2025 saw Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti firmly establish himself as the best coach in college football by leading the once-hapless program to its first national title. But how did he view the rest of the league in 2025?
Cignetti was one of the voters in the Coaches Poll, which is just as prestigious and historic as the Associated Press poll. Naturally, his Indiana Hoosiers were No. 1, but his ranking of the rest of the top-25 was interesting to say the least.
Here is Cignetti's final top-25 rankings:
- Indiana
- Miami
- Oregon
- Ole Miss
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Notre Dame
- Texas
- Texas A&M
- Texas Tech
- Iowa
- Alabama
- Oklahoma
- BYU
- Utah
- Illinois
- Michigan
- Washington
- Vanderbilt
- TCU
- USC
- SMU
- Arizona
- Houston
- JMU
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Fans were quick to nitpick the list, with many arguing for their favorite teams getting ranked higher (or their least favorite going lower). But there were also plenty who applauded Cignetti for his football knowledge with his ranking.
"Not quite sure what Oregon did to be ranked ahead of Ohio State," one Buckeyes fan remarked on X.
"This is objectively a good list. I am moving OSU up one spot and TX would switch with Texas Tech but other than that solid. The man does indeed know ball," wrote another.
"It’s acceptable, better than the final AP poll. He still has Bama too high, with 4 losses get them out of top 20. I’d move Miss down a few spots and OSU ahead of Oregon because of head to head," a third wrote.
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There doesn't seem to be such a thing as a "perfect poll" since all results and rankings are totally subjective and there's no real metric to decide who deserves to go where these days.
Cignetti certainly has more authority as the man now acknowledged as the best coach in college football, but he's not infallible and clearly his poll submission isn't either.