The Athletic's Stewart Mandel is a preseason Penn State believer, placing the Nittany Lions atop his too-early top 25 for 2025. "I'm skeptical they can actually pull it off," Mandel writes, "but on paper, James Franklin's team deserves that status given how many players are returning."

It should come as no surprise that the Buckeyes landed plenty of players on the CBS Sports' All-College Football Playoff Team

The Nittany Lions ended in the top five for the first time since 2005. It’s the first time the Big Ten has had three teams in the final top five. Ohio State was No. 1 and Oregon was No. 3.

Penn State received 1,203 points in the final AP Top 25 poll, just eight behind Texas for fourth. Ohio State was No. 1, followed by Notre Dame and Oregon. Penn State has finished in the AP top 10 five times in James Franklin's 11 seasons as head coach. Franklin's teams have seven top-20 finishes since 2016.

Boise State and Arizona State should have had to play in the first round. Not granting first-round byes to conference champions is one area where the CFP has to improve. But the Broncos and Sun Devils held their own, especially Arizona State. Storming back and taking Texas to OT took some serious guts from Kenny Dillingham’s team.

Predicting next season's college football Top 25 in January is difficult. We tried early in 2024. How did it work out? A look at the hits and misses.

Here we have our way-too-early 2025 college football rankings. These rankings can and likely will change by time I map out my preseason Associated Press top 25 ballot in August. But for now, here’s my initial crack at a top 25 for the 2025 season.

This isn’t our ranking of the best teams in college football, but our projection for how AP top 25 voters will slot them in the offic