2025 College Football SP+ Rankings Revealed: Top 136 FBS Teams
College football fans, rejoice! The latest SP+ rankings are out, bringing a fresh look at college football efficiency.
Bill Connelly created the SP+ system back in 2008 at Football Outsiders. It’s a tempo- and opponent-adjusted metric, so it tries to cut through the noise and focus on what really matters.
SP+ doesn’t just reward teams for big wins or tough schedules. Instead, it’s all about predictions—who’s likely to keep performing well?
As the season rolls on, these rankings get more interesting, especially for anyone eyeing the College Football Playoff. So, what’s actually going on with these numbers?
Contents
Understanding SP+ Rankings
SP+ isn’t your typical set of college football rankings. It’s built to be predictive, not reactive.
That means the system doesn’t just hand out points for beating a big rival or surviving a brutal stretch of games. Instead, it looks at how efficient and sustainable a team’s play really is.
Early on, preseason projections weigh heavily in the formula. But as fall turns to winter, those projections fade out and actual results take over.
How SP+ is Calculated
So, how does SP+ actually work? First, it adjusts for tempo and opponent strength.
That way, teams that play fast or slow aren’t unfairly boosted or penalized. And if you’ve faced a murderer’s row of opponents, you get credit for that, too.
- Tempo-Adjusted: The system considers how quickly a team plays, leveling the field for different styles.
- Opponent-Adjusted: SP+ factors in the quality of teams you’ve played, aiming for a fairer comparison.
The Role of Preseason Projections
When September kicks off, SP+ leans hard on preseason projections. These are built from things like returning starters, recruiting rankings, and last year’s results.
But as the weeks tick by, those preseason guesses start to matter less. By the time we’re deep into the season, the rankings reflect what’s actually happened on the field.
Special Teams Ratings
Special teams matter in SP+, too. Early on, those ratings are tied to preseason expectations.
But once there’s some real game data, the special teams numbers get updated. That helps paint a clearer picture of a team’s all-around efficiency.
SP+ Strength of Schedule
Strength of schedule (SOS) is a big deal in SP+. This metric asks: how would an average top-five team fare against your slate of games?
If the expected win percentage is low, that means the schedule is tough. High percentages? Not so much.
Interpreting SOS Ratings
Here’s what those numbers mean in practice:
- An SOS rating of .850 means a top-five team would expect to win 85% of the time against that schedule.
- The lower the SOS number, the tougher the schedule—those are the teams really being tested.
Résumé SP+ Ratings
Résumé SP+ is a twist on the usual rankings. It compares your scoring margin to what a top-five team would be expected to do against the same opponents.
This gives a more detailed view of performance, since it’s not just about wins and losses, but how you stack up against expectations.
How Résumé SP+ Works
Here’s how it shakes out:
- If a top-five team should win by 10 points and you win by 15, you get a +5.0 for that game.
- Lose a game? There’s a seven-point penalty, so your rating drops by seven for each loss.
The Relevance of SP+ Rankings
As weeks go by, SP+ becomes more and more relevant. It’s not just fans who care—analysts and teams pay close attention, too.
By focusing on sustainable, predictable aspects of the game, SP+ offers a pretty sharp measure of who’s actually good. It’s not perfect, but it’s a solid tool for cutting through the hype.
Impact on College Football Playoff Race
When the playoff race heats up, SP+ is one of those tools folks turn to. It helps separate real contenders from the pretenders.
By sticking to a predictive approach, these rankings can highlight which teams are most likely to make a run in the postseason. And honestly, isn’t that what we’re all trying to figure out?
Conclusion
The SP+ rankings, put together by Bill Connelly, give us a different way to look at college football efficiency. They adjust for tempo and who a team actually plays, which just feels fairer than most.
As the season moves along and those preseason guesses fade out, SP+ starts to matter a whole lot more—especially when everyone’s eyeing those College Football Playoff spots. If you want to dig into the latest numbers, check out the full article on ESPN.
