Colorado is Ranked WHAT?

EA Sports ranks the Buffaloes among the best teams in the nation despite obvious flaws.

In a week where College Football's 25 initial home-field advantage rankings stole most of the headlines, the outrage was much more muted when EA Sports shared an early look at the top-rated offenses and defenses for next month’s release.

All of the usual suspects were near the top: Georgia boasts the game’s best offense (94 OVR) behind Heisman favorite Carson Beck. The Bulldogs rank just ahead of Oregon (94) and Alabama (91), the only schools with a top-four unit on both sides of the ball.

Texas (91) is tied with 'Bama on the offensive side of the ball, while Ohio State (89) checks in fifth with the same rating as LSU, Miami and ... Colorado?

Let me repeat that: EA has the Buffaloes rated as the eighth-best offensive team in the country with the same offensive rating (89 OVR) as fifth-place Ohio State. Perhaps even worse, they rank 20th on defense (84 OVR) after putting up wretched numbers on that side of the ball for two straight seasons.

All told, the Buffalos rank 16th overall in the team power rankings released Friday, which you can see in full on the game’s website. Maybe EA Sports can see the future – or, maybe, this is all a ploy to sell copies of the game, which comes out July 19.

Either way, it left me equal parts shocked, confused and dismayed ... and I wasn't the only one:

Sanders, Hunter and ... who?

There's no doubt the Buffaloes have NFL talent on their roster, particularly in the passing game. The bigger question is where else that type of talent exists.

Yes, Shedeur Sanders enters the 2024 season as one of the best quarterbacks in the country and a top prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft. The same can be said for Travis Hunter, a two-way star with legitimate top-five buzz as a '25 draft prospect.

Those two were on the team last year, too, but a horrific offensive line that allowed 56 sacks – most in the Power Five – led to Colorado's offense ranking 74th in EPA/play and 99th in yards per play. The program has taken steps to address that, namely bringing in five-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton from IMG Academy.

That move drew plenty of praise on message boards, as did the rest of Colorado’s myriad transfers in (and out) of the program. But continuity is king in college football and especially on the offensive line, where returning experience is often the biggest indicator of future success. That isn’t the mantra in Boulder, where the starting QB doesn’t even know who some of his teammates are. (His words, not mine.)

Let's keep the goalposts in mind here, too. Will the Buffaloes put up points in their first season in the Big 12 with more experienced stars and a (presumably) improved O-line? One would think so. Are they a top-10 unit in the entire country? That's a claim so bold only Deion Sanders would believe it ... and, apparently, the developers of the game.

A top-20 defense?!

For all the consternation about Colorado’s offensive rating, this one makes absolutely no sense.

Last year, the Buffaloes allowed 34.8 points and 453.3 yards per game, both of which ranked in the bottom 10 nationally. They ranked 122nd in EPA/play and surrendered 34-plus points in eight of 12 games, including 56 points in their second-to-last game against Washington State.

That can't just be fixed by a few incoming transfers, those Sanders will surely try. New defensive coordinator Robert Livingston is bringing a 4-2-5 scheme to Boulder and will look to implement it with a cast of fresh faces – including linemen BJ Green (Arizona State) and DL Dayon Hayes (Pittsburgh) and cornerback Preston Hodges (Liberty) – around returning starters like Hunter and safety Shilo Sanders.

Again, let's keep the goalposts in mind. If Colorado’s roster overhaul leads to merely average defensive production after it fielded one of the nation’s worst units, that would be a resounding success. But does anyone in their right mind really think this is a top-20 unit?

Apparently the developers do. And, much like putting Kyle Field as the No. 1 stadium for home-field advantage helps boost sales among the Aggie faithful, you have to imagine an appealing Colorado roster is good for the bottom line.

Should you use Colorado in dynasty mode?

Somehow, even with the eighth-ranked offense and 20th-ranked defense, Colorado only checks in at No. 16 overall. (That must be one bad special teams unit.) Even so, that's still about 35 spots too high for a team that isn't expected to sniff the initial top 25 after a 4-8 season in Sanders' Power Five coaching debut.

The folks at EA Sports aren't dumb. There's an obvious reason to equip Colorado with high-end roster talent on both sides of the ball: people want to play with one of college football’s most popular teams in the sport’s first console game released in 11 years.

Does that mean you should play with the Buffaloes in dynasty mode? That depends on your goals.

If you're looking for an exciting team with dynamic playmakers to enjoy what this new game has to offer, Colorado seems like a reasonable choice. There's a fun narrative element to it, too: the Buffalos haven't won a bowl game since 2004, and it’s been even longer since they’ve taken home a conference title (2001) or national championship (1990).

That said, using a team with such grossly inflated ratings sort of takes the fun out of the "rebuilding project" that Colorado should present to College Football 25 players.

Personally, I hope these ratings largely revolve around Sanders and Hunter instead of juicing the supporting cast to hit an artificially high overall rating for one of the sport’s biggest attractions. Either way, I can’t imagine I’ll be captaining this team in my own dynasty playthroughs.

But as the development team has said countless times, "Every team is someone's favorite team." So if your favorite team is Colorado, congrats on your head start on the virtual gridiron. Just don't expect a similar result on the field this fall.

C Jackson Cowart is a Featured Columnist for Four Verts: An EA Sports College Football 25 Substack. He's an award-winning sports writer, reporter, and editor with a decade of experience in the industry with previous stops including ESPN, Forbes, theScore, Action Network, Sporting News, and Sportsbook Review. He's also an avid video game player who still talks about the time he threw a perfect game in Triple-A in MLB: The Show. You can follow him on Twitter (X) @CJacksonCowart.