The Way-Too-Early Top 25 lists are out in full force to preview the first look at the 2025 College Football Season, and the Arch Manning effect is real.
Texas is No. 1 in a composite Way-Too-Early Top 25 made up of 12 college football publications. Sporting News released its Way-Too-Early Top 25 for 2024, but we also looked at other sites to see how their rankings looked. That list includes 247Sports.com, Action Network, Athlon, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Yahoo Sports and On3.com.
The Longhorns had the highest composite ranking among those sites, followed by Ohio State at No. 2. The Buckeyes won the first 12-team College Football Playoff championship with a 34-23 victory against Notre Dame on Monday. Texas and Ohio State meet at Ohio Stadium in the season opener on Aug. 30 in what likely will be a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown.
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Six of the publications had the Longhorns at No. 1. Four had the Buckeyes at No. 1.
Penn State was No. 3 and had one first-place vote. Georgia was No. 4 and one first-place vote. Oregon rounds out the top five at No. 5.
We used an inverse scoring method (awarding 25 points to a No. 1 selection, 24 for a No. 2 selection, all the way down to one point for a No. 25 selection) to determine the highest possible score for each school.
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Composite top 25 preseason college football rankings
A look at a composite Way Too Early Top 25 college football ranking across 12 major websites. Here is each school with the total points scored and their high and low ranking:
| RANK | SCHOOL | TOTAL | HIGH | LOW |
| 1 | Texas | 266 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 261 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Penn State | 247 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | Georgia | 244 | 1 | 7 |
| 5 | Notre Dame | 224 | 3 | 8 |
| 6 | Oregon | 219 | 3 | 8 |
| 7 | Clemson | 210 | 5 | 10 |
| 8 | LSU | 180 | 4 | 22 |
| 9 | Alabama | 169 | 3 | 23 |
| 10 | Tennessee | 163 | 7 | 19 |
| 11 | Miami | 155 | 3 | 23 |
| 12 | South Carolina | 149 | 8 | 16 |
| 13 | Arizona State | 143 | 9 | 17 |
| 14 | Illinois | 127 | 7 | 24 |
| 15 | Florida | 124 | 9 | 21 |
| 16 | BYU | 113 | 9 | NR |
| 17 | SMU | 91 | 10 | NR |
| 18 | Kansas State | 75 | 15 | NR |
| 19 | Michigan | 68 | 12 | NR |
| 20 | Ole Miss | 62 | 10 | NR |
| 21 | Indiana | 53 | 16 | NR |
| 22 | Iowa State | 52 | 11 | NR |
| 23 | Texas A&M | 38 | 17 | NR |
| 24 | Louisville | 32 | 17 | NR |
| 25 | Missouri | 20 | 19 | NR |
Receiving votes: Boise State 16, Georgia Tech 11, Texas Tech 10, Navy 10, Nebraska 9, Auburn 8, Baylor 7, UNLV 5, Oklahoma 5, North Carolina 5, Kansas 2, Iowa 2
Composite Top 25 rankings by site
A look at those Way Too Early Top 25 rankings shook out by each site:
| SCHOOL | SN | 24/7 | ACTION | ATHLON | T-ATH | B/R | CBS | ESPN | S/I | USA | Y! | ON3 |
| Texas | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Ohio State | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Georgia | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Penn State | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Oregon | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 3 |
| Notre Dame | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 5 |
| Clemson | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 |
| Alabama | 8 | 8 | 23 | 10 | 14 | 8 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 14 |
| LSU | 9 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 6 | 22 | 15 |
| Miami | 10 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 11 | 3 | 23 | 10 | 16 | 11 | 21 |
| Florida | 11 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 21 | 9 |
| Tennessee | 12 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 19 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 13 |
| Illinois | 13 | 24 | 12 | 21 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 7 |
| South Carolina | 14 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 8 |
| Arizona State | 15 | 15 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 14 | 17 |
| BYU | 16 | NR | 14 | 16 | 10 | 22 | 13 | 9 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 16 |
| Ole Miss | 17 | 19 | 21 | 19 | NR | 20 | 17 | 25 | NR | 24 | 10 | NR |
| Michigan | 18 | 16 | 17 | 22 | 18 | 18 | NR | 21 | 19 | 18 | 25 | 12 |
| SMU | 19 | 10 | 16 | 17 | NR | 17 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 19 | NR | 22 |
| Indiana | 20 | 23 | NR | 18 | 20 | 21 | 23 | 17 | 23 | NR | 16 | 23 |
| Kansas State | 21 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 23 | 16 | NR | 16 | NR | 15 | 18 | 20 |
| Texas A&M | 22 | NR | NR | 20 | 17 | 24 | 22 | 22 | NR | NR | 17 | 19 |
| Louisville | 23 | NR | 20 | NR | 22 | NR | NR | 20 | 17 | 25 | 23 | NR |
| Iowa State | 24 | 18 | 22 | 23 | NR | 19 | 19 | 11 | NR | 20 | NR | NR |
| UNLV | 25 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 25 | NR | NR | 23 | NR | NR |
| Auburn | NR | 20 | NR | NR | NR | 25 | NR | NR | 25 | NR | NR | 11 |
| Nebraska | NR | 21 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 22 | NR | 25 |
| Texas Tech | NR | 22 | NR | NR | NR | NR | 24 | NR | 22 | NR | NR | NR |
| Okalhoma | NR | 25 | NR | NR | 25 | 23 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 18 |
| Missouri | NR | NR | 19 | 25 | NR | NR | 20 | NR | NR | NR | 20 | NR |
| Kansas | NR | NR | 24 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Navy | NR | NR | 25 | NR | 24 | NR | NR | NR | 24 | 21 | NR | NR |
| Boise State | NR | NR | NR | 24 | 21 | NR | NR | 24 | NR | NR | 19 | NR |
| Baylor | NR | NR | NR | NR | 19 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Georgia Tech | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 21 | NR | 20 | NR | NR | 24 |
| North Carolina | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 21 | NR | NR | NR |
| Iowa | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 24 | NR |