The college football world was treated to their first look at gameplay from the much anticipated EA Sports College Football 25 video game, set to release on July 19. To say fans were delighted would be an understatement as the gameplay put the notion that the game was going to be a Madden reboot officially to bed.
However, some fans found issues with the gameplay trailer, most notably the Arizona Wildcats who came in much lower than expected in the unofficial EA Sports College Football 25 team ratings.
EA Sports College Football 25 Gameplay Trailer Reveals Unofficial Team Ratings
Now, this needs be said before we go any further: These ratings should be treated as unofficial and could certainly change before the official release of the game in less than two months. But that also doesn’t mean we can’t speculate that this is the official team rating portion and these numbers will hold over until the game’s launch.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the team ratings that were revealed in the gameplay trailer, hosted by Kirk Herbstreit.
EA did note in the gameplay trailer that “player and team ratings shown are not final and subject to change.”
EA Sports College Football 25 Team Ratings
- Clemson Tigers: 95 overall
87 offense
98 defense - Michigan Wolverines: 93 overall
92 offense
92 defense - Utah Utes: 92 overall
89 offense
90 defense - Baylor Bears: 92 overall
85 offense
92 defenses - NC State Wolfpack: 90 overall
87 offense
92 defense - Pittsburgh Panthers: 90 overall
85 offense
90 defense - BYU Cougars: 87 overall
87 offense
80 defense - Illinois Fighting Illini: 87 overall
83 offense
84 defense - North Carolina Tar Heels: 87 overall
87 offense
86 defense - Iowa Hawkeyes: 85 overall
71 offense
94 defense - Maryland Terrapins: 85 overall
83 offense
83 defense - Michigan State Spartans: 85 overall
85 offense
78 defense - Minnesota Golden Gophers: 85 overall
82 offense
80 defense - Miami Hurricanes: 84 overall
80 offense
78 defense - West Virginia Mountaineers: 84 overall
82 offense
78 defense - Arizona Wildcats: 82 overall
83 offense
76 defense - Duke Blue Devils: 82 overall
80 offense
74 defense - Cal Golden Bears: 80 overall
75 offense
78 defense - Boston College Eagles: 74 overall
73 offense
68 defense - Indiana Hoosiers: 74 overall
67 offense
74 defense - Arizona State Sun DevilsL 71 overall
64 offense
70 defense
Okay, so, that’s a lot of teams, and yet it’s only 21 of 134 teams. The sheer volume of teams and rosters made up of transfers, incoming freshmen, incumbent stars, and unknown talents is surely an incredibly difficult task to get right from a video game rating system standpoint.
Nevertheless, one thing stood out: The Arizona Wildcats are not getting the national praise they deserve entering the 2024 college football season.
No offense to the West Virginia squad for 2024, but Arizona’s starting 11 on both sides of the ball should outpace, outplay, and outlast the WVU team this fall, and it shouldn’t be close.
Take a look at the QB ratings in the Big 12 for 2024, grab a gander at the Big 12 power rankings, or simply place your bets on the Big 12 season predictions for win totals from each team. All point to one simple thing, and that’s the fact that Arizona may be the best team in the conference this fall.
Sure, they usher in a new era under Brent Brennan, but if you know anything about their roster as a whole and the ability Brennan has shown over the years as a head coach, you’d feel more comfortable with Arizona’s chances to compete for the Big 12 in 2024 and beyond than having them slotted two overall ratings points behind WVU.
If you are concerned about new head coaches taking on a roster that needs some rebuilding, look no further than the Michigan State Spartans. Under new head coach Jonathan Smith, this team needed to field a much bigger and more robust transfer portal class made up of more than just Oregon State defects and would need to return a proven talent at quarterback before they get the benefit of the doubt.
Yet, the Spartans sit three overall ratings points higher than the Wildcats and tied with an Iowa team that we hope the majority of their ratings boost continues to belong on the defensive side of the ball because, well, simply, their offense has done nothing this offseason to indicate they’ll be better than last year.
While we here at CFN are not ones that care where the ratings sit here in May or even June because we tinker with our own rosters once the game comes out, it’s a reminder that fans will find fault in anything. Even Texas fans, with their QB on the cover, pointed out that the fans were sitting on the wrong sides of the Cotton Bowl in the gameplay trailer against Oklahoma.
Again, we’ll see the overall product in a month and a half when the game is finally released. But in the meantime, it’s a stark reminder — no matter how excited you were about the gameplay trailer — that even the smallest things will likely be scrutinized by even the biggest fans of the game itself.
Maybe we at CFN will have our own roster file to share once the game is out.