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2025 College Football Rankings Recap: Week 8
Texas A&M (7-0) takes over the top spot in The Davis Rankings, up from 2nd after week 8 of the 2025 season, with a score of 93.8 out of 100. The rest of the top five: #2 Ohio State, #3 Indiana, T-4 BYU, T-4 Georgia Tech.
Every score comes from the same published formula, explained on the methodology page.
The top 25
SEC It just means something, when you have... Arkansas (#115), 3rd week running
| Rank | Team | Record | TDR scoreTDR | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Texas A&M | 7-0 | 93.8 | ▲ 1 |
| 2 |  Ohio State | 7-0 | 92.2 | ▲ 1 |
| 3 |  Indiana | 7-0 | 91.9 | - |
| T-4 |  BYU | 7-0 | 91.5 | ▲ 2 |
| T-4 |  Georgia Tech | 7-0 | 91.5 | ▲ 4 |
| 6 |  Navy | 6-0 | 91.2 | ▲ 2 |
| 7 |  Alabama | 6-1 | 85.9 | ▲ 5 |
| 8 |  Tulane | 6-1 | 84.5 | ▲ 5 |
| 9 |  South Florida | 6-1 | 81.7 | ▲ 6 |
| 10 |  Georgia | 6-1 | 81.5 | ▲ 11 |
| 11 |  Oklahoma | 6-1 | 81.4 | ▲ 34 |
| T-12 |  Cincinnati | 6-1 | 81.3 | ▲ 5 |
| T-12 |  Oregon | 6-1 | 81.3 | ▲ 34 |
| T-12 |  Virginia | 6-1 | 81.3 | ▲ 5 |
| 15 |  Vanderbilt | 6-1 | 81.2 | ▲ 31 |
| T-16 |  Houston | 6-1 | 80.7 | ▲ 7 |
| T-16 |  James Madison | 6-1 | 80.7 | ▲ 9 |
| 18 |  Louisville | 5-1 | 80.5 | ▲ 32 |
| 19 |  North Texas | 6-1 | 80.3 | ▲ 29 |
| 20 |  Missouri | 6-1 | 80.0 | ▲ 29 |
| 21 |  San Diego State | 5-1 | 78.9 | ▲ 2 |
| 22 |  Michigan | 5-2 | 75.0 | ▲ 33 |
| 23 |  Notre Dame | 5-2 | 74.5 | ▲ 5 |
| 24 |  Texas | 5-2 | 73.6 | ▲ 5 |
| 25 |  Hawai'i | 6-2 | 72.3 | ▲ 5 |
Biggest movers
21 teams jumped two or more tiers (10 up, 11 down). 47 more moved a single tier.
Risers
| Team | From | Direction | To | Tiers | Rank | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Central Michigan 4-3 | Do We Need to Talk? | → | Feeling Good | ▲ 2 | 95 → T-47 | ▲ 48 |
| After a road win at #62 Bowling Green (27-6) in a blowout. An upset: Central Michigan entered with 39.7 TDR points to Bowling Green's 54.7. Now 4-3. TDR score +20.6: win/loss record +3.9, road-win bonus +1.1. | ||||||
 UCF 4-3 | Sick of It | → | Character Building | ▲ 2 | 102 → T-56 | ▲ 46 |
| After a home win over #114 West Virginia (45-13) in a blowout. As expected: UCF entered with 39.2 TDR points to West Virginia's 28.3. Now 4-3, snapped a 3-game losing streak. TDR score +20.2: win/loss record +3.9, road-win bonus +0.8. | ||||||
 Temple 4-3 | Do We Need to Talk? | → | Feeling Good | ▲ 2 | 91 → 46 | ▲ 45 |
| After a road win at #131 Charlotte (49-14) in a blowout. As expected: Temple entered with 40.3 TDR points to Charlotte's 14.5. Now 4-3. TDR score +20.2: win/loss record +3.9, road-win bonus +1.2. | ||||||
 Utah State 4-3 | Do We Need to Talk? | → | Feeling Good | ▲ 2 | 89 → 45 | ▲ 44 |
| After a home win over #120 San José State (30-25) in a one-score game. As expected: Utah State entered with 40.6 TDR points to San José State's 26.7. Now 4-3. TDR score +20.1: win/loss record +3.9, road-win bonus +0.8. | ||||||
 East Carolina 4-3 | Do We Need to Talk? | → | Feeling Good | ▲ 2 | 91 → T-47 | ▲ 44 |
| After a home win over #113 Tulsa (41-27). As expected: East Carolina entered with 40.3 TDR points to Tulsa's 28.7. Now 4-3. TDR score +20.0: win/loss record +3.9, road-win bonus +0.8. | ||||||
and 5 more tier jumpers
Florida International 108→67, Stanford 107→71, Florida 111→75, UTEP 132→96, Michigan 55→22
Fallers
| Team | From | Direction | To | Tiers | Rank | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Duke 4-3 | Feeling Good | → | Do We Need to Talk? | ▼ 2 | 31 → 82 | ▼ 51 |
| After a home loss to T-8 Georgia Tech (18-27). As expected: Duke entered with 68.6 TDR points to Georgia Tech's 91.0. Now 4-3, snapped a 3-game winning streak. TDR score -21.9: win/loss record -5.3, road-win bonus -1.3. | ||||||
 Baylor 4-3 | Feeling Good | → | Do We Need to Talk? | ▼ 2 | 40 → 88 | ▼ 48 |
| After a road loss at #73 TCU (36-42) in a one-score game. An upset: Baylor entered with 66.5 TDR points to TCU's 51.9. Now 4-3. TDR score -21.4: win/loss record -5.3, road-win bonus -0.8. | ||||||
 Washington 5-2 | Winning | → | Character Building | ▼ 2 | 17 → T-63 | ▼ 46 |
| After a road loss at #55 Michigan (7-24). An upset: Washington entered with 79.8 TDR points to Michigan's 56.7. Now 5-2. TDR score -23.6: win/loss record -6.5, road-win bonus -1.1. | ||||||
 App State 4-3 | Feeling Good | → | Do We Need to Talk? | ▼ 2 | 44 → 90 | ▼ 46 |
| After a home loss to T-63 Coastal Carolina (37-45) in a one-score game. An upset: App State entered with 66.1 TDR points to Coastal Carolina's 54.6. Now 4-3. TDR score -21.9: win/loss record -5.3, road-win bonus -1.3. | ||||||
 Wyoming 3-4 | Character Building | → | Sick of It | ▼ 2 | 63 → T-108 | ▼ 45 |
| After a road loss at #124 Air Force (21-24) in a one-score game. An upset: Wyoming entered with 54.6 TDR points to Air Force's 16.1. Now 3-4. TDR score -20.3: win/loss record -3.9, opponent record today -0.5. | ||||||
and 6 more tier jumpers
Utah 16→60, Tennessee 22→65, LSU 20→62, Nebraska 25→66, Bowling Green 62→T-103, USC 14→T-53
Weekly awards
Eight awards in four groups, each with one you want and one you don’t. The biggest poll gaps are in Polls vs the data, in detail under Mind the Gap. Season totals for every team are on the Awards page. The week’s game honors are in Games that mattered.
Kitchen
Who sits on top of the rankings, and who is stuck at the bottom.
Mountaineering
Two straight weeks of climbing, and two straight weeks of falling.
Biggest two-week rise, up both weeks
Biggest two-week fall, down both weeks
Mind the Gap
Where the polls and the data disagree most.
Poll rank far better than the data's
Polls vs the data, in detail
The biggest gaps between the TDR rank and the best rank in any poll. A team in no poll counts as just outside them, so its gap is a minimum (shown with a +). Gaps under 5 spots are not listed.
Wins don't matter
TDR counts every win.
| Team | TDR | AP | Coaches | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Navy 6-0 | 6 | NR | NR | ▲ 20+ |
| Tulane 6-1 | 8 | NR | NR | ▲ 18+ |
| Houston 6-1 | T-16 | NR | NR | ▲ 10+ |
| James Madison 6-1 | T-16 | NR | NR | ▲ 10+ |
Moving Company
The biggest single-week moves up and down the rankings.
Biggest rank rise of the week
Biggest rank fall of the week
Games that mattered
The week’s standout games, each shown once, in the first list it qualifies for. The one exception: a close loss by a top-25 team can be in both Upset of the Week and Winnin’ ain’t easy (one is about the size of the gap, the other about how close it was). Upset of the Week, Winnin’ ain’t easy and Coin Flips are recognitions: they are not trophy-case awards, so they never go on a helmet.
The lowest-entering team to beat a better-ranked one. Ranks are from the week before.
UAB beat 
Memphis31-24#118 vs #10108 spots
Florida International beat 
Western Kentucky25-6#108 vs #2781 spots
Arizona State beat 
Texas Tech26-22#69 vs #564 spots
Air Force beat Wyoming24-21#124 vs #6361 spots- Louisville beat
Miami24-21#50 vs #644 spots
A top-25 team in a one-score game against a team ranked far below it: it survived, or it fell. Ranks are from the week before.
- Virginia beat
Washington State22-20#17 vs #88top-25 team survived by 2 - Texas A&M beat
Arkansas45-42#2 vs #112top-25 team survived by 3 - Houston beat
Arizona31-28#23 vs #74top-25 team survived by 3 - Louisville beat Miami24-21#50 vs #6top-25 team fell by 3
Teams within 3 points of each other on paper going in, closest finish first. Scores are away, then home.
No games close enough by the numbers this week.
One-score games involving a top-60 team that are not already above.
Iowa beat 
Penn State25-24#29 vs T-108won by 1
New Mexico beat 
Nevada24-22T-53 vs T-129won by 2- BYU beat
Utah24-21T-4 vs #60won by 3 - Texas beat
Kentucky16-13#24 vs #111won by 3 
California beat 
North Carolina21-18T-34 vs #114won by 3
The biggest margins by a team in the current top 50, the two top tiers.
- Oregon beat
Rutgers56-10T-12 vs T-105won by 46 - North Texas beat
UTSA55-17#19 vs T-98won by 38 - James Madison beat
Old Dominion63-27T-16 vs #87won by 36
Conference snapshot
Conferences by average team score, with how many of each conference's teams sit in each tier. This is a different measure from the non-conference record ranking (for this week) on the standings page.
| Conference | Avg score | Highest-ranked team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEC | 61.8 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | #1Texas A&M |
| Big Ten | 57.6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 5 | - | #2Ohio State |
| Big 12 | 57.2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | T-4BYU |
| ACC | 53.8 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | T-4Georgia Tech |
| American Athletic | 52.9 | 4 | 3 | - | 3 | 3 | 1 | #6Navy |
| Mountain West | 49.8 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | #21San Diego State |
| Sun Belt | 46.5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | T-16James Madison |
| Conference USA | 43.5 | - | 1 | 5 | 4 | - | 2 | #39 Kennesaw State |
| Mid-American | 38.6 | - | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | T-47Central Michigan |
Winning | Feeling Good | Character Building | Do We Need to Talk? | Sick of It | Oh Crap
The most teams in the Winning tier: SEC (7). The most teams in the bottom two tiers (Sick of It and Oh Crap): Mid-American (6).
Not ranked as a conference: FBS Independents (not a conference: Notre Dame #23, UConn T-37); Pac-12 (only 2 teams: Washington State #97, Oregon State #113).
Conference race
Who leads each conference and what the title game picture looks like. Ties are shown as ties, never broken: each conference decides them with its own rules. See the full conference standings.
| Conference | Leaders | Title game |
|---|---|---|
| SEC | FinalChampion: Georgia | |
| Big Ten | Ohio State 4-0Indiana 4-0 | FinalChampion: Indiana |
| Big 12 | BYU 4-0Cincinnati 4-0 | FinalChampion: Texas Tech |
| ACC | FinalChampion: Duke | |
| American Athletic | FinalChampion: Tulane | |
| Mountain West |  Boise State 3-0San Diego State 2-0 | FinalChampion: Boise State |
| Sun Belt | East James Madison 4-0 | FinalChampion: James Madison |
| Conference USA |  Jacksonville State 3-0Kennesaw State 2-0 | FinalChampion: Kennesaw State |
| Mid-American | FinalChampion: Western Michigan |
Looking ahead to week 9
The biggest games between current top-25 teams, best matchup first.
Show all 53 games between ranked teams
Every game next week between two ranked FBS teams, best matchup first. The matchup score is the two ranks added together plus how far apart they are (lower is better). A coin marks a toss-up by the numbers.
#28 
#37 
#41 
#63 
#36 
#66 
#68 
#68 
#71 
#73 
#74 
#80 
#78 
#76 
#83 
#84 
#85 
#31 
#72 
#95 
#58 
#98 
#98 
#101 
#37 
#102 
#103 
#107 
#112 
#93 
#116 
#31 
#117 
#103 
#118 
#119 
#120 
#121 
#122 
#125 
#127 
#126 
#78 
#128 
#129 
#131 
#132 
#52 
#92 See the full 2025 week 8 rankings, see every team by tier, the conference standings, or browse every weekly recap.
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