These teams can truly say that nobody believed in them.
2025 ushered in a new era of college football, as programs used the transfer portal and NIL to reinvent themselves at warp speed. Some entered the season with modest expectations. Others had none at all outside their own locker rooms. But all of them wildly exceeded what anyone thought was possible.
Indiana Hoosiers
Two years ago, Indiana football was a barren wasteland. The Hoosiers were so lost that the program reportedly waited to take its media guide photo until it played Ohio State, knowing Buckeyes fans would fill Memorial Stadium when IU fans wouldn’t.
Well, look at them now.
Indiana is one win away from making its case as one of the greatest college football teams in history. The Hoosiers still have to beat Miami to finish the job, but the fact that they’re playing for a national title would have been unthinkable even 12 months ago. After last year’s playoff loss to Notre Dame, many wrote them off as a one-year fluke. Instead, Indiana somehow got even better and now sits on the brink of becoming the first modern team to go 16-0.
Vanderbilt Commodores
In almost any other season, Vanderbilt coming close to the College Football Playoff would have been the story of the year. Long overmatched in the SEC, the Commodores finally found an identity under Diego Pavia, who helped transform the culture in Nashville.
For the first time in program history, Vanderbilt won 10 games. They did it while navigating a brutal SEC slate, losing only to Alabama and Texas in conference play. Yes, Vandy stumbled against Iowa in its bowl game, but even being in that position would have felt impossible just a year ago.
Virginia Cavaliers
Virginia came one win shy of the College Football Playoff. That alone tells you how shocking Tony Elliott’s turnaround has been.
Entering the season, Elliott’s job security was tenuous at best after three straight years without more than five wins. But Virginia flipped the script, winning 11 games and playing for the ACC title. The Cavaliers closed the season with a Gator Bowl win over Missouri, signaling that this program is no longer an afterthought. Two years removed from a 3-9 season, the turnaround is remarkable.
Duke Blue Devils
Duke won the ACC in football. That hadn’t happened since Steve Spurrier was roaming the sidelines in 1989, when the league had just eight teams and Clemson was the only true football power.
This time, Duke did it in a 17-team conference, then followed it up by beating Arizona State in the Sun Bowl. Manny Diaz finally has a real runway in Durham, and he’s making the most of it. Duke may always be a basketball-first school, but the days of the Blue Devils being a football afterthought are officially over.
Arizona Wildcats
Maybe the Big 12 should just stop making preseason predictions altogether.
Last year, Arizona State was picked 16th in the league and won it. This year, Arizona was projected 15th and finished tied for fourth at 9-4. The Wildcats closed the season on a five-game winning streak and appear to have found real footing under Brent Brennan.
With how wide-open the Big 12 has become, Arizona now feels like a legitimate dark horse to contend for next year’s title.
Kennesaw State Owls
Last season, Kennesaw State was a first-year FBS program that went 2-10 in Conference USA. They fired the only coach the program had ever known and brought in Jerry Mack to attempt a rebuild.
What followed was nothing short of stunning.
Mack led the Owls to a 10-2 record and a Conference USA championship. The tone was set early when Kennesaw nearly upset Wake Forest in the opener. Even a lopsided loss to Indiana didn’t derail them, as they didn’t lose again until their bowl game. For a school that didn’t even play football 15 years ago, this was a season no one could have imagined.
If this was your kind of read, you’ll like what’s next. Get The Sandman Ticket, our free, weekly newsletter with picks, insights, and a little bit of everything we love about sports.
