G’s Evaluation or The Penultimate 2025 Top 265

Welcome back sports fans. The only thing more exciting and unpredictable than rivalry weeks in championship weeks/playoffs. We had our full share of that beautiful December chaos.

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First, Duke beat Virginia in overtime to throw tons of monkeys in the wrenches of the playoff selection committee. Duke is just 8-5 now and will (should) be ranked lower than two Group of 5 champions (Tulane [11-2] of the American and James Madison [12-1] of the Sun Belt). The rule is that the top five conference champions have automatic spots, not the Core 4 and the highest G5. So, it looks like both TULN and JMU will be in. Georgia not only knocked the Alabama monkey off its back, but in a brutal fashion beating the Tide 28-7. Alabama was considered something like 96% to get in the playoffs but they did not look like a playoff team. The committee has said that losing a conference game will not hurt a team, per se, but playing like Bama did has to de-impress people. They were not ready for this game. Indiana is our new #1 team and the last undefeated in the FBS or FCS (see two paragraphs down for more). The won a hard-fought game over previously undefeated Ohio St 13-10. That is not a wrench so much as the question of seeding: is Ohio St going to be seeded higher than Georgia? Remember, this year, the top 4 teams as the committee determines get byes, not the top 4 conference champions. Ohio St should be in the top 4 with Indiana, Georgia, and… Texas Tech owned BYU for the second time this season and left no doubt they were a top 4 team. Some interesting facts: Indiana won the Big Ten for the first time since 1967 and Ohio St hasn’t won since 2020. Duke won the ACC for the first time since 1989 when they shared the title with, you guessed it, Virginia. Either Georgia or Alabama have won the SEC 11 of the 12 seasons – when the SEC won 7 straight titles, there were more teams involved than just 2. Both Texas Tech and BYU were in their first Big 12 championship games.

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The Group of 5 games were just as interesting. Tulane upset North Texas 34-21 to take what the committee will probably deem the top G5 spot. James Madison finished 12-1 with a victory over Troy 31-14 and looked more dominant than that. With the Duke win, they will likely be in the playoffs as an automatic bid. Kennesaw St, in just their second season in FBS, won the Conference USA title by taking down Jacksonville St on the road. The Mountain West was won, once again, on the blue home field of Boise St over UNLV. And let’s not forget the MAC. W Michigan took down Miami OH 23-13 for the title. Some interesting facts: James Madison won the Sun Belt in their first ever championship game appearance over Troy who was the champion in 2023. Tulane, who last won the American in 2022, took down North Texas who was in their first ever AAC championship game. Jax St was trying to repeat as C-USA champions until the Owls took their first title. Miami OH was the MAC champion in 2023 but lost to W Michigan who won their first title since 2016. In the Mountain West (which is about to undergo a major overhaul), Boise St and UNLV met for the third consecutive year, and BOST won all three – they won the year before that as well.

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Let’s not forget our FCS teams who were in Round 2 of the playoffs – the round of 16. Every year, it seems we are talking about North Dakota St and/or South Dakota St in the finals. They are both annual powerhouses. Not this year. Illinois St beat previously undefeated North Dakota St 29-28 by scoring 15 points (including a 2-pt conversion) in the last 2:55 of the game at NDST. My next-door neighbor’s daughter just graduated from ILST and they are all very excited. South Dakota St had an off year losing 3 in a row at one point. They were sent packing by Montana 50-29. Mercer, who won and was the sole representative of SoCon, was shut out at home 47-0 by South Dakota. Previously undefeated Lehigh of the Patriot League lost to Villanova. Yale’s loss to Montana St in a surprisingly close 21-13 game ended the Ivy League’s inaugural playoff appearance. UC Davis, Steph F Austin, and Tarleton also won. The quarterfinals or Elite 8 will be next Saturday along with the Army/Navy game.

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We cannot leave out the only FCS championship game. Prairie View upset Jackson St in Jackson 23-21 and will face South Carolina St in the Cricket Celebration Bowl played in Atlanta for the official HBCU title.

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With all the games played, the GCR was just 5-4 (.556) picking the winner of the FBS games this weekend bringing the season to 568-213 (.727). The FCS was even worse at 4-5 (.444) with the season at 435-177 (.711). That brings straight up (just pick the winner) to 1003-390 (.720). It’s been a good season. Against the spread, which this week included the FCS playoffs, the GCR was 10-8 (.556) bringing the season total to 365-339 (.518). Not great, but at least over .500.

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An important note. This is the final publishing of the GCR until after the FBS Championship Game. We will be keeping up with each game as it happens and predict bowl games on the day they are played using the updated rankings but won’t publish them until all games are played. Tune in tomorrow for the Women’s Basketball Top 363. We will be posting every day this week because it is that time of year. We thank you for reading and, especially, for all that sharing with others you do. In the table below, we added the GCR RPI which may be a good indicator of how the committee might seed – or not. Who knows what they are going to do? It’s a metric we use in basketball and tried it out in football this year, so have fun with it, JoJo and G. Now, we proudly present the GCR Top 265 for the 2025 regular season.

RankTeamConfWinLossPFPAScoreRPI
1IndianaB1013041.910.89.071
2Ohio StB1012134.98.29.022
3Texas TechB1212142.510.98.894
4OregonB1011138.214.88.465
5GeorgiaSEC12131.915.98.403
6Notre DameND10242.017.68.3210
7UtahB1210241.118.77.8612
8Miami FLACC10234.113.87.8511
9BYUB1211231.919.07.837
10OklahomaSEC10226.413.97.838
11MississippiSEC11137.320.17.766
12Texas A&MSEC11136.321.97.729
13VanderbiltSEC10239.421.97.6016
14Southern CalB109336.522.47.3314
15AlabamaSEC10331.217.47.2513
16ArizonaB129332.618.97.0718
17MichiganB109327.618.77.0415
18VirginiaACC10332.220.56.9619
19TexasSEC9329.619.86.9417
20James MadisonSUN12137.315.86.8550
21IowaB108428.915.26.7125
22SMUACC8432.920.76.6434
23LouisvilleACC8430.221.16.6032
24TCUB128430.825.26.5824
25HoustonB129328.321.86.5620
26North TexasAAC11244.824.96.5260
27IllinoisB108429.323.36.5023
28Georgia TechACC9333.125.06.4721
29WashingtonB108433.819.46.4529
30DukeACC8534.028.76.4530
31TennesseeSEC8440.828.86.4228
32Iowa StB128427.420.26.3227
33Arizona StB128424.723.06.3222
34PittsburghACC8435.124.96.3126
35Wake ForestACC8426.821.56.2236
36MissouriSEC8432.219.46.1933
37South FloridaAAC9343.023.36.1857
38TulaneAAC11229.122.66.1144
39LSUSEC7521.818.36.0831
40Penn StB106631.821.45.9742
41NC StACC7530.228.85.9135
42Old DominionSUN9332.719.35.8665
43ClemsonACC7528.720.45.7941
44San Diego StMWC9324.712.65.6876
45CincinnatiB127531.824.85.6538
46Kansas StB126629.426.75.5246
47UNLVMWC10335.928.85.5269
48NavyAAC9232.526.95.4658
49Kennesaw StUSA10328.324.35.4563
50ToledoMAC8431.612.25.4285
51Boise StMWC9431.423.05.3970
52New MexicoMWC9327.922.55.3367
53MinnesotaB107523.323.45.3239
54NebraskaB107529.323.05.2937
55MemphisAAC8434.622.55.2880
56AuburnSEC5726.820.75.2251
57East CarolinaAAC8433.520.35.2173
58UCONNIND9336.925.85.2071
59CaliforniaACC7524.826.55.1740
60NorthwesternB106622.520.95.1343
61W MichiganMAC9423.618.25.0779
62KentuckySEC5723.026.45.0045
63Florida StACC5733.022.04.9855
64KansasB125728.126.84.8159
65Mississippi StSEC5730.529.24.7448
66OhioMAC8428.722.94.7384
67HawaiiMWC8428.523.54.7283
68FloridaSEC4821.624.04.7252
69South CarolinaSEC4822.722.14.6649
70LA TechUSA7527.721.34.6695
71W KentuckyUSA8429.823.44.5786
72Fresno StMWC8426.420.14.4987
73TroySUN8524.324.54.4790
74UCFB125724.323.64.4662
75RutgersB105728.731.84.4653
76BaylorB125731.132.64.4654
77ArmyAAC6523.022.54.3896
78Washington StPAC6621.620.24.3781
79FIUUSA7529.327.84.3791
80WisconsinB104812.821.64.3647
81UTSAAAC6633.829.64.2992
82Jacksonville StUSA8529.026.24.2694
83Utah StMWC6631.828.34.2588
84Miami OHMAC7625.122.04.23101
85C MichiganMAC7523.822.74.1899
86Southern MissSUN7529.827.44.1693
87Texas StSUN6636.130.64.15105
88West VirginiaB124821.830.84.1356
89StanfordACC4818.829.24.0761
90Michigan StB104824.629.94.0268
91Missouri StUSA7525.428.33.8989
92MarylandB104823.526.53.8577
93UCLAB103918.233.43.8264
94North CarolinaACC4819.324.53.8075
95ColoradoB123920.930.53.7866
96Ga SouthernSUN6627.834.23.7198
97MarshallSUN5730.830.33.71109
98DelawareUSA6629.832.53.68107
99LouisianaSUN6627.130.03.67104
100ArkansasSEC21032.933.83.6082
101Virginia TechACC3921.430.23.5772
102Arkansas StSUN6624.427.33.50106
103App StSUN5725.329.83.44113
104Coastal CarSUN6622.833.93.41100
105TempleAAC5727.829.73.3297
106SyracuseACC3920.234.93.2678
107LibertyUSA4825.626.53.25120
108Air ForceMWC4829.830.33.22116
109North Dakota StMVFC12141.113.03.20175
110PurdueB1021018.831.83.1974
111BuffaloMAC5724.023.53.13118
112RiceAAC5719.832.33.01103
113South AlabamaSUN4826.530.42.93114
114AkronMAC5722.327.42.93117
115FAUAAC4829.536.32.92112
116TarletonUAC12144.118.02.90163
117Kent StMAC5721.333.62.88110
118E MichiganMAC4824.129.82.85126
119Boston CollegeACC21025.432.82.81102
120LehighPatriot12131.813.92.78184
121UABAAC4826.438.32.75111
122Bowling GreenMAC4820.524.32.75124
123TulsaAAC4823.228.92.71119
124New Mexico StUSA4821.627.62.69123
125WyomingMWC4816.020.52.57121
126HarvardIvy9236.521.22.49201
127Ball StMAC4815.829.82.49122
128MontanaBig Sky12141.523.92.40147
129NevadaMWC3917.627.52.36127
130San Jose StMWC3921.432.52.30125
131Middle TennesseeUSA3922.430.92.29130
132Oklahoma StB1211114.233.32.24108
133N IllinoisMAC3917.124.32.24132
134Montana StBig Sky11236.816.82.23148
135Alabama StSWAC10242.421.42.13136
136Steph F AustinSouthland11236.016.71.98144
137North DakotaMVFC8632.919.91.97180
138YaleIVY9329.319.61.94202
139UTEPUSA21023.330.41.92135
140MonmouthCoastal9340.027.81.89196
141Jackson StSWAC9332.818.81.88141
142Colorado StMWC21018.530.81.87129
143ULMSUN3916.631.91.87128
144Rhode IslandCoastal11331.321.11.86177
145VillanovaCoastal11231.020.21.82153
146PresbyterianPioneer10234.416.21.78166
147Oregon StPAC21018.229.41.74115
148Tennessee TechBSOV11237.518.71.70146
149Austin PeayUAC7535.127.31.59160
150Prairie ViewSWAC10331.116.21.57140
151Rio GrandeSouthland9339.618.81.54164
152St ThomasPioneer7530.920.51.54227
153West GeorgiaUAC8325.521.21.53210
154DartmouthIVY7326.421.31.50220
155DaytonPioneer7427.817.41.50209
156San DiegoPioneer8428.424.31.49221
157South Dakota StMVFC9528.621.91.47206
158S UtahUAC7533.829.61.46224
159Sacramento StBig Sky7533.826.31.45204
160DrakePioneer8425.317.71.44193
161Sam HoustonUSA21017.837.81.41134
162New HampshireCoastal8524.822.81.41200
163MercerSoCon9336.225.51.38165
164UC DavisBig Sky9332.529.21.35156
165S IllinoisMVFC7536.426.71.31169
166Illinois StMVFC10429.825.51.31155
167NC CentralMEAC8433.825.71.31152
168Georgia StSUN11119.837.81.26133
169SoutheasternSouthland9431.018.01.24151
170South DakotaMVFC10427.524.51.21158
171PennIVY6427.126.51.20230
172Sacred HeartFCSIND8428.626.31.18203
173Youngstown StMVFC8536.631.01.11189
174LamarSouthland8522.523.01.07170
175Abilene ChrUAC9529.626.41.06159
176CharlotteAAC11114.336.31.02131
177Delaware StMEAC8432.322.81.01161
178C ConnecticutNortheast8526.722.90.99199
179E Tennessee StSoCon7532.528.80.95188
180WoffordSoCon6622.817.30.91208
181StonyBrookCoastal6628.025.80.90218
182South Carolina StMEAC9331.826.30.90138
183LafayettePatriot8433.628.80.89198
184MaristPioneer5722.723.50.86249
185BrownIVY5526.527.00.84236
186William & MaryCoastal7529.525.70.84182
187W CarolinaSoCon7538.633.50.82185
188Idaho StBig Sky6633.027.30.78176
189GeorgetownPatriot6621.126.70.77246
190ElonCoastal6628.824.80.75191
191N ArizonaBig Sky7531.731.30.73173
192Incarnate WordSouthland5725.725.50.69213
193Long IslandNortheast6616.418.80.67178
194ButlerPioneer6622.825.30.62225
195MaineCoastal6624.224.30.56195
196PrincetonIVY3720.824.40.56250
197RichmondPatriot7521.922.70.55216
198MercyhurstNortheast5718.824.80.55242
199Holy CrossPatriot3920.524.80.52248
200TowsonCoastal6626.825.10.50223
201LindenwoodBSOV6624.827.00.48187
202Gardner WebbBSOV7527.529.80.46157
203CornellIVY4621.026.00.46247
204Morehead StPioneer6621.229.80.42222
205Alcorn StSWAC5724.323.20.42145
206ChattanoogaSoCon5728.333.00.40219
207New HavenNortheast5527.928.60.40234
208DuquesneNortheast7528.425.30.38168
209StonehillNortheast4815.123.10.37251
210IdahoBig Sky4825.226.40.36205
211Grambling StSWAC7524.126.10.32142
212ColgatePatriot5728.331.00.31231
213E WashingtonBig Sky5723.430.20.29212
214FurmanSoCon6624.431.00.28194
215Texas SouthernSWAC6525.823.40.25150
216HowardMEAC5719.824.60.15181
217Cal PolyBig Sky4827.531.50.11226
218UMASSMAC01211.138.60.11137
219N ColoradoBig Sky4820.328.40.10228
220BethuneSWAC6629.732.70.09139
221MerrimackFCSIND4820.524.40.05217
222SEMOBSOV4823.230.10.05233
223BucknellPatriot5726.134.10.04243
224ColumbiaIVY2815.627.9-0.01253
225E KentuckyUAC5719.324.3-0.01183
226NichollsSouthland4818.324.9-0.02192
227CitadelSoCon4820.526.8-0.04235
228N IowaMVFC3917.326.8-0.07240
229Tennessee MartinBSOV6620.723.9-0.07174
230McNeeseSouthland5723.525.5-0.10167
231Charleston SoBSOV5716.624.0-0.13171
232Florida A&MSWAC5724.333.8-0.23149
233Morgan StMEAC4823.326.6-0.27190
234C ArkansasUAC3924.535.2-0.29229
235Ark Pine BluffSWAC4824.033.3-0.32263
236Alabama A&MSWAC4823.433.4-0.36143
237ValparaisoPioneer21020.335.6-0.38258
238N AlabamaUAC21025.339.2-0.38257
239E IllinoisBSOV3917.529.2-0.40214
240Utah TechUAC21016.029.3-0.40254
241Robert MorrisNortheast3915.224.9-0.41265
242Mississippi ValleySWAC21018.338.7-0.43260
243WagnerNortheast5716.424.5-0.46207
244Tennessee StBSOV21012.926.6-0.47256
245BryantCoastal3922.530.3-0.47244
246Weber StBig Sky4823.138.3-0.48154
247StetsonPioneer3918.839.1-0.58264
248W IllinoisBSOV4823.134.8-0.65179
249Indiana StMVFC3921.239.6-0.66239
250CampbellCoastal21024.735.8-0.72215
251HamptonCoastal21017.936.7-0.73261
252AlbanyCoastal21016.832.3-0.74232
253East TexasSouthland3925.639.8-0.75162
254DavidsonPioneer21018.239.6-0.75262
255SouthernSWAC21018.636.1-0.85172
256Norfolk StMEAC11120.935.6-0.91241
257VMISoCon11115.937.6-1.05259
258FordhamPatriot11115.933.1-1.09255
259Houston ChrSouthland21016.830.3-1.10237
260North Carolina A&TCoastal21020.543.6-1.18245
261Murray StMVFC11119.038.6-1.24238
262St FrancisNortheast01110.529.0-1.30252
263Portland StBig Sky11116.242.7-1.64197
264Northwestern StSouthland11110.541.6-1.90186
265SamfordSoCon11114.637.9-1.91211