There are still eight weeks before the College Football Playoff (CFP) Committee releases their first rankings for the 2025 season, but already there have been teams that are playing their way into the conversation. These five schools were not being discussed as CFP candidates like they are after the results of the first few weeks of the college football season.
The No. 1 ranked defense in the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision after Week 3 of the college football season can be found at BYU. After blanking FCS opponent Portland State 69-0 in their opener, the Cougars held Stanford to just three points and 161 total yards this past Saturday. Now in their third season as part of the Big 12, BYU was in a four-way tie for the regular season Conference title in 2024, but missed out on the Championship game due to tiebreaker criteria. They finished 11-2 after beating Colorado in the Alamo Bowl.
The most difficult stretch of the Cougars’ 2025 schedule does not start until mid-October when they face Utah and Iowa State in back-to-back weeks. Those games should have a big impact on which team gets the Big 12’s automatic bid for the College Football Playoff.
Florida State is off and running to start the 2025 season. / Melina Myers-Imagn Images
The Seminoles were picked to finish seventh in the ACC preseason poll, behind teams like Duke and 2024 CFP qualifier SMU. Week 1’s convincing upset of Alabama at Doak Walker Stadium, however, immediately changed the tune pundits were playing about the Seminoles after last season’s 2-10 campaign. Now the second highest-ranked ACC program, Florida State checks in at No. 10 in the AP Top 25 poll.
Following a 77-3 blowout of FCS opponent East Texas A&M on Saturday, the Seminoles go in to a bye week before hosting Kent State on Sept. 20 and traveling to Virginia for a Friday night contest on Sept. 26. The next big challenge is in-state rival and No. 5 ranked Miami on Oct. 4, but the Seminoles get to play that game at home.
As a preseason Top 25-ranked team, Iowa State is not as big a surprise as others on this list. However, the way the season has already played out in the Big 12 has significantly increased the Cyclones’ chances of making the 2025 College Football Playoff.
Kansas State, which Iowa State beat in Week 0, and Arizona State were both ranked ahead of the Cyclones to start the season, but those two teams have started the season 0-3 against FBS opponents. Iowa State avoids both Texas Tech and Utah on their Big 12 slate, and does not have a team currently ranked in the Top 25 on the remainder of their regular season schedule.
South Florida is eyeing a spot in the 2025 College Football Playoff after two straight upset wins. / Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
Saturday’s biggest upset saw No. 13 Florida fall to in-state foe South Florida by a final of 18-16. Now, 2-0 on the season, South Florida has pushed their way into the Top 25, landing at No. 18. The Bulls only had the 60th most difficult schedule going into the 2025 season, but that schedule was frontloaded with three Top 25 opponents in their first three weeks.
There is no rest for Alex Golesh’s squad, as No. 5 Miami looms on the schedule next Saturday. If South Florida can get by the Hurricanes, or at least make a strong showing, they do not have a Top 25-ranked opponent on the remainder of their schedule and should be able to build a strong resume for a College Football Playoff consideration.
UNLV has started 3-0 in its first season under new head coach Dan Mullen. / Brad McClenny / USA TODAY NETWORK
The five highest-ranked Conference Champions at season’s end earn automatic bids into the College Football Playoff. South Florida is the only non-Power 4 Conference school currently ranked in the AP Top 25. Should the Bulls falter down the stretch, there is not a long list of obvious candidates. UNLV, which has started the season 3-0 after beating UCLA on Saturday, probably has the cleanest path.
The Rebels came into the season with only the 110th most difficult schedule in FBS, and they do not have a currently-ranked team on their roster the rest of the season. Of the non-Power 4 teams receiving AP Top 25 votes, UNLV is the only one outside of the American Athletic Conference and could find themselves as an automatic bid qualifier if the AAC teams beat up on each other this season.