. The talent is there for a rebound if not to Top 25 at least to respectability. Offense will be almost completely new (probably a good thing) but also a big question. Norvell brought in former boss Gus Malzahn (HC at UCF, previously at Auburn) and paired Malzahn with his former QB Tommy Castellanos. Castellanos appears a good fit for the Malzahn offense, but was benched at BC and left the team during Bill O’Brien’s first year as HC. The top WRs are new, (headlined by Duce Robinson from USC), 4 of the 5 o-lineman will be new, including experienced transfers from Ole Miss, Vandy and Wake. The schedule is top heavy, with the Noles big underdogs in the opener vs Alabama, and games vs Miami, Florida and Clemson. It’s hard to have faith in Norvell after last year, but at least the dramatic changes mean an opportunity for notable improvement but to what extent? Seems like 6-6 or 7-5 is most likely.
NORTH CAROLINA – One of the biggest stories in the offseason for all of college football was UNC bringing in the best modern day NFL coach in Bill Belichick, who has 6 Super Bowl trophies but has never been a college HC. Belichick hired his son to be DC and brought in the largest haul of transfers east of Boulder CO to remake this team. The last move may be the more important one – to get Gio Lopez from South Alabama. Lopez is a dual threat, with over 2500 yards passing, 450 yards rushing and a 66% completion rate in his freshman year at USA. Many positions on both sides of the ball will be filled by transfers and the majority of starters on D and O left the program. The schedule is very manageable, with the toughest OOC game the opener vs TCU; and while Clemson is on the schedule from the ACC, Miami, Louisville and SMU are not. Isn’t Belichick a big upgrade compared to the HCs at most of the ACC teams UNC will face? Or is the transition to college going to be challenging in year 1? It will be fascinating to see what happens this season and how Belichick’s successful coaching style in the NFL translates to college.
BIG TEN
IOWA – Hawkeyes came into last year with expectations of an even more dominant defense and with a healthy QB producing just marginal output, a big season was on tap. The offense was better in ‘24 but then the defense took a step back. They still have excellent DC Phil Parker, but enter the year with more holes to fill on all 3 levels of the D. The offense returns most of the line, and a couple of experienced RBs, all the star back Kaleb Johson is off to the NFL. A very interesting turn at QB, with the arrival of Mark Gronowski from perennial FCS power SD State. His passing stats are eye popping and he won the Walter Camp Award (FCS Heisman) in 2023. The schedule is tougher this season with Penn State, Oregon and Indiana at home, and trips to USC, Nebraska and OOC at Iowa State. Maybe Gronowski finally elevates the offense, but the more difficult schedule suggests another mid tier conference finish.
WASHINGTON – Huskies had the dream season in ‘23, an undefeated Pac 12 championship, making it to the national title game before losing to Michigan. Then the bottom fell out, as HC Kalen DeBoer left for Alabama and 20 players transferred out; UW dropped to 6-7. But Huskies may have found their QB in Demond Williams as the season progressed. RB Jonah Coleman had over 1000 yards rushing last season, and spurned the NFL to return; he’ll run behind an 0-line much deeper and experienced than in ‘24. The defense was solid against the pass last season but struggled against the run. The portal brought a mixed bag of departures and arrivals, and DC Steve Belichick left for a job with his Dad at UNC. 2nd year HC Jedd Fisch brought in Ryan Walters, who has been very successful as a DC (less so as HC). Fisch turned around Arizona and should get the 2nd year bump. The schedule is easier this year than last, and Washington is very much a sleeper team in the Big 10.
BIG 12
BYU – The big story in Provo was the off-season issues with starting QB Jake Retzlaff which ended in his transfer out of the program. BYU does have other playmakers back, including RB LJ Martin and WR’s Chase Roberts and Keelan Marion. Rebuilding is needed on both lines but 4 of the 5 leading tacklers on defense to return. .BYU is on the road to face other contenders Iowa State and Texas Tech; but gets Utah and home and in potentially a big break, misses Arizona State and K State. Given this very late change in starting QB, I pushed the Cougars down in the projections for the Big 12, but the conference is so wide open, it’s hard to eliminate any team.
TCU – the Frogs started slow in ‘24, 3-3 that included a blowout loss to Metroplex rival SMU. But HC Sonny Dykes rallied the troops, and the team went 6-1 down the stretch to finish with 9 wins. The optimism for ‘25 starts at QB, where TCU returns starter Josh Hoover, who reportedly had major programs willing to throw big money at him to transfer, but he stayed. The top two WRs are gone, but the group pass catchers are experienced and deep. The o-line needs some work after struggling in ‘24. Dykes brought in Andy Avalos at DC last season and it paid dividends right away. TCU had the top high school recruiting class in the Big 12 and the top transfer class, so the talent is there. The schedule is tougher, the opener at Bill Belichick’s UNC team and rival SMU at home in the non conference, and ASU, K State and BYU on the road with Iowa State and Baylor at home. It’s challenging to separate out the teams in this conference, so TCU could easily surprise.
SEC
MISSOURI – HC Eli Drinkwitz led Missouri to a stunning 11 win season in ‘23, and followed that up with a 10 win season last year; back to back 10 or more win seasons have only happened 2 times before. But the majority of those guys, especially on offense have moved on. This includes starting QB Brady Cook and superstar WR Luther Burden. The top 2 WRs are also gone as is the majority of the o-line. The new QB is Penn State transfer Beau Pribula, the former backup to Drew Allar. On defense, the line and linebackers have a number of holes to fill, but most of the secondary returns. The schedule last year was one of the SEC’s easiest, and includes the same teams this year. However, teams like Auburn and OU, Missouri wins last year, are improved and will be on the road. The schedule gives Missouri another chance to finish with a winning record, but this looks like a significant rebuilding year.
NON P4
JAMES MADISON – JMU went 11-1 in 2023 but HC Curt Cignetti left for Indiana and took a number of top players with him. In the first season under HC Bob Chesney (from Holy Cross), the Dukes blew out North Carolina in Chapel Hill, but finished only 4-4 in the conference. Getting past that transition year, JMU is expected to get back to where they were previously and are the big favorite in the Sun Belt. I don’t think their schedule is going to result in a profile that would get them in the playoffs as the highest rated G6 team, but could certainly result in a Top 35 finish.
NAVY – Army was the big story in the American last year, finishing 12-2 and ranked #21 in the final AP poll. They lose their leader in QB Bryson Daily and have a tougher conference schedule, so I think they’ll drop back in ‘25. There are several contenders for the American championship, including Memphis, Tulane and Navy. Memphis and Tulane both lost a lot of production, including their starting QBs (Memphis a 4 year starter), although the Green Wave have an intriguing option in late addition Jake Retzlaff from BYU. Navy is the one that has their QB back and will be their most experienced team in recent years, so I give them the slight edge to win the American.
TOLEDO – The Rockets claim to fame last season was a 41-17 beatdown of SEC member Mississippi State in Starkville, then topped by a 6OT bowl win over Pitt. They were only 4-4 in the MAC though, but bring back their HC and starting QB (not a given in the G6 world these days) and should be improved. They have an interesting opener at Kentucky, then a MAC slate interrupted by a long trip to Wazzu. Toledo is the favorite to win the MAC and could finish in the top 35.