College football teams generating major buzz: Texas, Michigan among hype trains rolling ahead of 2025 season

Hope springs eternal for every college football team each offseason, but some teams' lofty expectations are more realistic than others. Those that fill key roster needs, boast rising stars or make impressive coaching changes generate the most hype from December to August, and a number of College Football Playoff hopefuls did just that in 2025. Teams including Texas Tech and Miami could be on the verge of their College Football Playoff debuts after they loaded up on highly touted transfer portal talent, to name just two.

Offseason hype is a double-edged sword, though. While it directs more attention to exciting programs, it also has a tendency to create unfair or unattainable goals. Failing to deliver on the buzz is never optimal for a coach's job security, whether it is warranted or not. Fanbase morale also takes a hit with every disappointing loss.

Not every promising team from this offseason can punch a playoff ticket. Some will, but others will disprove the narratives that propped them up all spring and summer.

College Football Playoff predictions: Teams poised to make debut appearance in 2025

Here are the 12 best college football teams with the most offseason buzz:

Odds to make College Football Playoff in parentheses via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Texas Tech

There is a new player in the NIL arms race as Texas Tech ramped up its spending across all sports, and nowhere was that more evident than in the football program. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Red Raiders built the nation's second-ranked transfer portal class with 13 blue-chip additions -- the most of any team in the country. The Big 12 is as wide open as any conference, and Joey McGuire's squad is well-positioned to take advantage of the logjam and emerge as the league's top College Football Playoff contender on the heels of its splashy offseason. (+400)

Illinois

Returning the vast majority of a roster that last year notched the fifth 10-win season in program history is a recipe for success. Illinois kept its defensive core intact and brought Luke Altmyer, one of the Big Ten's top quarterbacks, back for 2025 and fueled hype for what looks like one of the most highly anticipated seasons of Fighting Illini football to date. Bret Bielema has been a lightning rod all spring with his zesty college football takes on social media, which only drew more attention to the program he built into more than just a dark horse playoff hopeful. (+500)

Miami

Mario Cristobal is a known recruiting wizard, and he worked his magic again through the portal with a handful of key defensive pickups who project to fix Miami's greatest weakness from a year ago. The only thing that stood between the Hurricanes and a playoff berth in 2024 was a group that allowed far too many explosive plays, negating all the impressive work the offense did with its unstoppable passing attack. The marquee transfer haul started in the winter window and only got deeper and more talented this spring with late additions, including safety Jakobe Thomas and cornerback Keionte Scott. (+160)

South Carolina

The young tandem of quarterback LaNorris Sellers and edge rusher Dylan Stewart is the source of extreme optimism at South Carolina. That duo helped the Gamecocks build a compelling playoff résumé last fall, and following their exclusion as the fourth team out of the field, they have something to prove in their second year together. The defense lost loads of key talent to the NFL Draft, but the excitement around the returning stars largely overshadowed those departures. (+500)

Clemson

Dabo Swinney is nearly seven years removed from his second national championship, but after a long stretch that saw his Clemson program slip from its pedestal, he has a behemoth of a 2025 roster that could get back to the mountaintop. Cade Klubnik might be college football's top quarterback after he improved throughout last season, and his stacked receiving corps will only help him reach the next level as a Heisman contender. Expected improvements on defense with Tom Allen taking over the unit will make the Tigers as well-rounded as anyone. (-175)

Auburn

This is the year for Hugh Freeze to prove himself as Auburn coach, and he loaded up on difference-makers ahead of the pivotal Year 3 at the helm. The clamoring for the Tigers to bring in a transfer quarterback was deafening after Freeze passed on the opportunity last offseason, and Jackson Arnold quieted that noise as an eye-catching addition to the 2025 roster. The prospect of him developing as a passer with a stacked receiving unit (welcome to the party, Eric Singleton Jr.) and an offensive line much healthier than the one he had at Oklahoma makes Auburn a fringe playoff contender. (+425)

Penn State Nittany Lions

There might not have been a bigger winner from the NFL Draft stay-or-go deadline than Penn State, which followed the same model that led Ohio State and Michigan to national championships the last two seasons. That is, the Nittany Lions kept their best draft-eligible underclassmen in the program to create a loaded, veteran core. Drew Allar, Nick Singleton, Kaytron Allen, Dani Dennis-Sutton, Nick Dawkins and Dominic DeLuca were among the starters to utilize another year of eligibility. In turn, the expectation is that Penn State will contend for another CFP semifinals trip ... or better. (-300)

Florida Gators

Tickets for the DJ Lagway hype train sold out on the heels of a promising true freshman season in which he turned Florida's fortunes around upon his insertion into the starting lineup. Lagway was the top-ranked quarterback recruit in the 2024 class and looked every bit of that in the small sample size as a starter, albeit with a few growing pains in the accuracy department. His offensive line is perhaps college football's best, and Billy Napier found some nice receiver talent for him on the recruiting trail. The Gators will go as far as he takes them, and that could be a long way. (+400)

Oklahoma

The trajectory of Brent Venables tenure hinges on the offensive overhaul he completed this offseason with Ben Arbuckle taking over the playcalling duties and John Mateer arriving as the face of the unit. That duo was outstanding together last fall at Washington State and brought all kinds of buzz with them to the SEC, but the jump in competition will be a big test. If they pass, the Sooners should be back in good standing after a second sub-.500 year in three tries under Venables. (+550)

LSU

Brian Kelly faces tremendous pressure as LSU enters win-now mode in 2025. He has yet to meet the lofty expectations set for him at the beginning of his tenure, yet the anticipation for this season is as palpable as it was in any of the disappointing campaigns that opened his reign atop the Tigers program. On paper, Kelly shored up his defense with the No. 1 transfer class in college football. Garrett Nussmeier is back with the potential to become next year's top NFL Draft pick, too. The hope in Baton Rouge is that all of the pieces finally come together. (+125)

Texas Longhorns

Arch Manning. Enough said? The Texas quarterback is the definition of buzz, as he was among the most highly publicized recruits in college football history and displayed loads of upside in his spot starts as a redshirt freshman. Manning is the face of the Longhorns program, and he has not even embarked on his full-time starting career. The talent around him is abundant, too, especially after Steve Sarkisian constructed the first No. 1-ranked recruiting class in Texas history. Consecutive playoff berths and a tantalizing batch of up-and-comers make the Longhorns a popular national championship pick. (-350)

Michigan Wolverines

The consensus from last season was that Michigan was a quarterback away from another special season. Better late than never on the arrival of a program-defining signal-caller. Bryce Underwood is on campus as the top quarterback prospect in the 2025 class and figures to become the Wolverines' Week 1 starter after he got a running start in the competition this spring. There is a ton of external pressure on his shoulders as the Michigan fanbase heralds him as the face of a playoff-contending squad right out of the gate. (+200)