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2025 College Football Rankings Recap: Week 9
Texas A&M (8-0) holds the top spot in The Davis Rankings after week 9 of the 2025 season, with a score of 94.1 out of 100. The rest of the top five: #2 Ohio State, #3 BYU, #4 Indiana, #5 Georgia Tech.
Every score comes from the same published formula, explained on the methodology page.
The top 25
The Real Big 10 - trying to keep the losers out... Purdue (#127), 4th week running
| Rank | Team | Record | TDR scoreTDR | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Texas A&M | 8-0 | 94.1 | - |
| 2 |  Ohio State | 7-0 | 92.2 | - |
| 3 |  BYU | 8-0 | 91.7 | ▲ 1 |
| 4 |  Indiana | 8-0 | 91.6 | ▼ 1 |
| 5 |  Georgia Tech | 8-0 | 91.2 | ▼ 1 |
| 6 |  Navy | 7-0 | 90.9 | - |
| 7 |  Alabama | 7-1 | 87.0 | - |
| 8 |  Ole Miss | 7-1 | 86.4 | ▲ 29 |
| 9 |  Tulane | 6-1 | 84.5 | ▼ 1 |
| 10 |  Virginia | 7-1 | 82.6 | ▲ 2 |
| T-11 |  Texas Tech | 7-1 | 82.5 | ▲ 29 |
| T-11 |  Vanderbilt | 7-1 | 82.5 | ▲ 4 |
| 13 |  Houston | 7-1 | 82.4 | ▲ 3 |
| 14 |  Cincinnati | 7-1 | 82.3 | ▼ 2 |
| 15 |  Oregon | 7-1 | 82.2 | ▼ 3 |
| 16 |  Memphis | 7-1 | 81.9 | ▲ 26 |
| T-17 |  Georgia | 6-1 | 81.6 | ▼ 7 |
| T-17 |  North Texas | 7-1 | 81.6 | ▲ 2 |
| 19 |  Louisville | 6-1 | 81.5 | ▼ 1 |
| 20 |  San Diego State | 6-1 | 81.2 | ▲ 1 |
| 21 |  James Madison | 6-1 | 80.7 | ▼ 5 |
| 22 |  Miami | 6-1 | 80.6 | ▲ 22 |
| 23 |  Michigan | 6-2 | 77.5 | ▼ 1 |
| 24 |  Texas | 6-2 | 76.3 | - |
| 25 |  Notre Dame | 5-2 | 74.5 | ▼ 2 |
Biggest movers
14 teams jumped two or more tiers (6 up, 8 down). 44 more moved a single tier.
Risers
| Team | From | Direction | To | Tiers | Rank | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Old Dominion 5-3 | Do We Need to Talk? | → | Feeling Good | ▲ 2 | 87 → 42 | ▲ 45 |
| After a home win over #90 App State (24-21) in a one-score game. A coin flip: Old Dominion entered with 45.2 TDR points to App State's 44.2. Now 5-3. TDR score +18.9: win/loss record +3.0. | ||||||
 Wyoming 4-4 | Sick of It | → | Character Building | ▲ 2 | 108 → 64 | ▲ 44 |
| After a home win over #122 Colorado State (28-0) in a blowout. As expected: Wyoming entered with 34.3 TDR points to Colorado State's 24.0. Now 4-4. TDR score +20.1: win/loss record +3.9, road-win bonus +0.8. | ||||||
 Rutgers 4-4 | Sick of It | → | Character Building | ▲ 2 | 105 → 62 | ▲ 43 |
| After a road win at #120 Purdue (27-24) in a one-score game. As expected: Rutgers entered with 34.5 TDR points to Purdue's 24.4. Now 4-4, snapped a 4-game losing streak. TDR score +20.5: win/loss record +3.9, road-win bonus +1.2. | ||||||
 Rice 4-4 | Sick of It | → | Character Building | ▲ 2 | 102 → 61 | ▲ 41 |
| After a home win over T-37 UConn (37-34) in a one-score game. An upset: Rice entered with 34.9 TDR points to UConn's 69.9. Now 4-4, snapped a 3-game losing streak. TDR score +20.3: win/loss record +3.9, road-win bonus +0.7. | ||||||
 South Alabama 2-6 | Oh Crap | → | Do We Need to Talk? | ▲ 2 | 127 → 97 | ▲ 30 |
| After a road win at #126 Georgia State (38-31) in a one-score game. A coin flip: South Alabama entered with 14.1 TDR points to Georgia State's 14.4. Now 2-6, snapped a 6-game losing streak. TDR score +23.0: win/loss record +5.9, road-win bonus +1.6. | ||||||
and 1 more tier jumper
Northern Illinois 128→98
Fallers
| Team | From | Direction | To | Tiers | Rank | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 South Florida 6-2 | Winning | → | Character Building | ▼ 2 | 9 → T-55 | ▼ 46 |
| After a road loss at #42 Memphis (31-34) in a one-score game. An upset: South Florida entered with 81.7 TDR points to Memphis's 65.4. Now 6-2, snapped a 4-game winning streak. AP: #18 to unranked. TDR score -22.4: win/loss record -5.9, road-win bonus -1.0. | ||||||
 Oklahoma 6-2 | Winning | → | Character Building | ▼ 2 | 11 → 57 | ▼ 46 |
| After a home loss to T-37 Ole Miss (26-34) in a one-score game. An upset: Oklahoma entered with 81.4 TDR points to Ole Miss's 69.9. Now 6-2. AP: #13 to #18. TDR score -22.6: win/loss record -5.9, road-win bonus -1.3. | ||||||
 Utah State 4-4 | Feeling Good | → | Do We Need to Talk? | ▼ 2 | 45 → 85 | ▼ 40 |
| After a road loss at T-53 New Mexico (14-33). A coin flip: Utah State entered with 60.7 TDR points to New Mexico's 59.6. Now 4-4. TDR score -20.0: win/loss record -3.9, road-win bonus -0.5. | ||||||
 Western Michigan 4-4 | Feeling Good | → | Do We Need to Talk? | ▼ 2 | 50 → 90 | ▼ 40 |
| After a road loss at #51 Miami (OH) (17-26). A coin flip: Western Michigan entered with 60.0 TDR points to Miami (OH)'s 59.9. Now 4-4, snapped a 4-game winning streak. TDR score -20.0: win/loss record -3.9, road-win bonus -0.5. | ||||||
 UConn 5-3 | Feeling Good | → | Do We Need to Talk? | ▼ 2 | 37 → 76 | ▼ 39 |
| After a road loss at #102 Rice (34-37) in a one-score game. An upset: UConn entered with 69.9 TDR points to Rice's 34.9. Now 5-3, snapped a 4-game winning streak. TDR score -21.3: win/loss record -4.9, road-win bonus -0.8. | ||||||
and 3 more tier jumpers
Missouri 20→58, Florida International 67→103, UCLA 73→101
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.
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.
Virginia Tech beat 
California42-34#119 vs #3485 spots
Akron beat 
Buffalo24-16#125 vs #5966 spots- Rice beat UConn37-34#102 vs #3765 spots
Northern Illinois beat 
Ball State21-7#128 vs #7850 spots
Washington State beat 
Toledo28-7#97 vs #5839 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
North Carolina17-16#12 vs #114top-25 team survived by 1 - Memphis beat South Florida34-31#42 vs #9top-25 team fell by 3
- Alabama beat
South Carolina29-22#7 vs #98top-25 team survived by 7 - Texas beat
Mississippi State45-38#24 vs #84top-25 team survived by 7
Teams within 3 points of each other on paper going in, closest finish first. Scores are away, then home.
Western Kentucky at 
Louisiana Tech28-271.9 points apartwon by 1
App State at Old Dominion21-241.0 points apartwon by 3
Missouri at Vanderbilt10-171.2 points apartwon by 7
One-score games involving a top-60 team that are not already above.
Wake Forest beat 
SMU13-12#39 vs #73won by 1
Temple beat 
Tulsa38-37#41 vs T-122won by 1
Delaware beat 
Middle Tennessee31-28T-52 vs #135won by 3
The biggest margins by a team in the current top 50, the two top tiers.
- Indiana beat
UCLA56-6#4 vs #101won by 50 
Utah beat 
Colorado53-7#26 vs #99won by 46- Texas Tech beat
Oklahoma State42-0T-11 vs #128won by 42
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 | 61.4 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | - | #1Texas A&M |
| Big Ten | 56.8 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | #2Ohio State |
| Big 12 | 56.2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | #3BYU |
| American Athletic | 53.8 | 4 | 2 | 3 | - | 4 | 1 | #6Navy |
| ACC | 52.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | #5Georgia Tech |
| Mountain West | 49.8 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | #20San Diego State |
| Sun Belt | 48.0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | #21James Madison |
| Conference USA | 44.6 | - | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | #36Western Kentucky |
| Mid-American | 38.0 | - | 3 | - | 6 | 2 | 2 | #43 Miami (OH) |
Winning | Feeling Good | Character Building | Do We Need to Talk? | Sick of It | Oh Crap
The most teams in the Winning tier: SEC (6). The most teams in the bottom two tiers (Sick of It and Oh Crap): Big Ten and American Athletic and Sun Belt (5 each).
Not ranked as a conference: FBS Independents (not a conference: Notre Dame #25, UConn #76); Pac-12 (only 2 teams: Washington State #59, Oregon State #117).
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 | Indiana 5-0Ohio State 4-0 | FinalChampion: Indiana |
| Big 12 | BYU 5-0Cincinnati 5-0 | FinalChampion: Texas Tech |
| American Athletic | FinalChampion: Tulane | |
| ACC | Georgia Tech 5-0Virginia 4-0 | FinalChampion: Duke |
| Mountain West |  Boise State 4-0San Diego State 3-0 | FinalChampion: Boise State |
| Sun Belt | East James Madison 4-0 | FinalChampion: James Madison |
| Conference USA |  Kennesaw State 3-0 Jacksonville State 3-0 | FinalChampion: Kennesaw State |
| Mid-American | Miami (OH) 4-0 | FinalChampion: Western Michigan |
Looking ahead to week 10
The biggest games between current top-25 teams, best matchup first.
Show all 52 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.
#46 
#40 
#48 
#31 
#52 
#47 
#60 
#63 
#65 
#67 
#66 
#68 
#72 
#70 
#77 
#83 
#86 
#55 
#88 
#78 
#94 
#96 
#82 
#32 
#100 
#102 
#103 
#49 
#104 
#105 
#105 
#111 
#112 
#116 
#52 
#117 
#37 
#119 
#110 
#121 
#122 
#91 
#124 
#125 
#127 
#87 
#129 
#133 See the full 2025 week 9 rankings, see every team by tier, the conference standings, or browse every weekly recap.
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