The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Joel Klatt’s Post-Spring Top 25 for the 2025 Season

Episode Date: May 5, 2025

With Spring Practice and the Transfer Portal window now in the past, Fox Sports’ lead College Football analyst Joel Klatt ranks his Post-Spring Top 25 for the upcoming season. He reveals his #1 team and breaks down how he made his choice out of teams like the defending National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes, an Arch Manning-led Texas Longhorns team and a Penn State squad returning loads of talent on both sides of the ball. He explains how he separated SEC teams like Alabama, Georgia and LSU and includes a surprise pick in his Top 10 that he feels could be this season’s Indiana on the way to a Playoff run. Klatt explains why he has confidence in Michigan this season despite the high-end talent that they lost off of last year’s roster. He also finds a place for Oklahoma in his Top 25 after the Sooners made some offseason additions that will instantly improve Brent Venables’ group. Chapters: 0:00-1:10 Intro1:11-2:33 Joel Klatt’s way too early top 252:34-4:08 Oklahoma Sooners4:09-5:14 Baylor Bears5:15-8:11 Iowa Hawkeyes8:12-9:00 Auburn Tigers9:01-10:33 Indiana Hoosiers10:34-11:20 Ole Miss Rebels11:21-13:06 Texas A&M Aggies13:07-14:49 Miami Hurricanes14:50-16:14 Iowa State Cyclones16:15-16:59 Kansas State Wildcats17:00-19:02 Arizona State Sun Devils19:03-20:14 BYU Cougars20:15-21:34 Florida Gators21:35-24:12 Michigan Wolverines24:13-25:18 South Carolina Gamecocks25:19-27:07 Illinois Fighting Illini27:08-28:56 Alabama Crimson Tide28:57-31:28 Georgia Bulldogs31:29-33:40 LSU Tigers33:41-36:22 Notre Dame Fighting Irish36:23-39:13 Clemson Tigers39:14-41:07 Oregon Ducks41:08-43:18 Ohio State Buckeyes43:19-45:10 Texas Longhorns45:11-51:18 Penn State Nittany Lions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They could be the non-traditional power from the Big Ten that makes the playoff. I really believe that. I think Davosweeney is going to have a group that is capable of winning the national championship. I believe he is going to be my Heisman frontrunner to begin the year. You don't have to ask if Texas is back. They are absolutely back. They've been in the national semifinals in two straight years. College football has never been better.

Interest has never been higher. I believe that we are at the dawn of the golden age of college football. Hey, what's up, everybody? Looking forward to this show. this is the Joel Clatt show. I am Joel Clatt. This show, as always, is brought to you by Hampton, by Hilton. We thank them for their support. I cannot wait. We have got a huge episode of the Joel Clash show. This is the post-spring, post-spring transfer portal, post-draft, way too early, top 25 for next fall for college football. That's right, right here. I got them. I got my top 25. As I see it right now, as we're heading into May, and I can't wait because as I start

looking at the rosters and the schedules and everything going on next year. Now that we finally know kind of what these rosters are going to look like, listen, it's chaotic. We know that the transfer portal is chaotic, and we don't know exactly what teams are going to look like and tell about this point. So now that we're headed into the summer and we can sit here in May, we can start to look at these teams, their schedules, and start to get a lay of the land for what we're about to see next fall.

Here's what I'm first and foremost most excited for. I don't think that we have a real dominant team. even as opposed to last year, you could really say at the beginning of last year and even back to May, like, yeah, Ohio State's going to be a really good football team. George is going to be really good. We knew who the best teams are. We know that again this year, but I'm just telling you, the margin is reducing every year between all of these teams. If you go back to 2016, 17, 18, 19, you knew with a pretty good,

bit of confidence, you know, who the top three teams were. And it's like the champion was going to be one of those three teams. Now, I'm looking at 10, 11, 12 teams. I'm like, you know what? It wouldn't shock me at all if those teams are playing for national championships. And then you can extrapolate that all the way to like 20 teams that could potentially make the playoff or be good enough to make the playoffs. So that's what's really exciting for me is I do think that we're getting a little bit more

parody in college football. And I think this top 25 will be evidence of that. Okay, let's get started, but without further ado. At 25, I'm going to go Oklahoma. Now, a lot of people up until this point have overlooked Oklahoma in this process, but I'm not going to do that. I think Oklahoma is going to be a really good football team. They're coming off, obviously, that disappointing 6 and 7 season after they won 10 games in

2023. The offense last year was a disaster. So they got better. They brought in one of the really good offensive coordinators in the country. So they got in Ben Arbuckle. and he brought his quarterback. And so John Matur comes in at quarterback, that will help them. There's no doubt.

Meanwhile, Brent Venables is going to call the defense. So he's going to do what he's best at. Matur comes in from Washington State. Arbuckle comes in to fix the offense. Venables goes back to calling the defense, which is obviously what his forte was at Clemson when they were winning national championships. And they should be better.

Now, here's the hard part for Oklahoma. And you sooner fans, you know this. The schedule is still absolutely rigid. It's, I mean, in a lot of ways, it's terrible. Week two, you got to host Michigan in Norman. And then their last seven games, check this out. Brutal stretch. Texas at South Carolina, Ole Miss, at Tennessee, by week, at Alabama, Missouri, and LSU.

I'll tell you what, man. I know that the SEC hasn't had the national champ the last couple of years, but the depth is there. and there's not many easy games in that conference. And this Oklahoma schedule is evidence of that. Let's move on number 24. I'm going to go to the Big 12 right here, and I'm going to go Baylor. I think Baylor is going to be a good football team.

Again, another one of these teams that I think a lot of people are overlooking, but if you look at the way that they finished last year, you can get somewhat of a glimpse of what they could be next year. They won, what, six straight at the end of last season. I'm a big fan of Dave Miranda. he's doing what Brent Venables is doing, which is going back to his roots, and he's going to be calling the defense, which is what he did last year, which helped them improve. They've got Sawyer Robertson coming back at quarterback. He threw for over

3,000 yards. I like Baylor a lot. I think that they're going to be surprising. And I will say this, and you're going to see this as I talk more about some of the other Big 12 teams that I've got on the top 25. As was the case last year, really tough to predict the Big 12. The Big 12 has a lot. lot of good teams. I don't think any of these teams are great. So what you're going to get is four or five, six of these teams from basically 15th in the country to 25, 30 in the country. And that's going to make for what I think is another really exciting year of Big 12 football. All right, let's move to 23 in a team that I got to tell you, I think I believe in them a lot more

than others. And I'll tell you why. It's Iowa. Iowa has earned the benefit of the doubt, first and foremost. And secondly, there are some metrics that I think can lead you to believe that this will continue to improve. First and foremost, you look down, they were eight and five. Is that great last year? Maybe eight and five is not great. But three of those losses were by three points or less, so they're right there. A lot of times close losses can turn into close wins the next year, in particular if you're improving, if you're on an upward trajectory, I believe that they are. Tim Lester came in as the offensive coordinator, and that's always been the question, with Iowa is offense. Can they play any offense, right? Because we know Phil Parker's

defense is going to be outstanding. We know. I don't care who they graduate. I don't care who's drafted. They're going to play fine on the defensive side. So it's always offense. Well, last year they improved. Sevent second in the country and scoring. Now, you might be thinking to yourself like, that doesn't sound great. No, no, no, no. I'm talking about Iowa. If Iowa can get up there to where it's like, they're kind of middle of the pack, that's excellent. So upward trajectory, I think close losses can turn into close wins, but you've got to have guys that can pull the trigger. And so you look at quarterback. Quarterback's the big question.

Iowa generally doesn't get great quarterback play. I think this year they could. Why? Why? Well, Mark Grinowski is transferring in from South Dakota State. Grinowski has been exceptional at the FCS level. I think he could have a Curtis Rourke-like impact on Iowa. in. Now, Rourke didn't come FCS. He came in from the Mac and did great at Indiana. But

this resume is incredible. Grinowski was the FCS Heisman in 2023. He was a finalist again in 2024. He's won two national championships at that level. And he started 55 games. 55, which means if he starts another 12, he's going to be at 67 starts. that's outrageous. He is right now in his career 49 and 6 as a starting quarterback. You put a quarterback like that, who I think that we can trust, okay? Past success is indicative of future results, possibly with Grinowski. I think you look at them and you think to yourself, okay, they could do it.

They could get to nine wins, 10 wins. If they get to 10, now we're talking about a fringe playoff team. Sihawk game early in the season is in Ames. That's always tough. And I think Iowa State's going to be very good. You're going to see them in this top 25. Their two toughest games are against Oregon and Penn State, both of those at home. If they can beat their in-state rival and win the Sihawk trophy, then watch out.

Watch out for Iowa. And now we move to 22. Auburn is a good football team. I'm going to throw them at 22. The talent level has been rising at Auburn for the last couple of years. Hugh Freeze. he recruits well. We all know that. He's entering year three. They've had back-to-back, top 10 classes as it relates to high school recruits. They've been active in the portal.

Jackson Arnold transfers in from Oklahoma, the former five-star player, and he'll be the quarterback at Auburn. They've got Cam Coleman at wide receiver, who I think is a really good player. And then they've got a couple of guys in the portal, and one more in particular. And this was quiet, I think for the most part, maybe not down south among Auburn fans. But the number one wide receiver in the portal shows Auburn, Eric Singleton from Georgia Tech. I think he could have a big year for the Tigers. So we'll see

what they're able to do. I've got them at number 22. We go to 21. I don't think Indiana is going anywhere. I think Indiana is going to be a very good football team once again. Kurt Signetti and those Hoosiers are not going

away, much to some people's chagrin. You know who you are. bad-mouthing the Hoosiers last year. That's fine, though. That's fine. And I get it. It was a total Cinderella run. No one was expecting what we saw from Indiana last year. I don't think anybody. They bring back, I think, a lot of really key contributors. Now, obviously, some they're going to have to replace. But hear me out. McHale Camara, defensive end, back. Aidan Fisher, back. DeAngelo Pons, back. On a defense that was pretty salty. All those guys, by the way, were James Madison

and guys that came in and really played well on the defensive side. Offensively, Elijah Surat, back. Four starters on the offensive line. They're back. They brought in some pieces from the portal, including a quarterback that I think could have a really good year. Fernando Mendoza, he was a two-year starter at Cal. He was the number four quarterback in the portal.

So again, you start looking at this and you're like, okay, Indiana's likely not going anywhere. And I think that their schedule will help them out in that. They should start three and O in the non-conference. They have tough three-game stretch, which will, tell us a lot about them when they go Illinois, Iowa, Oregon. That's right in the middle of their schedule and we'll see from there. But again, I would not bet on the Hoosiers just falling away. I don't think that we're going to have that. At number 20, I've got Ole Miss.

They've got to replace a lot of talent, obviously, from last year's team, including Jackson Dart, now a first round quarterback after that selection by the Giants. They're going to turn to Austin Simmons, who backed up Dart last year. Lane's always active in the portal. they're always going to be talented. They brought in reinforcements. I just, you know, as I'm sitting there and I'm listing teams and I'm looking at teams and coaches and thinking about the guys that I trust, the systems that I trust, it's easy to leave old miss, you know, up there even out at times, but I'm not going to do that. I just, I trust, I know this sounds crazy after the Twitter stuff, but like I trust Lane

Kiffin a lot on the field. He's going to have a very good football team. And so I've got them at number 20. At 19, here's a team that I have been accused of, quote, hating for a long time. Texas A&M at 19, all right? Some don't have them ranked. I have them ranked. Mike Elko is getting this program back on track. I really like Mike Elko a lot.

I like his approach. I think that he fits there, which is important because that's a unique culture. It's a unique fan base. It's a unique culture. And there's something really special about that. I was fortunate enough to be an opponent at Kyle Field when I played at the University of Colorado. That's a special place and a special fan base. I loved their 7-1 start.

We knew that it was going to get rough. I didn't think that we knew it was going to get as rough as it was losing 4 of 5 down the stretch. But you look at this team in their roster, Marcel Reed, is coming back. He took over last year. And I think he showed that he could be a dynamic player for them, in particular athletically. They're bringing back their entire offensive line. I lost my pin cap.

That's all right. We're going to press forward. Those of you watching on YouTube, one, thank you and subscribe to the channel. And two, I'm going to press forward without my pen cap. Bringing back the entire offensive line in College Station. They've got two really good running backs. Levy on Moss, Rubin Owens. Both got hurt last year.

They're going to be back. They added North Carolina State wide receiver, KC. Concepcion. He was in the portal. He was the number five. wide receiver in the portal. Elko knows defense. Like, the schedule is an SEC schedule. So the schedule is going to be tough. They've got three tough road games against what I would consider to be like top competition. Notre Dame at LSU at Texas. You're going to see every one of those teams inside of my top 10.

So that's going to be tough for A&M. I've got them right there at 19. At 18, all right, there's people all over the map on this particular team. I'm going to be a cautiously optimistic about Miami. So I've got Miami at 18. Now, Carson Beck transfers in, okay, to take over for Cam Moore. On the outside, I like this move. Now, however, Beck has that elbow surgery in December, and he didn't even throw in spring practice.

Room for concern. So I like it, but I'm also concerned. It has to make you be a little bit nervous. I know he's played a lot of football, so you're not worried about, like, reps and experience, but reps with this group becomes a question because of those reps that they lost in the spring. The offense should be pretty good as far as offensive line goes, running back goes. I think wide receiver is a concern for me.

For them, they lose Xavier Estrepo. Restrepo has been Mr. Reliable for them for years. They also lose their tight end, who I thought started to play really well late in the season, Elijah Arroyo. the pass catchers aren't as good as they were last year, and Beck hasn't been throwing any passes to them in the spring. So I can like a lot of what Mario Cristobal has done, but again, so it's like cautious optimism.

I'm not going to go overboard with Miami. I'm not going to throw them out. Let's wait and see with Miami. They've got enough experience and they've recruited well enough to at least give Mario Cristobal kind of a wait and see. They've got some tough games early, and we'll see what they do. The defense held Miami back a little bit. They brought in a new defensive coordinator,

Minnesota, Corey Heatherman, and they've hit the portal well. So there's Miami sitting there at 18. I knew that this would happen when I started this exercise. As I started this exercise, I started thinking to myself like, okay, where are these big 12 teams going to land? And then it dawned on me. I'm like, you know what? As soon as I put one big 12 team in, it's basically like all the others are going to follow. So here's what I did. I've got four. big 12 teams left. And they're going to be all four right here from 17 to 14. And I'm just going to rank them.

So I just ranked the big 12 first, one to four. And then I slotted them in. So here's the big 12. In this case, four to one, 17 to 14. Here we go. Iowa State. Behind Kansas State only because they lost Higgins and Noel to the draft. Iowa State made it to the Big 12 championship game a year ago.

I really love Rocco Beck. I think he's really solid. I want to put them higher as that experience. Third season is a starting quarterback. I like Matt Campbell a lot. He's building off of that 11-win season, first in program history. John Hickok is back for his 10th season

as the defense coordinator in Ames. They should be good. But they relied so heavily on Higgins and Noel, those two wide receivers, that, like, for me, I just couldn't get them over the hump of a team like my 16th ranked team, Kansas State. So Kansas State comes in at 16. And a lot of this is Climmon is one of the best coaches in America. I really like him. Climeman, Matt Campbell, there's a lot of really good coaches in the Big 12. Avery Johnson had a bit of an up and down year as a starter at quarterback

for Kansas State. Remember, then picking Avery Johnson is largely why Will Howard had to transfer and he ended up going to Ohio State and winning a national championship. So here comes Avery Johnson, more reps, more experience under his belt. That should help him. They've got to replace DJ Giddings at running back, but they still have Dylan Edwards. Remember Edwards originally was at Colorado. Now he's at Kansas State. Wide receiver, Jace Brown, had a nice season last year. So I like Kansas State. I've got them at 16. Then my last two big 12 teams, at 15, I've got Arizona State. I think the Sun Devils are going to be a heck of a football team. I really do.

They've got to replace Cam Scatabo, though. Scataboo, excuse me. That normally, listen, I wanted to put them at the back of this Big 12 list just because of Scataboo. I'm like, man, you can't replace that. You can't replace that energy and that passion. And you look at what happened in the playoff and like what they relied on him for, even when you looked at the Big 12 championship game. And it's like, it was everything.

He meant so much to that program. And yet, even without Scatibu, 16 starters back. They're a quarterback, Sam Levitt. He's back. Jordan Tyson, the wide receiver. He's back in the passing game. And you're like, oh, okay, well, this is going to be a really good team. Levitt had a great year last year as a red shirt freshman.

Tyson was an All-American last year. He got hurt late. That hurt them in the playoff. and is largely why they had to rely on and lean on Scataboo so much in particular in the playoffs. They picked up Army transfer running back Kanye Yuda, I believe I'm pronouncing that right, to try to help replace him there. And listen, Kenny Dillingham, he has done something really well. Again, aren't you starting to see now, even from like Oklahoma at 25 and now Arizona State at 15,

these guys like Kenny Dillingham, there's a lot of dynamic coaches. out there. Really good coaches. Look at everybody out here. You've got track records. You've got history, whether it was them as coordinators or even as head coaches. You've got guys doing it at traditional powers. You've got guys doing it at non-traditional powers. What I'm seeing even in these first, you know, what is it, 10 teams, 11 teams that I've got up, you've got a lot of everything in college football. This is a very good year. This is going to be a phenomenal year. Let's get to 14 now, BYU. BYU is going to go in at least now at May in May as a team that I think is going to be the best Big 12 team.

Jake Retzloff is really, really good. He's a gamer. I love his game. I think a lot of people are going to put Arizona State in this spot, maybe even Iowa State in this spot. But man, Retzloff, watch out for them and watch out for their backs. L.J. Morton, Chase Roberts, for the wide receiver on offense. They will be good on offense. The defense should be one of the best in the Big 12.

Again, led by Isaiah Glasker, the linebacker, Jack Kelly, great player. BYU is playing a physical brand of football at the line of scrimmage. We saw that in the bowl game. We really saw that all year last year. And so I like what they're doing. And I've got them at 14 right there. Now we get really inside of the top 15. And now you're going to get some like, these are all really good teams.

And by the way, a break goes. one way or the other, I think we're starting to get into the portion of the list where won't surprise me if you're playing at the top of college football. At the very top. Florida. Florida is at 13 for me, and this is a huge belief in DJ Lagway. He's one of the most exciting players in the country. And you look back at what they were able to do and establish with him last year.

Six and one as a starter, and the only loss is when he went down with an injury in that game against Georgia. Billy Napier, he blocked out all the noise last year. It was noisy around Napier's situation, his job status, and he blocked it out, and that team, they got better, and then they got a little bit better, and then they got even more better, and then Lagway took them to another level and the defense played really well down the stretch, they hold those last four opponents to 17 points or fewer in every game. I'm just saying, like, I get it. The schedule is still tough.

The schedule is brutal. Like OU, Florida's again got another one of these terrible schedules. But, man, Florida's a good team. They're a really good team. So don't sleep on them. The schedule is the only reason that they're kind of, if you're, categorizing like my next group of teams, they kind of come in at the last of that group. At 12, I'm going to go Michigan.

Now, here's why I believe in Michigan. Last year, they beat USC, they be Ohio State, they be Alabama. And in those games, you know what their offense did? virtually nothing. Virtually nothing. And specifically in that game against Alabama, remember, all the guys that were going to the draft weren't playing in that game.

So they stopped Jalen Milrow and Alabama basically with the group of guys that are going to be playing this year. Wink Martindale figured it out. I thought early in the year there were growing pains with him coming back to college. He had to dumb it down. He's too smart.

Wink Martindale is too smart of a defensive coordinator, and they at times were doing a little too much. They simplified a little bit. He learned the college game a little bit more, the tendencies of it, and that defense took off in the second half of the year. So because of that, that's going to allow their offense to get its footing. Now, they've got that tough game early in the year against Oklahoma. But think about it, man. They beat Ohio State. They beat Alabama.

And in those two games, they had 234 yards, and then 100. 90 yards of offense. That's it. So they don't need to be great on the offensive side. They bring in Chip Lindsay as their new offensive coordinator. And now it's going to be kind of a wait and see of like who's going to be the quarterback. And that was a lot of what we had last year. And I think you're going to have that again next year. This is not a ranking that has anything to do with Bryce Underwood. This again is defense. This is Sharon Moore. It's philosophy. and we'll see what the offense actually is. Now, if the offense is good, this is a top 10 team.

And so that's when we get into like, what could they possibly be? Is it Bryce Underwood? Is it Fresno State transfer, Mikey Keene, there to bridge whatever gap there might be? Keene has started 34 games at UCF and then Fresno in his career. So is it the talented true freshman? Is it the experience transfer? We'll wait and see. I've got my questions about what they have on the outside.

All right. But again, the defense is going to be very good. I know they have to replace Mason Graham. I know they have to replace Kenneth Grant. I know they have to replace Will Johnson. But that defense, even without those players, largely stopped Alabama in that bowl game when they got that win. At 11, I've got South Carolina. Beamer's done a really nice job at South Carolina. And here's the other kicker. I love Lenora Sellers. he's back after a terrific red shirt freshman season. ACC or excuse me, SEC, freshman of the year. Really good player. Beamer's already going into year five,

which, man, time is going incredibly fast. They almost made the playoffs a year ago. Dylan Stewart on the edge defensively. He's one of the better players in the country. They've got to replace their running back, Rahim Sanders, as well as T.J. Sanders, Kyle Kinnard, on the defensive line, some of these guys that were contributors for them. And I know that their schedule is going to be brutal, but it's backloaded.

Their last seven games is going to be at LSU, Oklahoma, Bama at Ole Miss. Then they've got to buy. Then they're at A&M, Coastal Carolina. Thank you, SEC schedule. Then Clemson to finish. So again, a tough finish for South Carolina. But again, you kind of trust their quarterback. You trust what Beamer is building.

And I've got them at number 11. Now, I had to do this one because they got the better of them in the bowl game. and it's like Beelma, Beamer, the spat, Illinois is at number 10. Illinois sneaky, sneaky, good team. This number 10 ranking should signal that to everybody. Watch out for Illinois. They've got the experience in the right places to be a really good football team, and they've got the schedule that's going to land them probably in the college football

playoff. Bilma's building exactly what you expect him to build at a Illinois. Tough, hard-nosed team, very experienced. So he gets the nod over Beamer there. They're returning Illinois, 16 starters, including their quarterback. I love this experience metric as we get further and further into the NIL and Transfer Portal era. What are we seeing? Michigan, experience, win the national championship. Ohio State experience win the national championship. Illinois experience. Maybe they not. Maybe they won't. win the national championship. They're going to be damn good.

Entire offensive line is back. They've got to replace their two top wide receivers. I think they can do that. They could be the non-traditional power from the Big Ten that makes the playoff. I really believe that. Their schedule, this is what I was touching on earlier. So you've got all that experience coming back then. In the schedule, they avoid Penn State, who's really good. They avoid Oregon, really good. They avoid Michigan. They're really good. And they get Ohio State at home.

That's the only opponents on their schedule in my top 25. So you think about that schedule versus like a Florida schedule or an Oklahoma schedule or even a South Carolina schedule. And you're like, I get it. I get it. We saw it happen with Indiana last year. They were into the playoff and I think Illinois could be that team this year. So I'm going to start them right there at number 10. At number nine, I struggled with this team quite a bit.

I did not know where to put Alabama. I just didn't. Looks like Ty Simpson is the leader to be the starting quarterback. I like Kailen DeBore. You know that. I thought it was going to be better last year. Was it just not a fit with Jalen Milrow and Kailen DeBore? Maybe.

Simpson's a former five star. He's been waiting three years for this chance. Ryan Grubb, by the way, who was with Kailen DeBore for years. And then last year went to the Seahawks with Mike McDonald to be their offensive coordinator, is gone now. and now he's back with Kaelin DeBore. I think I said Mike McDonald, not Mike DeBore, but just to clarify,

back with DeBore at Alabama. So there's Ryan Grub. And every time these two guys have been together, DeBore and Grubb, lights out offensively. And in particular, the quarterback play. Think of what Michael Pinnock's was able to do at Washington for those two years that they were up there. On defense, L.T. Overton,

Tim Keenan on the defensive line, Deontay Lawson, at linebacker. They still have Ryan Williams on the offensive side, one of the best players in the country. They've got Bernard out there. They get Caden Proctor. He's now a three-year starter. They got their center, Parker Brailsford.

He's in there. So now I'm like, okay, I think I'm in. So they're going in my top 10. They play at Georgia in their SEC opener. They also have to play at South Carolina. They've got to play obviously Auburn in the Iron Bowl. They've got home games against LSU and Oklahoma. So schedule nothing to scoff at.

They're at number nine. At number eight, a team that, again, I didn't really know what to do with them. I'll be really candid about this one. I wanted to put them higher just because. And then you actually look at it and you're like, Georgia. I've got Georgia at eight.

Think about the standard at Georgia right now. They won 11 games, won the SEC, and yet the season was a giant disappointment because they didn't win the national championship. That's where Kirby Smart has put Georgia. And you can't go to the quarterfinals and lose to Notre Dame and it be a success at Georgia, unfortunately for Kirby. He, in a lot of ways, is becoming the standard bearer.

Now you've got Kirby, you've got Dabo, you've got Dabo, you've got, Ryan Day as the coaches that have won national championships in college football. So Kirby is going to turn at quarterback to Gunner Stockton. It's his show. There's a lot of opinions about Gunner Stockton. Oh, he played great in that matchup against Texas in the SEC championship and did serviceably and against Notre Dame. Was it okay?

Here's the deal. This is a team that I think is going to have to win because their roster is better than other rosters. Gunner Stockton might turn out to be a really quality player. Have I seen that yet? Again, I don't know. This is a trust with Georgia. They brought in some wide receiver help, which should help,

because their wide receiver core was a huge hindrance for them. Dog fans, you know this. Led the country and drops in a lot of regards, like the wide receivers held back this team immensely. So they brought in Zachari Branch from USC, Noah Thomas from Texas A&M. That should help this. These guys are reliable guys. You can bank on Georgia being dominant on defense.

I don't care if you're losing players into the draft. That's just what they do. Kirby's a defensive guy. They recruit well. They develop well. So Georgia. Again, I wanted to put them higher. I just couldn't.

And part of the reason is there's some teams ahead of them that I'm like, you know what? I believe in, in particular, a quarterback a little bit more, and that is the case at number seven with LSU. I believe in Garrett Nussmeyer more than Gunner Stockton. So you might be yelling right now. You're thinking like, well, do you trust Brian Kelly more than Kirby smart? The answer is no. But those guys aren't on the field. And as you know, at some points, when you've got basically a tie between these teams, you've got to think to yourself, well, who do I trust most at quarterback. So let's take a look at the ninth, eighth, and seventh ranked teams on my list, Alabama,

Georgia, and LSU. Well, they go in order of who I believe in at quarterback. Alabama, don't know at all. Haven't seen it at all. Gunner Stockton is now at eight with Georgia. Why? Well, we've seen a little bit. Do I totally trust it?

Nah. Number seven, LSU, yes. Garrett Nussmeyer is going to be one of the top picks in the end. NFL draft. I believe in him. Second year is a starter, fifth in the program. He sat behind Jaden Daniels. He's seen it done at a high level. The defense finally took a step forward in the first season under Blake Baker, their defensive coordinator. They're going to have Whit Weeks back at linebacker. Harold Perkins back after tearing his ACL early last year. He's going to stay at that star position this year. They've got the hybrid linebacker safety, that star kind of position. I think

that fits him. They've got the number one ranked transfer portal class. They've got 17 transfer players coming in, number two by average player ranking. So not just quantity, but quality. The only thing working against them in my estimation is that, like, I think Brian's going to have to take a team above what he has ever taken a team. And then their schedule is tough. So they, they miss Georgia and Texas, but they've got a season opener on the road against Clemson. Don't love that game for them. They've got to get South Carolina. Florida and A&M, those are at home. And then they play Alabama on the road,

Ole Miss on the road, Oklahoma on the road. That's LSU. Then we get to my next kind of group of teams. Okay, so those were those, that SEC group, and then we get to my next group, and my next group is going to be led by Notre Dame. Notre Dame is at six. Big question for me is at quarterback.

All right, looks like C.J. Carr is going to be there and starting at quarterback next year after Steve and Jelly, backed up Riley Leonard last year. He entered the portal, transferred to Syracuse in the spring window. So again, C.J. Carr looks like it's his deal. Notre Dame is going to be able to pound the rock. All right.

So this style that they've been able to lean on with Marcus Freeman is largely going to be able to play forward because their offensive line. Their offensive line is stacked. Five guys who started at times last year. They've got Jeremiah Love behind them. I think this run game is going to be dynamic. Marcus Freeman is a dynamic.

is a dynamic coach. He has elevated Notre Dame's program from a program that we thought was kind of topped out for where college football was. Ten wins. Brian Kelly was doing a heck of a job. And Marcus Freeman came in and put his stamp on it and he got more electric players, more speed, more athleticism. And that charge is led by Jeremiah Love. This guy is phenomenal. He's one of my best players in the country, one of the most explosive players in the country. And when you put him behind an offensive line with the experience, that Notre Dame's offensive line is going to have. I think they're going to have a big year.

Now, one area that they weren't great last year, wide receivers, so they added some talent to go with Jaden Great House. They got Will Pauling, a slot receiver from Wisconsin. They got Malachi Fields. He was an outside receiver. He was all-ACC from Virginia. And then you go to the defensive side. Notre Dame should be really good again.

Marcus Freeman brought in Chris Ash to replace Al Golden. Chris Ash, in my estimation, has been one of the more, what's the word, underappreciated, undervalued coordinators in college football for a long time. And I really love the Freeman culture

that he's built at Notre Dame. They have a freshman All-American at quarterback, Leonard Moore. He's back to lead the secondary. And what I love about Notre Dame is their schedule. It's not a difficult schedule. And it's actually front-loaded. So we're going to see, and learn everything that we need to learn about Notre Dame early in the year.

Not that dissimilar from what we saw last year when they were able to go and beat Texas A&M early in that season. They're going to open at Miami. If they win that game, they're going to the playoffs. Then they get a buy week before hosting Texas A&M. If they beat Miami, it doesn't even matter what they do against A&M. But if they win those two, watch out. They could be undefeated. I'm just saying, like there's not a ton left on that schedule the way.

Now, it's more difficult than last year. but it's definitely front-loaded and their difficulty is in the front end of that schedule. All right, now we get into the top five. All right. Here's a team I really, really like, really like. In a conference that is not tough, Clemson, I think Davo Sweeney is going to have a group that is capable of winning the national championship. Clemson is really good.

Dabo's done it before. And with the, listen, for all the criticism that he's gotten over the last couple of years, I'll give it to him, man. He has stayed the course. He has been consistent. He is going to ride this Clemson culture right into what I think is almost like a, it's not a, it's like a twilight type of it. It's like they are reemerging at the top end of college football.

I think we saw that last year. Even though they made the playoff, no one really was talking about them. You know, they kind of beat SMU in that ACC championship game. And, you know, you're kind of wondering, how is this going to go against Texas? And they played really well. They played really well against Texas. They gave Texas everything they could handle.

And that Texas team was a really good football team. They get Kade Klubnik back. Okay, third season as a starting quarterback. He took a big step forward last year, what Garrett Riley is, his offensive coordinator. They found something that has been missing in recent years, which is wide receiver play. Those guys back. Top three wide receivers are back with Antonio Williams being the number one, two players who played really well as freshman last year, Brian Westgo and T.J. Moore, all back. Love that.

New defensive coordinator, Tom Allen. I'm a big fan of Tom Allen, been covering him since he was the head coach at Indiana, and then he was the defensive coordinator for Penn State last year. He's the new defensive coordinator for Clemson. The defensive line has studs. All right, let's think back to those teams that did win national championships. What did they have on the defensive side for Brent Venables, then coordinator? Great players on the defensive line, and they're going to have that again. Two potential first round picks in Peter Woods and T.J. Parker.

So they're loaded on defense. talent on both lines of scrimmage, and that's what you need. And the schedule is, listen, first and last games should be their toughest opponents. They're going to have an opener against LSU at home, and then they're going to have South Carolina on the road. They don't play Miami this year. Their toughest game in the ACC is at Georgia Tech, at Louisville, and maybe home against SMU.

Watch out for Clemson. I'm just telling you right now, Dabo Sweeney is going to have those boys back, and they're going to be playing at a high level. At number four, getting to some high-level teams here, Oregon. I believe in Dante Moore. We forgot about Dante Moore. I'm just telling you right now. We forgot about Dante Moore.

This was a highly recruited guy that went to UCLA and played for Chip Kelly and played as a true freshman. Now, he was playing behind a really bad offensive line, and there was a start in particular and some snaps in particular that he took in Rice Eccles Stadium against Utah on the road when that Utah, defense was fierce. It didn't go well for him. They went in a different direction.

He transferred and he sat behind Dylan Gabriel last year at Oregon and now he's going to get his shot. I think he, Dante Moore is a dark horse Heisman candidate. Watch out for Dante Moore. He was a huge recruit. And I think that he is a good fit for Will Stein's offense, the offensive coordinator up there. He's going to have Evan Stewart back.

The five-star wide receiver, Decorian Moore, could be this year's freshman star. our wide receiver like we saw last year with Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams. Landing has a pipeline of talent just year over year coming through those doors in Eugene. They've got the number one transfer portal class by average player ranking. A guy that I really love, and he is a landing style player for that defense. Dylan Thineman comes in from Purdue. This is a good player, folks.

Watch out for the running back. Mackay Hughes comes in from Tulane. This is going to be a damn good team. And remember now, no one's talking about them since they got bounced so early in the playoffs in their first playoff game, by the way, in that Rose Bowl, they were undefeated, number one in the country. They had that one terrible outing against Ohio State. You think that this offseason hasn't had some urgency around it in Eugene?

I know it has. I know it has. So watch out for Oregon. At number three, I've got Ohio State. Obviously questions at quarterback and really question in terms of how they're going to replace this heavy number of talented NFL draft picks. They've got to replace 14 NFL draft picks. 14, that's wild, but have the two best players in the country.

This is what's so crazy. They just had 14 players drafted, and the two best football players in America are still in Columbus. Jeremiah Smith, the wide receiver, Caleb Downs, the safety. That's wild. Big shifts on the coaching staff, which they're going to have to navigate. Ryan Day is going to have to navigate that. However, Brian Hartline has been from within.

So he's now going to be the offensive coordinator as Chip Kelly moves on to go to Vegas and be with the Raiders. Heartline has long been in line for this job. This guy is going to be a head coach. Brian Hartline has been the best position coach in America for the last five years. You look at his position room, and that is clear. It is unequivocal. And now Ryan Day puts him in the coordinator's position. and he will rely on him because that was one of the keys last year to the way that Ohio State was able to manifest a championship is that Ryan didn't have to game plan and call the plays offensively.

He thought it was a great position to be in to sit back, evaluate the way the team was playing, in particular after losses to Oregon and Michigan, and adjust and manipulate the way that their philosophy was playing out. All of that, I think it's still going to be there. Julian's saying, is it his job? Is it Keynolds? I'm not sure, but they're still going to be able to throw to Jeremiah Smith and Carnel Tate. They're still going to throw to Brandon Innes. They're still going to have backs to hand it to.

The defense, even though they lost a lot of players, they bring in Matt Patricia as the defensive coordinator. And I guess it's a bit of a wait and see, but we're not going to have to wait and see much very long because they're going to face Texas right away. Opening game. They do host Penn State in the shoe, and they go to Ann Arbor and play Michigan. That Texas team that they face in the opening week of the season is my number two team in the country, Texas, number two.

Coming off back-to-back semi-final appearances, it's officially the Archmanning era. I was looking at these last three teams as the teams that I had kind of in this bunch. Ohio State, Texas, and my number one team. Before I get to them, I'll just tell you that now it's officially Arch Manning time. I believe he is going to be my Heisman frontrunner to begin the year. I think he can have that impact and that large of a season. They get C.J. Baxter back to pair with Trey Wisner at a running back. There are some holes to fill. But again, Steve Sarkesian, like Ryan Day, like Dan Lannning, like Kirby Smart, like Nick Saban used to do at Alabama, they're just reloading at Texas.

Number one recruiting class in the country last year. I think the biggest concern for me with Texas is that they're replacing a lot on the offensive line. That is a bit concerning. They're going to be young but talented at wide receiver. They've still got Ryan Wingo, DeAndre Moore, watch out for him. The defense should be excellent. and it should give that offensive line a little bit of time to get their feet wet.

Colin Simmons is a star at defensive end. Anthony Hill, he's going to play All-American level at linebacker. Michael Taff is a terrific leader at the safety position, so they're good at every level of defense. They hit the portal hard to reinforce the defensive line. Steve Sarkeesian has built a program that is a preeminent program in college football. You don't have to ask if Texas is back. They are absolutely back.

They've been in the national similums. finals in two straight years, and they may get past that this year. They will start for me at number two. That leaves my way too early. Post-spring, number one team in the country as the Penn State Nittany Lions. They're following the blueprint of the teams that have just won the national championship. This is why I am putting them in this spot. You look at what Michigan did in In 2023, you look at what Ohio State did in 2024. Both of those teams had a core group of veteran players stay. They stayed and they won a championship. Both of those teams had veterans at quarterback. They had veterans on both sides of the ball. They were excellent at the line of scrimmage. They had chips on their shoulders from the way that they were bounced in the postseason. years prior. All of that is true about Penn State. They're returning their quarterback, both running backs,

Singleton and Allen, four players on the offensive line. They brought in Jim Knowles as their defensive coordinator to pair with Andy Kodlnicki as their offensive coordinator. He's in year two. I just, I look at this. My only question was at wide receiver for James Franklin. We saw how bad it was at wide receiver last year. Okay. In the Lost of Notre Dame, they got zero catches from their wide receivers. Zero. Zero catches. That's incredible. So they brought in three wide receivers. Kieran Hudson, Redshirt Senior from USC.

Trevor Pena from Syracuse. Love him. Love him. All-ACC. slot receiver. You've got Devonte Ross, Sunbelt receiver, all Sunbelt receiver from Troy. reinforcements. I think they're going to be better at wide receiver. Now, the question becomes, along to pair with a guy like, I think a steady wide receiver like Liam Clifford, can they replace Tyler Warren? That'll remain to be seen. They will have to get that production from outside. All right. I like this team. I like this team a lot. The last question I would have for Penn State is, the last hurdle that Penn State has. Penn State has proven, really for a number of years,

they will absolutely take care of business. They will beat the teams that they should beat. What we haven't seen from Penn State is them rise up and win the game that I would call a match-up game. When they're looking across and the talent is equated and they may even be a bit of an underdog, can they win that game? Because up until this point, they haven't.

Can they? Yes. I absolutely believe that they can. You know, they beat SMU. They beat Boise State, but then they lose to Notre Dame. We see this in the Big Ten schedule where they haven't been able to beat, you know, the Michigans of the world and the Ohio states. They were close. I mean, they were close. They had first and goal inside the five to tie the game in the fourth quarter against Ohio State, but they didn't. So that's the next step. I believe they will take the next step. I believe that Penn State is ready to take the next step with their veterans, Drew Aller, leading the charge. I think he's going to have a big, big year. So there you go. There's my top 25 post-spring edition right here at the Joel Clad show. Now, there are a couple of teams that just missed out, and it was hard. I got to tell you,

I had 30, 35 teams that I was, I easily could have put in the top 25. Here are some of those that just missed out. Tennessee just missed out. I think in particular, when you look at that team post the Nico Iamaleava exit. It's a team that has a tough schedule and now a lot of questions surrounding the most important position on the field. So they just missed out. Could have easily put them in, though. There's no doubt. SMU. I like SMU's roster. I think it's a tougher schedule for them than what they got a year ago. They just missed out. Easily could have put them in. Texas Tech. Similarly, Joey McGuire has built something that I really like in Lubbock. Missouri, I felt the same way.

Utah. This is, you know, likely Kyle Whittingham's last year. I think they'll probably overachieve in Salt Lake. And then the last one would be Nebraska. Nebraska, I considered, I didn't put them in there. Nebraska falls into a bit of a category that I used to talk about Texas. A few years ago, I said with Texas, I was like, listen, I'm just going to wait until they prove it. And with Nebraska, that's the position that I'm going to take. I'm going to shy away from these predictions with Nebraska. I believe in Nebraska. I like Matt Rule.

I like that program. And I think they can and will be good at some point. But I think that we constantly put the cart before the horse with Nebraska. So let's just pump the brakes and let them go achieve it. Let them go achieve it. So they just missed out right there on the top 25. Oh, man. That was fun.

Fun to talk about college football. again, I appreciate you doing that with me. I appreciate you, as always, listening to this program. Please share it with a friend. If you have not, make sure to follow us on social media, wherever you like to social media at Joel Clashio. As always, get over to YouTube and subscribe to the YouTube channel. We would very much appreciate that. And yes, I've read in the comments. Yes, the answer is yes. I am getting back to that football schematic series. I will do more episodes of that. There's no doubt it's been a busy spring covering the draft. I've got three, three boys all in sports, all this. I will get to it. Trust me.

And you're going to want to make sure you're subscribed to the YouTube channel to check all of that out. Oh, man, love it. College football is getting closer. It is getting closer. Thank you for listening. Share it with a friend. And I'll talk to you next time.