The one ranking we pay attention to more than any comes courtesy of ESPN resident advance analytics guru Bill Connelly -- S

Where things stand in the ESPN top 25 college football rankings as we look ahead to the start of spring practice for the 2025 season.

A big measure of what makes a college football team good any given year is returning experience. While not all teams are created equal and not all experience is good experience, more often than not, players get better at football by playing football.