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College football is a deeply chaotic sport. That’s what makes it great, but it’s also what makes it confusing. You’d think by early November we’d have a better sense of the sport. But this is the era of bloated super conferences, which means the good teams don’t always play each other in the regular season — and schedules are generally imbalanced without round-robin play. It’s also an era of increased parity, as NIL and rev-share money has led to talent being dispersed more widely across the country, instead of it being concentrated at college football bluebloods. So, maybe it shouldn’t be such a surprise that there are four weeks of the regular season remaining, and it’s nearly impossible to fill out the AP Top 25. I know I struggled with it this week, and I imagine my fellow voters felt similarly because seeing as there was a lot of movement. I didn’t have much trouble ranking the top teams. Ohio State and Indiana continue to take care of business; they remain on a collision course for the Big Ten title game. Texas A&M and Alabama have had their ups and downs but also appear poised to meet in Atlanta with the SEC championship on the line. I don’t know if those four teams are in same order that the College Football Playoff selection committee will have ‘em, but I do think the group will agree that those four teams have separated themselves from the rest. The rest of the top 10 is relatively straightforward — use head-to-head results to order the one-loss SEC teams, throw the Big 12 contenders in there as well as two-loss Notre Dame, and then figure out what to make of an Oregon team that has no good wins. Mix ‘em up, move ‘em around, whatever you’d like. But that’s the grouping. Beyond that, it’s incredibly messy. ACC teams continue to beat up on each other, with Virginia the only team left without a league loss. But, in a weird twist of fate, the Cavaliers do have a loss to North Carolina State, but the two teams met in a nonconference game, so that loss doesn’t count in the league standings. It’s all very confusing and perfect for this crazy 2025 season. It’s hard to evaluate a team like Miami, which was one of the best in the country in the first half of the season and has now completely collapsed. Or what about Texas, one of the early-season disappointments but now a team that appears to be rounding into form after a win over then-No. 9 Vanderbilt? None of these evaluations or analyses are simple. And how we feel about individual teams (and the quality of their wins/losses) changes weekly. Even teams that pick up quality wins don’t always look great doing it. That’s how you end up with Virginia at No. 12 despite its handful of close calls. Wins are wins. Hopefully, we’ll get more clarity in the coming weeks as conference races heat up. I’d particularly love some insight into the pecking order of the ACC. Oh, and the Big 12, too, if that’s possible. The American as well! Stray thoughts/observations:
