College Football 25, arguably the most highly-anticipated sports video game of the last decade, finally fully releases on Friday. If you’re looking forward to taking over a local team and leading them to multiple national championship titles, we’ve got you covered.
These are the top teams in the Big Ten, their rankings in the game, and a reason or two why you’d want to pick each one.
T-1: OHIO STATE
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Overall Rating: 93
Offense Rating: 89
Defense Rating: 96
The Buckeyes are not only one of the best teams in the conference, they’re one of the best teams in the nation. They have a whopping eight players ranked in the Top 100 for the game, including two 90+ running backs in Treveyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. Early reviewers for the game say defense is typically hard to play, but having Jack Sawyer rushing up front and Caleb Downs ranging in the back should make things much easier for players.
T-1: OREGON
Overall Rating: 93
Offense Rating: 94
Defense Rating: 90
The Ducks’ high-flying offense is the best in the conference by a wide margin. Now we’ll finally get to see if the Big Ten defenses can keep up with the dynamic offenses from the former Pac-12 teams.
T-3: MICHIGAN
Overall Rating: 88
Offense Rating: 82
Defense Rating: 90
The Wolverines are the defending champs, but they’re also without head coach Jim Harbaugh, quarterback J.J. McCarthy, running back Blake Corrum and wide receiver Roman Wilson. Harbaugh obviously played a huge role in the identity of the team and those three players were all major pieces on offense. The game thinks the defense should still be great, though, led by cornerback Will Johnson. He’s the top rated player in the entire game.
T-3: PENN STATE
Overall Rating: 88
Offense Rating: 87
Defense Rating: 88
The Nittany Lions are more well-rounded than the Wolverines even though they have fewer Top-100 players. That’s possibly because they’re returning an experienced roster this year, even with the departures of Olu Fashanu, Chop Robinson and Adisa Isaac.
T-5: IOWA
Overall Rating: 87
Offense Rating: 76
Defense Rating: 88
The Hawkeyes boast four players with a 90+ rating. Unsurprisingly they’re all on defense: MLB Jay Higgins, free safety Sebastian Castro, OLB Nick Jackson and strong safety Xavier Nwankpa. Fans on the couch should be able to muster a more exciting offense than whatever it was that Iowa has fielded recently.
T-5: USC
Overall Rating: 87
Offense Rating: 83
Defense Rating: 86
No Caleb Williams? No problem for the Trojans in College Football 25. They’re still rated highly with Miller Moss leading the way. Understandable, considering he completed 23-33 passes for 372 yards, six TDs and just one interception against Louisville in last year’s Holiday Bowl.
T-5: WISCONSIN
Overall Rating: 87
Offense Rating: 83
Defense Rating: 86
New QB transfer Tyler Van Dyke takes the reins for the Badgers this year. Will he be the man to make Luke Fickell’s Air Raid offense take off for a school that’s usually stayed grounded?
8: NEBRASKA
Overall Rating: 84
Offense Rating: 78
Defense Rating: 82
The Cornhuskers are young, unproven but highly talented this season. They’re headlined by top shelf true freshman QB Dylan Raiola and sophomore pass rusher Princewill Umanmielen.
T-9: INDIANA
Overall Rating: 82
Offense Rating: 80
Defense Rating: 70
Hoosiers fans hope new head coach Curt Cignetti can bring some of his James Madison magic to Bloomington.
T-9: MINNESOTA
Overall Rating: 82
Offense Rating: 78
Defense Rating: 78
The Golden Gophers had one of the worst passing attacks in the nation last year, so they went out and added FCS phenom Max Brosmer to take over at quarterback. They hope his 3,459 passing yards and 29 touchdowns with just six interceptions will transfer over from New Hampshire, too.
T-9: RUTGERS
Overall Rating: 82
Offense Rating: 76
Defense Rating: 82
Running back Kyle Monagai is the Scarlet Knights’ lone top-100 player, and the EA devs aren’t high on many other players on offense. They had a top-10 pass defense last year, so that should help players in the game.
T-9: PURDUE
Overall Rating: 82
Offense Rating: 80
Defense Rating: 76
Ryan Walters went 4-8 in his first season as head coach for the Boilermakers last year, but they built a decent rushing attack. They’ll need more than that to live up to this rating.
T-9: UCLA
Overall Rating: 82
Offense Rating: 83
Defense Rating: 76
The Bruins had one of the best defenses in the country last year, but lost pass rushers Laiatu Latu and Gabriel Murphy, plus defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn. Maybe that’s why they’re rated so low this year? Or maybe the game devs got UCLA confused with the other team in Los Angeles: USC.
T-9: WASHINGTON
Overall Rating: 82
Offense Rating: 80
Defense Rating: 76
The Huskies finished last year as the national championship runners up, but they graduated quarterback Michael Penix, wide receivers Rome Odunze and Ja'Lynn Polk, offensive linemen Troy Fautanu and Roger Rosengarten, and defensive end Bralen Trice. That’s a lot of big time players gone.
T-15: ILLINOIS
Overall Rating: 80
Offense Rating: 75
Defense Rating: 78
Leading receiver Isaiah Williams is off to play for the Detroit Lions, and the Fighting Illini will have to find someone new to lead the offense this year. Williams was the only Illini player to cross 1,000 scrimmage yards in 2023.
T-15: MARYLAND
Overall Rating: 80
Offense Rating: 75
Defense Rating: 80
The Terrapins got out to an impressive 5-0 start last season, but fizzled after that to finish 8-5. Longtime starting QB Taulia Tagovailoa is out this year, and big-time recruit Malik Washington is on the way in 2025. In the meantime it appears Billy Edwards Jr. and Cameron Edge will compete for the job this year.
T-15: MICHIGAN STATE
Overall Rating: 80
Offense Rating: 78
Defense Rating: 76
Sparty has been in turmoil over the past few seasons, with plenty of turnover in the coaching and personnel departments. Accordingly, they don’t project to be very good in the Big Ten this year.
T-15: NORTHWESTERN
Overall Rating: 80
Offense Rating: 73
Defense Rating: 78
Hopefully the temporary field by the lake will look cool?