2025 Week 4 CFP Resume Rankings!

Welcome back to the 2025 College Football Playoff Resume Rankings!

Week 4 brought a deceptive calm to the college football landscape—fewer fireworks than Week 3's chaos, but plenty of resume-defining performances, minor upsets, and statements that kept our 80+ normalized team strength rating systems—like SP+, FEI, FPI, Sagarin, and our proprietary composite metrics—humming. We wipe the slate clean weekly, rebuilding every team's case from the ground up for a transparent, data-fueled peek at the 12-team playoff bubble. There were some head turn performances this week which are sure to be felt in the rankings. Let's unpack the weekend's key shifts!

Quick Hitters: Week 4’s Biggest Moments

• Michigan Edges Nebraska in Close Call 

In our projected Game of the Week, No. 21 Michigan survived a fired-up Nebraska 30-27 in Lincoln. The Wolverines' defense sealed it with a late stand after a dramatic Hail Mary touchdown gave the Huskers life at halftime. QB Dylan Raiola of Nebraska threw for 308 yards and three scores, but Michigan's ground game (led by Justice Haynes' 50+ yard TD run) proved decisive. This road win boosts Michigan's resume, and is felt not only in their resume rankings but also in that of the Oklahoma Sooners, while Nebraska's near-upset signals their continued resurgence but leaves them just short of a marquee victory to help snap their run of losses to ranked teams.

• Texas Tech Rolls Utah in Big 12 Blowout 

No. 17 Texas Tech dominated No. 16 Utah 34-10, staying perfect at 4-0 with a suffocating defense that sacked Devon Dampier four times and held the Utes to under 200 yards. Behren Morton went down to injury, but backup Will Hammond stepped in for the Red Raiders, vaulting them to a massive road win setting the stage for a run at the CFP. Utah played in a similar early season ranked Big 12 game, though the Utes and Oklahoma State combined to only win a single game from that point in the season onwards.  Both teams will be hoping for a different narrative following this early season tilt.

• Indiana Overpowers Illinois in Big Ten Clash 

No. 17 Indiana cruised past No. 8 Illinois 63-10 blowout, with QB Fernando Mendoza's five TD passes (21-23 passing) dismantling the Illini's secondary. The Hoosiers' balanced attack overwhelmed a defense that had no answers, propelling Indiana into uncharted territory in our composite strength ratings. We are witnessing potentially the greatest single week rise of a team in composite history.  Indiana is in the business of proving that last year’s CFP run was not a fluke and have opened Big Ten play with a statement that they are in it to win it.

Other Standouts

• Syracuse Stuns Clemson at Home 

Syracuse shocked Clemson 34-21 in Death Valley, capitalizing on three Tiger turnovers and a late pick-six to snap a long skid against the Tigers. Clemson's slide to 1-3 is hard to reconcile after the preseason hype the Tigers received.  It’s important to pay attention to these degrading results when evaluating resumes for the likes of LSU and Georgia Tech, whose marquee win has been greatly tarnished.

• Missouri Grinds Out Win Over South Carolina 

No. 23 Missouri methodically defeated South Carolina 29-20 behind a dominant run game (285 yards on 48 carries), with transfer RB Ahmad Hardy rushing for 138 yards. The Tigers stay undefeated at 4-0, strengthening their resume. South Carolina's second straight loss (after Vanderbilt) exposes cracks, sliding them further from the eventual CFP bubble.

• Oklahoma Handles Auburn in SEC-Big 12 Tilt 

No. 11 Oklahoma topped No. 22 Auburn 24-17, with 10-sacks from the defense fueling the win. The Sooners' complete performance solidifies their top-10 resume to date, while Auburn's road loss tempers their early hype.  This game carries a good deal of controversy given the SEC’s statement about missed officiating calls on a critical scoring play.  The viral missed pass interference call in Oklahoma’s favor likewise is unhelpful.  Still, OU has flipped the script in a big way from past seasons and is looking dangerous in a wide-open race in the SEC.

Week 4 CFP Resume Rankings

Notes on the CFP Resume Rankings

• A New #1: Week 3’s Top 3 Teams Drop 

Last week’s top 3, Ohio State, LSU, and Georgia, have all been passed by week 4 winners Miami, Ole Miss, Indiana, and Oklahoma, who would all have a CFP bye per our resume rankings if the season ended today.  LSU’s raw resume, the top last week, has fallen to 5^th in this week’s evaluation, hurt by Clemson’s continued degradation.  Miami takes over the top raw resume honors for week 4, with Oklahoma and Ole Miss close behind in 2^nd and 3^rd.  Ohio State meanwhile has lost their spot atop the composite team strength ratings, not to Oregon who was challenging last week, but to Indiana after their route of Illinois.  The jump for the Hoosiers is shocking given their positioning in last week’s composite, and elevates Indiana from outside of the Top 25 altogether into 3^rd with a projected CFP bye.  Time will tell if Indiana remains at the top, but for now they are in a fantastic spot per the computers.

• Conference Breakdown:

Playoff projection today? Six SEC teams (Ole Miss (bye), Oklahoma (bye), Texas A&M, Georgia, LSU, Missouri), three Big Ten (Indiana (bye), Ohio State, Michigan), one ACC (Miami as the #1 seed), one Big 12 (Iowa State), and a G5 Champ from the American (Memphis following the Arkansas win). The SEC's depth shines this week, taking up half of the field.  Does that make sense?  Of the top 10 computer rated teams, the SEC holds 5 of those spots and remains comfortably the deepest and strongest conference in college football.

Top 10 Unexpected Results of the Season

Florida State’s upset win over Alabama begins to fall as computers catch up with FSU’s 2025 strength, replaced at the top by Western Michigan’s upset win over Toledo.  Cal and San Diego State are the only teams represented twice on this list, both as upset winners and as unexpected losers following SDSU’s 34-point route of the Bears this past weekend.

Week 5 Game of the Week

• No. 5 Georgia vs No. 17 Alabama: This game feels like it is not getting top billing in the SEC, let alone the country, with #4 LSU traveling to #13 Ole Miss in SEC play and #6 Oregon traveling to #3 Penn State in the Big Ten.  On paper though, according to our game quality index, this is the game to watch this weekend with Georgia favored by (-2.5) to remain unbeaten.  All 3 of these games crack the 80-point quality barrier per our index and should be amazing games.  The reason this game may score higher is the disparity between the AP rankings and the perceived strength according to our composite strength ratings.  Through the lens of strength ratings, we can reframe the weekend as #5 Ole Miss hosting #15 LSU, #12 Penn State hosting #3 Oregon, and #4 Georgia hosting #6 Alabama.  The computers still love the Crimson Tide, and have cooled on LSU and Penn State, though that may change by the time we look at week 5 resume rankings.

That’s a wrap for Week 4! If you have questions about the CFP Resume Rankings or want to follow along, find us @CFPResumeRanks on X. Our DMs are open for inquiries or partnership opportunities. Have a great week, and let’s see what Week 5 unleashes!

[Note: For tables instead of graphics, visit our resume rankings page at https://cfpresumerankings.wixsite.com/cfpresumerankings/cfp-resume-rankings]