After a great five-day college football marathon, Fantom Sports is proud to present our top 25 college football teams. Find out which teams we like better or worse than the AP Poll, and which teams snuck into our list or got snubbed.
Owen Patterson’s Top 25 College Football Teams
- FSU
- Georgia
- USC
- Alabama
- Notre Dame
- Michigan
- Ohio State
- Penn State
- Utah
- Washington
- Oregon
- Texas
- Oklahoma
- Duke
- Colorado
- Oregon State
- North Carolina
- LSU
- Ole Miss
- Clemson
- Tennessee
- Kansas State
- Tulane
- Iowa
- Arkansas
Just missed: Troy, Fresno State, Wisconsin, Texas A&M, NC State
Alex Twist’s Top 25 College Football Teams
- Georgia
- Alabama
- FSU
- Michigan
- USC
- Ohio State
- Penn State
- Notre Dame
- Washington
- Tennessee
- Oregon
- Utah
- Texas
- North Carolina
- LSU
- Oklahoma
- Oregon State
- Kansas State
- Ole Miss
- Colorado
- Wisconsin
- Texas A&M
- Duke
- Arkansas
- Tulane
Just missed: Clemson, Kentucky, Iowa, UCLA
Who We Like More Than The AP Poll
FSU
AP Ranking: 4
Alex’s ranking: 3
Owen’s ranking: 1
Alex: Owen and I agree that FSU had the most impressive performance of the weekend. Jordan Travis could win the Heisman this year and all the transfer portal additions by Mike Norvell have completely changed the team, with NFL guys all over the roster now. Although I wasn’t ready to give them the number one spot yet, I will say they are probably the only team from the ACC with a real shot at making the playoff and they have retaken control of the conference over Clemson.
Owen: No team impressed me more than the Noles. After captivating the nation with a pronounced second half comeback against LSU, I have them topping the charts. Jordan Travis has weapons all around and the defense should improve in the next few games to bolster this team’s national title aspirations.
USC
AP Ranking: 6
Alex’s Ranking: 5
Owen’s Ranking: 3
Alex: After two dominant wins where Caleb Williams threw for a combined 597 yards with nine touchdowns, I’m more than comfortable putting USC above Ohio State and into my top five. Honestly, I don’t know what the AP saw in Ohio State to keep them above the Trojans, but USC may have the most electric offense in college football. Surprisingly, the PAC-12 is pretty loaded in its final season, and we think USC has a slight edge above the rest until proven otherwise.
Owen: Two games in, Caleb Williams still has the Heisman. The Trojans offense is on fire to begin the season scoring 122 points in the first two games. USC jumps into conference play this week against Stanford and won’t play another non-conference game until mid-October, so every game counts now for the Trojans.
Notre Dame
AP Ranking: 10
Alex’s Ranking: 8
Owen’s Ranking: 5
Alex: As someone who normally thinks Notre Dame is overrated every year, I was surprised to see that we have Notre Dame well ahead of the AP Poll. Wake Forest quarterback transfer Sam Hartman seems like the missing ingredient the Irish needed to really approach that elite territory. Overall, Notre Dame hasn’t had a QB like him since Deshone Kizer in 2016. Their defense also has not allowed a touchdown in two games yet, so what’s not to like?
Owen: Ok, they have played Navy and Tennessee State, two teams far inferior to the Fighting Irish, but Notre Dame cut through them like butter. Sam Hartman is engineering an offense with depth at every position and has a defense that will rise to the occasion. Notre Dame might be the scariest-looking team so far.
Arkansas
AP Ranking: Unranked
Alex’s Ranking: 24
Owen’s Ranking: 25
Alex: Additionally, Arkansas deserves their respect. KJ Jefferson and Raheim Sanders are an amazing duo that will both go to the NFL and should score a lot of points for the Razorbacks. Defensively, they forced four turnovers and limited Western Carolina to just one touchdown all game. It may be too early to draw any long-term conclusions, but I think those two can keep them pretty competitive in most games. With two new coordinators and plenty of transfers on both sides of the ball, they’re off to a pretty impressive start.
Owen: The backfield tandem of KJ Jefferson and Rocket Sanders is one that the SEC West, and the rest of the nation, for that matter, need to be aware of. Sanders was a 1,000-yard rusher last year and is not getting the attention he deserves. Four takeaways limited Western Carolina to 13 points in the season opener and the defense should reign supreme again in Week 2 against Kent State.
Colorado
AP Ranking: 22
Owen’s Ranking: 15
Alex’s Ranking: 20
Alex: Coach Prime got his guys ready to play on the road against TCU, outlasting them in a classic shootout. I still don’t think Colorado will win more than seven games this year, but they deserve my respect after seeing what their offense did last weekend. It may not be a very deep team, but we clearly saw some elite pieces are there on offense to keep the Buffaloes competitive in year one.
Owen: After an impressive Week 1 performance against TCU, it’s on the Buffaloes to back up their statement. Sanders and Hunter will need to carry Colorado through a grueling schedule in order to have a big season in Boulder.
Who We Like Less Than The AP
Ohio State
AP Ranking: 5
Alex’s Ranking: 7
Owen’s Ranking: 6
Alex: Frankly, the Buckeyes have a lot to clean up before I can consider them a top-five team in the country. We saw plenty of teams light up the scoreboard last week and surprisingly Ohio State was not one of them. Quarterback Kyle McCord failed to throw a touchdown and star wide receiver Marvin Harrison only reeled in two catches for 18 yards. I’m interested to see if there will be a battle for the starting quarterback position next game against Youngstown State.
Owen: The Buckeyes did not play great against Indiana last Saturday, but the defense sure did. The Hoosiers gained a mere 153 total yards of offense and put a single field goal on the board. The defense showed up for Ohio State, and hopefully Week 2 against Youngstown State will show progress for a team looking to finally get over the hump and make a Big Ten title game appearance.
Wisconsin
AP Ranking: 19
Owen’s Ranking: Unranked
Alex’s Ranking: 21
Alex: Wisconsin returned to form in week one with a dominant performance on the ground and a poor performance through the air. Running backs Chez Mellusi and Braelon Allen exploded for 298 rushing yards and four touchdowns combined. However, senior quarterback Tanner Mordecai threw two interceptions. Overall I’m just not impressed by what I saw, but they’ll have a much better test against Washington State this weekend.
Owen: Being the best team in the Big Ten West is honestly not saying much, the Badgers have two good options at running back and a better-than-average defense. Until something special happens, Wisconsin will be on the outside looking in for me.
Tennessee
AP Ranking: 9
Owen’s Ranking: 20
Alex’s Ranking: 10
Owen: I am not sensing a repeat of success in Knoxville this year. The Volunteers have not slipped up yet, but be cautious of a Week 3 night game in Gainesville. As for now, Tennessee is still second-best in the SEC East.
Clemson
AP Ranking: 25
Owen’s Ranking: 20
Alex’s Ranking: Unranked
Alex: I have Clemson outside of my top 25 and I think that is where they belong unless they can knock off FSU in week four. The lack of true playmakers at wide receiver and tight end is becoming a glaring issue for the Tigers. Will Shipley basically carries the offense by himself. They looked less disciplined and poorly coached when compared to a Duke team that admittedly has 17 returning starters this season. That still doesn’t excuse the three turnovers and single touchdown that was scored in the game. Clemson will need to win out from here to keep their Playoff hopes alive.
TL//DR: Top 25 college football teams
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