COLLEGE FOOTBALL: NOV 08 Ohio State at Purdue
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Rankings are a great tool to create discussion because they seem so definitive. Something is ranked ahead of another thing, which seems to say, "this thing is better than this thing." What gets lost in a pure ranking, though, is what the gaps between those things are.

The No. 4 team is better than No. 5, while No. 5 is better than No. 6, but the gap between them is rarely the same. No. 5 could be much closer to No. 4 than No. 6 is to No. 5, or vice versa. It's this lack of clarity that sometimes leads to anger.

For instance, last week (and this week), Utah was ranked ahead of Ole Miss in my power ratings. While I explained in the story that this was mostly due to the "baggage" of the 2024 season carrying less weight, that didn't mollify some of the Ole Miss fans I heard from who don't see a world in which Utah can be considered better than Ole Miss.

This is why thinking in tiers usually gives us a much clearer picture. So this week, I thought I'd offer you the tiers before we get to the actual rankings. For the purposes of suspense -- you know, for the 10% of you who didn't skip past this introduction to get straight to the rankings -- I will list the teams in each tier in alphabetical order. As for what to think of the tier, every team in each tier is within a half-point of the other in my power ratings.

Tier 1 - Ohio State
Tier 2 - Indiana
Tier 3 - Alabama, Oregon, Texas A&M
Tier 4 - Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas Tech
Tier 5 - Ole Miss, Utah
Tier 6 - Miami, Oklahoma, Texas, USC

That's 14 teams over six tiers, with 12 of those teams in the final four tiers. In other words, while Ohio State and Indiana have separated from the pack, the difference between Nos. 3 and 14 in these ratings isn't enormous. Any game between these teams on a neutral field would be up for grabs.

This bodes well for the College Football Playoff, seeing as how so many of these teams have legitimate shots to reach the second round. As for the actual rankings, you may now proceed to get angry about the specific order. Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook 

2025 Preseason Fornelli Power Ratings
1
Ohio State
Every season, we typically see even the best teams mess around at least once per season. Like Indiana needing a late drive to beat Penn State last week. Even last year's Ohio State team, outside of the loss to Michigan, had a close call in the middle of the season against Nebraska. These Buckeyes have not had that. Since beating Texas 14-7, they've won each game by at least 18 points. Kind of makes you wonder if either of their remaining home games against UCLA and Rutgers can provide some unexpected sweat. Last Week: 1 | Title Odds: +200
2
Indiana
Since it's Indiana, people will use last week's close call against Penn State as a sign of weakness for the Hoosiers, but I don't. I'm encouraged by the fact that Indiana has had two tough road games this year and has been forced to overcome them. Last year, if this team got behind, it lost. Also, for all the problems Penn State had this year, the defense is still really good, and Happy Valley will never be an easy place to play. Last Week: 2 | Title Odds: +500
3
Oregon
I mentioned last week that Oregon was a team where my numbers don't match my eyes, and this week I had to wrestle with possible adjustments for the injuries. The Ducks didn't have Dakorien Moore, Kenyon Sadiq, or their starting right tackle at Iowa. They lost Gary Bryant during the game. In the end, I decided against making any adjustments until there's a clear word on how long those players will be out. That will matter a lot with USC and a road trip to Washington on the schedule. I don't know how much of an impact it would have this week against Minnesota. Last Week: 3 | Title Odds: +1500
4
Alabama
I've spent all season waiting for Alabama to show me it can run the football when it needs to, and I've reached the point where I'm not going to wait any longer. It probably isn't going to happen. That lack of a run game probably puts a serious cap on this team's ceiling, but the Tide can win the SEC and win a playoff game or two, so the floor's pretty high too. Last Week: 4 | Title Odds: +850
5
Texas A&M
I'm going to play a little devil's advocate here, because the Aggies earn more support in the human polls each week. Can I ask why? Yes, they keep winning, but their last three wins have come against Arkansas (fired coach), LSU (fired coach) and Missouri (backup QB). Their overall resume gets worse each week, yet the voters are treating wins over LSU and Missouri as if they played the preseason and September versions of those teams. Anyway, I still like this team a lot, and the road win over Notre Dame looks better every week, too. I just don't understand what the Aggies have done to close ground on Ohio State and Indiana. Last Week: 5 | Title Odds: +700
6
Notre Dame
The Irish have played in only one game big enough to draw the casual eye since losing their first two games, which means the majority of the country doesn't understand how well CJ Carr is playing. If you want to dismiss it as he's dominating inferior opponents, go for it, but he played well in the losses to Miami and Texas A&M, too. The fact the Irish lost those "big games" is why Carr isn't mentioned much in Heisman talk, but he's playing as well as most of the quarterbacks whose names you do hear. Last Week: 6 | Title Odds: +1000
7
Texas Tech
If the Red Raiders were capable of finishing more drives in the end zone instead of settling for field goals, they might be in my top five right now. But they aren't, and it's a big reason why they win over BYU looked as "close" as it did on the scoreboard. That was a five-touchdown win that ended up as a 22-point victory. Last Week: 8 | Title Odds: +1600
8
Georgia
Georgia falls a spot in the overall rankings this week, but it's more about Texas Tech climbing than it is the Bulldogs falling. I would argue that Georgia's win over Mississippi State was the most complete performance from the Dawgs in an SEC game this season. Georgia has gotten off to a lot of slow starts, but it didn't mess around in Starkville. Last Week: 7 | Title Odds: +1100
9
Utah
There's a good chance that the only Utah game most casual observers witnessed this season was the Utes' 34-10 home loss to Texas Tech. Maybe they saw the 24-21 loss at BYU, but they played well in that game; BYU just played better. Regardless, this is a team that's been performing at an extremely high level that doesn't have a great chance to reach the College Football Playoff, but if it somehow does, there will probably be a few other teams you'd rather be hosting in the first round than the Utes. Last Week: 9 | Title Odds: +8000
10
Ole Miss
Listen, all that matters at the end of the day is you win the games. Ole Miss has won them all but one. They're rated highly overall, but the reason they're here compared to other teams with similar records is that they don't blow many teams away. Like, you can write off that 24-21 win over Washington State, but the performance matters in the ratings. As do the close calls with Arkansas and Kentucky. Last Week: 10 | Title Odds: +1800
11
Texas
My favorite team in the world returns to the top 12 this week, and this is a great example of how close these tiers are. Texas didn't play last week, but climbs two spots anyway because something happened somewhere to change a strength of schedule metric, or some other obscure change in a stat that made Texas look better overall. We're talking hundredths of points splitting these teams. The wind blows too hard in Ypsilanti, and Oklahoma is jumping back ahead of Texas. Last Week: Not Ranked | Title Odds: +3000
12
USC
USC is another team where the numbers don't truly align with how my eyes feel watching it. A good quarterback with great receivers, and a defense that isn't great, but does just enough. But it's also a team that probably loses to Nebraska two weeks ago if Dylan Raiola doesn't get hurt, and didn't beat Northwestern as badly as the score suggests. It's a team that shows flashes of being great but is extremely inconsistent from drive to drive. Last Week: Not Ranked | Title Odds: +6500

Fell outside Top 12: Miami, Oklahoma