Report Card: Final 2025 grades for every team

For those reading on e-mail: click 'view in browser' to see the full contents of today's post

Air Force (4-8) - D+

This is just the second time in Troy Calhoun's 19 years that Air Force won five or fewer games in consecutive seasons (2017-2018). They were a bit better than 2024's 5-7 group, but 4-8 is still 4-8. I hold Calhoun to a high standard and thought they'd at least be a factor in the Mountain West Title race, so I'm probably being overly harsh here.

Akron (5-7) - C

Akron's four MAC wins were their most since winning six in 2017. Small victories! I'll always remember them for this:

Alabama (11-4) - B

I'll give Alabama credit for ripping off eight-straight wins after their season-opening debacle at Florida State, and for beating Oklahoma on the road in the playoff. This group wasn't noticeably better than they were in 2024, though.

Appalachian State (5-8) - D

It was a forgettable season for App State, other than this moment:

Arizona (9-4) - B+

Arizona was among the nation's most pleasant surprises. I was convinced in August that Brent Brennan would be one of the first head coaches fired, which turned out to be a terrible prediction.

Arizona State (8-5) - B

Arizona State had an almost impossible task in trying to follow up 11 wins and a playoff appearance. Injuries to stars Jordyn Tyson and Sam Leavitt hurt them on the field, while noise surrounding other programs pursuing Kenny Dillingham and whatever was going on with Leavitt off it (portal wise) were probably a larger distraction than we'll ever know. They did a nice job of keeping it together enough to win eight games.

Become an A+ college football fan with a subscription to 2StripesCPD!

Subscribe

Arkansas (2-10) - D

The only reason I'm not giving Arkansas an 'F' is because their offense was legitimately a top-20 group nationally. It's a shame their defense couldn't help them in the slightest. I'll also miss watching QB Taylen Green oscillate between looking like he should be the first overall pick vs. looking undraftable on any given play.

Arkansas State (7-6) - B

You earn an exemplary grade when you end the season with Master Chief handing you a trophy:

Army (7-6) - C

Army rebounded nicely from a 1-3 start by going 6-3 over the final two months, plus their bowl. A close loss to Navy holds them back from this grade being any higher.

Auburn (5-7) - F

Hugh Freeze spent the last three years squandering phenomenal defenses, playing Payton Thorne and Jackson Arnold at QB, and depriving all of us what should've been two hilarious wins over Alabama to knock the Tide out of playoff contention. He should only be allowed to play public golf courses for the rest of his life.

Ball State (4-8) - D+

I'm not sure how much Ball State improved in Mike Uremovich's debut season. Winning three MAC games was decent progress, I guess! Losing by an average of 34-10 in their five L's dims it.

Baylor (5-7) - D+

Dave Aranda keeping his job was the most surprising result of this coaching cycle. He better hope the recruiting class they kept him for pans out - or else he'll be recruiting them in the portal to come play defense for him as a coordinator somewhere else next January.

Boise State (9-5) - B+

Thorough losses to South Florida, Fresno State, and San Diego State showed that this Boise team wasn't the same level of quality as Broncos teams from the past. That said, they still won the Mountain West again, despite Ashton Jeanty's departure.

Boston College (2-10) - F

Nothing went right for Boston College in Bill O'Brien's second year. I like some of the additions –both roster and staff-wise– they've made this offseason, and expect them to be much better in 2026.

Bowling Green (4-8) - C-

BG's second half slide (1-5) put a damper on a fun 3-3 start that included a surprising win over Toledo. There are things to like about Eddie George's blueprint here - he just needs to build a functional offense to take the next step.

Buffalo (5-7) - C-

Matching 2024's 9-win masterpiece was out of the question. Closing out with three-straight losses to the upper crust of the MAC (Central Michigan, Miami (OH), and Ohio) revealed Buffalo just didn't have another gear to reach in 2025.

BYU (12-2) - A

I still don't understand why BYU was treated like such a non-factor in the final playoff discussion. Regardless, I appreciate that they finished the season strong with a nice Pop-Tarts Bowl win over Georgia Tech.

Cal (7-6) - B-

Cal got the best of both worlds in 2025:

• They found a real deal QB in Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele.
• They finally got Justin Wilcox out of the paint and can move on to the next era of the program.

Central Michigan (7-6) - B+

Central Michigan was one of my favorite G5 teams to watch. The front seven was full of ass-kickers, and you can tell that playing physical is a priority on both sides of the ball for them.

Charlotte (1-11) - F

Tim Albin leaving Ohio for this job still makes no sense.

Cincinnati (7-6) - C-

2025 was a missed opportunity for Cincinnati. Five years from now, there's no way you'll remember that the Bearcats entered November with a 7-1 record and legitimate Big 12/Playoff hopes. Hell - you probably don't even remember that now, and it was only three months ago!

Clemson (7-6) - D

The four-game winning streak to close out the regular season can't mask the two months of poor play that preceded it. The Tigers went from national title hopefuls to completely out of the playoff race before the end of September, which I'm not sure even the foremost Clemson haters would've predicted.

No ChatGPT here - just good old fashioned college football writing from a biased human sent straight to your inbox 👇

Subscribe

Coastal Carolina (6-7) - D

Be gone with ye, Tim Beck.

Colorado (3-9) - D-

2025 went as bad for the Buffs as it possibly could've. Deion Sanders' cancer scare kept him away from the team nearly all offseason, which set off a domino effect for everything that followed. Team leadership was almost non-existent, nearly all their portal additions were whiffs, and the defense was a disaster. There's good news for next season, though. JuJu Lewis already looks the part at QB, the offense should be exciting under new coordinator Brennan Marion, and there's almost no way the defense and special teams could possibly be worse. 2026 is a pivotal year for the future of the program.

Colorado State (2-10) - F

I had high hopes for Colorado State that went out the window the second they struggled to beat Northern Colorado. Rams fans shouldn't mind throwing 2025 in the trash, because they made one of the best hires of the coaching cycle by snagging Jim Mora Jr. from UConn.

Delaware (7-6) - A

I found myself watching far more Delaware than I expected coming into the season. My biggest takeaway? QB Nick Minicucci is the truth:

Duke (9-5) - A+

Forget the Darian Mensah of it all: Duke won the ACC Title! In football!

East Carolina (9-4) - A

ECU was quietly awesome in 2025. They went 6-2 in American Conference play, with five of those wins by double digits. Capping the season with a Military Bowl win against Pitt made this the best year for the Pirates since 2013.

Eastern Michigan (4-8) - F

I cut Chris Creighton slack every year because of how hard his job is, but losing to Long Island is unforgivable when your margins are so slim.

Florida International (7-6) - A+

You can make a strong case this was FIU's best team since Mario Cristobal had T.Y. Hilton going wild on the Sun Belt in 2011. The Panthers went bowling for the first time since 2018, plus snapped a seven-game losing streak to rival Florida Atlantic. I'm excited for year two of the Willie Simmons era.

Florida (4-8) - C-

It's one of the first things you'll see on Professor Denning's syllabus at the start of each semester:

No matter what else you do, you'll earn a passing grade if you're responsible for keeping Texas out of the playoff.

Florida Atlantic (4-8) - D-

A competent FAU offense was let down by a tragic defense. Only Charlotte, Sam Houston State, Georgia State, UAB, and UMass gave up more points per game than the Owls (36.3). They didn't allow a rushing TD over their first two games, yet still conceded a nations-worst 35 rushing TD:

Florida State (5-7) - F

I don't care what SP+ says, or that they upset Alabama to start the season - this was a dreadful team. Mike Norvell is a stubborn captain on a boat lost at sea with minimal hope of reaching a safe destination. He'll be thrown overboard by mid-October 2026:

Fresno State (9-4) - A

I figured it'd take Matt Entz a couple years to mold Fresno into the type of punishing style team he likes. Instead, he did it in one year behind a fantastic defense that produced more interceptions (20) than passing TD allowed (18).

Georgia (12-2) - B+

Georgia was a more complete team in 2025 than they were in 2024. My one issue is the Dawgs fielding an average line/running game in both. That and letting a two-score lead against Ole Miss slip through their fingers in the playoff knock them down a letter.

Join College Football fans like yourself with a subscription to 2StripesCPD!

Subscribe

Georgia Southern (7-6) - C

A perfectly average Sun Belt squad.

Georgia State (1-11) - F

If you eliminate games against FCS opponents, Georgia State finished second-worst nationally in points per game allowed (39.4) - barely ahead of UMass (39.6).

Georgia Tech (9-4) - B-

Barely escaping a sloppy performance at Colorado in their season-opener was a warning sign, in retrospect. The Yellow Jackets never felt like a true playoff threat some predicted them as, even when they were 8-0 entering November. 9-4 being a disappointment is a testament to how high Brent Key's raised the floor there in just three years. That's why they still get a 'B.'

Hawai'i (9-4) - A+

I always worry when schools hire their former legendary players as head coaches. It's awesome if it works, but the potential for a messy breakup (with lasting after-effects) is exponentially higher than hiring some random coach with no prior connections. Timmy Chang is as legendary as it gets when it comes to Hawai'i, and 2025 was a season he had to show significant progress in his fourth year. The 'Bows did just that, winning nine games for the first time since 2019, and playing an exciting brand of ball that reminds you of when Chang set records as a QB on the island.

Houston (10-3) - A

Be real with me: did you know that Houston won ten games?

Illinois (9-4) - B

It says something about how much the floor has risen at Illinois that going 9-4 felt lukewarm, given how many people thought they were legitimate playoff contenders coming into the season. For context: It's the first time in the program's 134 years that they've won at least nine games in consecutive seasons.

Indiana (16-0) - A+

I'm not sure I accounted for, "Indiana goes 16-0, wins the national championship," on my grading scale.

Iowa (9-4) - B+

Iowa was great in the areas you'd expect (defense, special teams) and poor in the ones they always are (QB play, offensive creativity). The Hawkeyes gave Indiana as tough a fight as anyone, had Oregon on the ropes, and ended their year with a nice bowl win over Vanderbilt. Say what you want about the style of play Kirk Ferentz employs, but it's still pretty damn consistent - even in the NIL/Portal era.

Jacksonville State (9-5) - A

James Madison (12-2) - A+

A cool offshoot of the whole Curt Cignetti story is how James Madison is still rolling after his departure. The Dukes won the Sun Belt, and now have more College Football Playoff appearances than Florida, Auburn, USC, and Nebraska.

Kansas (5-7) - D

I think Kansas' season goes different if they find a way to hold on to the 21-6 lead they had at Missouri. They would've started 4-0 and made a bowl, at least. The reality is that they finished with the same 5-7 record as 2024, but were a touch worse. There wasn't much to love here outside of the Jalon Daniels graduation tour.

Kansas State (6-6) - D

Between what's happened to them and Florida State the past two years, I might have to do a deep dive on the lasting effects of losing season-opening conference games played in Europe. They never recovered from losing to Iowa State in Ireland.

Kennesaw State (10-4) - A+

Kennesaw State outperformed expectations as much as any team in the country. First-time head coach Jerry Mack took over a 2-10 team entering their second year in FBS, and turned them into ten-win, Conference USA Champions. It doesn't get much better than that.

Kent State (5-7) - A+

They won almost as many games in 2025 (5) as they did the previous three seasons combined (6)!

Kentucky (5-7) - D+

I need your help with this one. Is it bad when the most memorable moment of your season is the starting quarterback you brought in from the portal –who got benched after two games– having to publicly apologize for sending a fan a money flex video?