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We've reached the midway point of the 2025 college football season, which means it's an appropriate time to re-evaluate where teams stand and adjust their expectations for their last six games. Most programs have already gone through their nonconference slates and are already in the thick of league play. 

There's plenty of data to parse through. While there have been a lot of positive surprises thus far -- such as No. 3 Indiana reaching its highest AP Top 25 ranking in program history -- there are a fair share of teams that have failed to meet preseason expectations.

The year is far from over. The 12-team College Football Playoff format means that a larger field of schools is involved in the race, even if they've already faced some early season slip-ups. 

It's still hard to climb to the top. Here's a look at a few teams that still have plenty to prove in the second half of the 2025 college football season. 

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Arizona State

247Sports' Big 12 team site staffers picked Arizona State to repeat as conference champions before the season began. The Sun Devils did lose do-it-all weapon Cam Skattebo to the NFL Draft, but they returned a wealth of experience on both sides of the ball, including a potential Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback in Sam Leavitt. Halfway through the year and the Sun Devils are behind the likes of Texas Tech, BYU and Cincinnati

They are a respectable 4-2, with both of those losses coming on the road. Arizona State was also without Leavitt in its latest loss to Utah as he recovers from a lingering injury. Any loss can set you behind in the Big 12, though, and the Sun Devils have no margin for error if they want to make their way back to AT&T Stadium -- and perhaps beyond. 

Outlook the rest of the way: Arizona State is still in the thick of the Big 12 race. One loss sets it back a bit, but that pendulum swings the other way -- the Sun Devils can absolutely benefit from creating some chaos of their own. They'll get a chance to unseat No. 7 Texas Tech, the runaway league favorite thus far, this Saturday. 

No. 10 LSU

If the College Football Playoff started today, LSU would be squarely in the field for the first time since 2019. But it doesn't start today and, in spite of the lofty ranking next to its name, LSU has not looked entirely convincing thus far. The Tigers' most notable win -- their season opener against Clemson -- looks worse with each passing week and they lost in their only game against a currently ranked opponent. 

The defense has taken significant strides. Surprisingly, it's the offense that has held LSU back this season. Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier is clearly battling through some injury issues, but he didn't look all that great before that. He's also not a very mobile quarterback playing behind a poor offensive line, which is a recipe for failure. The Tigers have not scored more than 20 points against a Power Four conference opponent. That's not going to cut it when they play the likes of No. 17 Vanderbilt, No. 6 Alabama and No. 4 Texas A&M

Outlook the rest of the way: The SEC is cannibalizing itself a bit this year, which keeps the door open for LSU in spite of its early season setback against Ole Miss. As outlined above, it's going to be an extremely tough road. The Tigers are an underdog against Vanderbilt for the first time since 1948 and they won't be favored against either Alabama or Texas A&M. They're going to have to go 2-1 in those games, at the very least, to maintain those playoff hopes. 

Michigan

Michigan's got a steep hill to climb if it wants to be considered a serious contender for either the playoff or its own conference. The Wolverines' 31-13 loss to USC in Week 7 hammered home the fact that they're a long way from the top. So far, they're 1-2 against currently ranked opponents with an average scoring margin of 8.7 points in the opponent's favor. Michigan's win against Nebraska also came before the Huskers were ranked inside of the AP Top 25, while USC beat Michigan while it was ranked. 

Maybe it isn't a coincidence that Michigan's offense looked a lot better when coach Sherrone Moore was suspended. Freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood hasn't looked the same since the Nebraska win. Moore could benefit from unleashing him. Perhaps most surprising, though, is the defense's poor play. Michigan just allowed a walk-on running back to rush for 158 yards and one touchdown on just 18 carries in the USC loss. 

Outlook the rest of the way: All is not lost. Michigan has to win out, starting with a tough game against Washington on Saturday. No. 1 Ohio State also looms large at the end of the year. It's doable -- especially since the Wolverines have won four straight against the Buckeyes -- but this team put itself behind the 8-ball. 

No. 8 Oregon

It's fair to question Oregon's strength of record thus far, especially since Penn State plummeted off a cliff in the weeks after Oregon's overtime win against the Nittany Lions. The Ducks have won four games against FBS opponents. Those FBS opponents have a combined record of 8-17. Their highest-quality win thus far? Against a 4-2 Northwestern squad that lost 23-3 against Tulane in its season opener. 

Oregon lost by 10 points to No. 3 Indiana in its only showdown against a currently ranked opponent. That's not a good look for a team trying to build off of last season's Big Ten title and appearance as the College Football Playoff's top overall seed. The only reason Oregon's still ranked inside of the top 10 is because of poll momentum. 

Outlook the rest of the way: Oregon's toughest remaining opponent is No. 20, and the Ducks get that game at home. It's hard to see them being underdogs at any point in the latter half of the year. An 11-1 Oregon gets into the playoff without any sweat. That might also be good enough for a repeat appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game. 

No. 21 Texas 

Texas may actually be turning a corner entering the meat of its SEC schedule. Turning a corner midway through the year isn't exactly the standard that a preseason No. 1 team should be striving for, but that is reality for the Longhorns. They were quickly knocked down from that top spot in a season-opening loss to Ohio State and then eliminated from the top 25 entirely a few weeks later due to a stunning defeat against Florida

Texas did get back on track with its Week 7 triumph over Oklahoma, giving the Longhorns their third Red River victory of the past four years. Embattled quarterback Arch Manning didn't put up eye-popping numbers, but he did put up arguably his best performance of the season against a strong Sooners defense. Maybe that was what Texas needed to build some momentum for a latter half of the schedule that sees it play No. 17 Vanderbilt, No. 9 Georgia and No. 4 Texas A&M. 

Outlook the rest of the way: It's the SEC, so Texas still has plenty of time to stack some quality wins. As with other two-loss teams, though, the 'Horns are skating on thin ice. There will be a glut of 10-2 teams by season's end, so that means it will be virtually impossible for any programs beyond that bar to make the cut for a 12-team playoff.