Kirk Herbstreit crowns new No. 1 team in latest college football rankings

Chaos reigned over the weekend in college football, throwing another curveball into the national rankings as we move into the second half of the 2025 regular season, and that was true of Kirk Herbstreit’s new list of the five best teams in the country.

Ohio State was able to consolidate its control over the first-place votes in the latest AP rankings, taking all but the six that went to Indiana, which moved into the No. 2 position following Miami’s upset loss against Louisville.

There was a change at the No. 1 position in Herbstreit’s personal ranking this week amid a shakeup in his list of the five best teams in college football heading into Week 9.

Kirk Herbstreit’s college football rankings for Week 9

1. Ohio State

Kirk Herbstreit college football rankings for Week 9 — Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

College football’s reigning national champions returned to pole position in Herbstreit’s rankings after a 34-0 shutout victory at Wisconsin and are winning games by more than 30 points on average thanks to the best defense in the country right now.

“I flipped Ohio State to one. I just think, what put Ohio State at one is just how... it’s so easy to go to Wisconsin and just, 20-13, get out of there alive. And they just don’t ever do it. So, I think the consistency,” Herbstreit said on the Nonstop podcast.

2. Indiana

Indiana earned 6 of the 66 first-place votes in the latest AP top 25 rankings, but Herbstreit thinks the gap between it and the Buckeyes is much closer than that.

“I have Indiana, it’s 1a, 1b for me, with Indiana and Ohio State,” Herbstreit said.

Coming off that huge win at Oregon and Curt Cignetti’s monster contract extension to keep him there, Indiana smacked Michigan State in a 38-13 decision over the weekend, and is beating teams by 32 points this season.

3. Texas A&M

For the first time since 1994, the Aggies are an undefeated football team and coming off a spirited 45-42 victory at unranked Arkansas to preserve that perfect record.

A&M has won games in a variety of ways, and while its defense has held firm in SEC competition so far, it struggled to contain the Razorbacks’ ground game over the weekend, allowing more than 8 yards per carry.

Something to work on as conference play heats up with a date at a now-desperate, two-loss LSU coming next.

4. Georgia Tech

While most pollsters have the other big program in the Peach State in their top-five, Herbstreit is going with the insurgent Yellow Jackets, coming off a win at Duke that he called their most difficult remaining conference game.

Tech didn’t place too far behind arch-rival Georgia this week in the AP rankings, coming in at No. 7 compared to the Bulldogs at No. 5, a nice jump for the last remaining undefeated team in the ACC late in October.

“I love Georgia Tech. I love Brent Key. I love Haynes King. I love that team,” he said.

Georgia Tech isn’t set to play another ranked team until the finale against Georgia, but Miami’s loss proves that no one is safe in the ACC until they prove it. So far, Tech has.

5. Alabama

Much was made about that season-opening loss at (now unranked and now 3-4) Florida State, but the Crimson Tide’s six-game win streak since then has completely changed the narrative around what now looks like the team to beat once again in the SEC.

That streak includes four-straight wins against ranked conference opponents. Not bad for head coach Kalen DeBoer, who several weeks ago had to hear near-constant talk that he wasn’t the man to lead this program. Since then, he’s looked the part.

So has Ty Simpson, the former five-star quarterback prospect who waited his turn and so far has lived up to that potential, throwing for 1,931 yards with 18 touchdowns and just one interception.

(Herbstreit)