EA Sports College Football Defensive Rankings Make No Sense
The July 19 release date for EA Sports' long-anticipated College Football '25 video game is rapidly approaching, and with each passing day, more details emerge.
Just a few days ago, EA released the list of toughest stadiums to play in, leading to a substantial amount of debate, to say the least.
READ: College Football Video Game Stadium Rankings Drop, And Social Media Has Plenty Of Thoughts
But EA may have saved its most controversial rankings for Thursday, when it released its top offensive and defensive teams on social media and the game's website. And boy oh boy, if there were disagreements about toughest places to play, there are going to be disagreements with these rankings too.
Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes added several new players, and it reportedly didn't come cheap. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
Did The Creators Of EA Sports College Football '25 Watch Football?
The full list of defensive rankings was posted to the games' official website on Thursday, and while some of the rankings seem accurate, others, well…definitely aren't.
Here's the full list:
- Ohio State - 96 OVR
- Georgia - 94 OVR
- Oregon - 90 OVR
- Alabama - 90 OVR
- Clemson - 90 OVR
- Notre Dame - 90 OVR
- Michigan - 90 OVR
- Texas - 88 OVR
- Penn State - 88 OVR
- Utah - 88 OVR
- Florida State - 88 OVR
- Oklahoma - 88 OVR
- Iowa - 88 OVR
- Virginia Tech - 86 OVR
- Wisconsin - 86 OVR
- USC - 86 OVR
- Auburn - 86 OVR
- LSU - 84 OVR
- Texas A&M - 84 OVR
- Colorado - 84 OVR
- Oklahoma State - 84 OVR
- Louisville - 84 OVR
- North Carolina - 84 OVR
- Kansas State - 84 OVR
- Florida - 84 OVR
Ohio State at one, sure, Georgia and Alabama in the top five, absolutely. But Clemson and Oregon? Over Michigan and Penn State?
Moving further down the list, there are three extremely questionable rankings: USC, LSU and Colorado.
USC's Questionable Defense
The Trojans defense in 2023 was so bad, they fired the defensive coordinator in the middle of the season. Sure, head coach Lincoln Riley brought in an entirely new defensive staff, but until they show an ability to perform at an elite level, it's hard to rank them this highly.
S&P+, for example, an advanced metrics ranking system for college football, ranked USC 103th in the country in defense. They were 93rd in defensive success rate. They allowed 28 points to Arizona State, 41 to Colorado, 41 to Arizona, 48 to Notre Dame, 34 to Utah, 49 to California, 52 to Washington, 36 to Oregon and 38 to UCLA.
But according to EA Sports, they're the 16th-best defense in the game. What now?
LSU Gets The Benefit Of The Doubt
LSU had one of the best offenses in the sport in 2023, finishing second in the S&P+ rankings. On defense though? They were thoroughly mediocre.
Despite ranking 18th in the video game, the advanced metrics put the Tigers at 52nd overall. There's reason to believe LSU could improve on their defense this year; their typically excellent recruiting and a new defensive staff led by Blake Baker.
But again, as with USC, the Tigers should have to prove they've improved before getting this much credit.
Colorado Is Seriously Overrated
The Colorado Buffaloes may be social media's most popular team, thanks to head coach Deion Sanders and the attention he and his sons garner. But on the field, their performance in 2023 was generally disastrous. Especially on defense.
Per S&P+, Colorado had the 113th ranked defense in the country last season. And they rank 20th in the video game. Is this just to promote Sanders? What possible justification is there for ranking Colorado in the top 20 in defense? They went 4-8 and even the overall rankings put them 81st in the country.
The criteria for ranking defenses including "meticulously examined hundreds of thousands of data points to arrive at our team power rankings." Even incorporating "years worth of game film, and mountains of stats."
How in the world did they include Colorado?
For a game focusing on its authenticity and accuracy, it's enough to make you wonder what else they might have gotten wrong.