Hardest College Football Rebuilds in NCAA 25: From Zero to Hero
The return of NCAA College Football is generating immense excitement, particularly for dynasty mode enthusiasts. The thrill of transforming a struggling program into a national powerhouse is a captivating challenge. While dominating with established programs is straightforward, the true test lies in elevating underperforming teams to prominence. This article explores potential candidates for the most challenging, yet rewarding, rebuilds in the upcoming game.
Criteria for a Challenging Rebuild
Several factors contribute to the difficulty of a rebuild project. These include:
- Initial Team Rating: Lower-rated teams present a steeper climb to competitiveness.
- Conference Strength: Navigating a challenging conference requires significant roster upgrades.
- Recruiting Base: Limited access to talent-rich recruiting areas hinders the acquisition of top prospects.
- Roster Composition: A team with numerous departing seniors necessitates immediate recruiting success to avoid a talent drain.
- QB Room: The cornerstone of any successful college football program.
- Returning Production: Essential for early success and attracting strong recruiting classes.
- Recruiting Class Rankings: The key to long-term success and program longevity.
- Proximity to recruiting hot bed: A crucial factor for recruiting success, especially when nearby programs are also powerhouses.
Group of 5 Rebuild Candidates
East Carolina Pirates
East Carolina begins with a 78 overall rating (77 offense, 80 defense). Playing in the AAC, East Carolina benefits from its location in North Carolina, which helps with recruiting by allowing them to dip their toes into the talent in both North Carolina and South Carolina. With 22 seniors on the roster, there will be plenty of opportunity for younger players to get some shine in the years to come. You have a nice young quarterback, Houser to work with immediately, and the sophomore running back and receiver duo as well to build a strong foundation for the next few seasons.
Kennesaw State Owls
Newbies in Conference USA, it’s time to make some noise. With an overall rating of 71, and a 73 offense and 71 defense, the noise won’t be that loud at first. But you have some top end talent that will be here for a few years. DJ Scott at running back and Westmoreland, an 83-speed defensive lineman can do some stuff. The team also has a nice young offensive line and a redshirt freshman cornerback, Washington Jr., who will be one of your best players despite a normal development trait. Recruiting in Georgia will be critical for Kennesaw State, especially given their low pipeline rating. Now they won the division a few years ago, so you’re set up to do it again in a short time.
South Florida Bulls
The Bulls, like a few others on the list, benefit greatly from being based in Florida as that offers advantages only teams in Texas can match. You will be able to tap into the top end speed of Central and South Florida to help make this team into a contender. As you start your rebuild, the Bulls will start with an 81 overall rating, including an 81 offense and 82 defense. Quarterback Byrum Brown, with 87 speed, can lead the team for a few seasons, but you’ll need to find a new quarterback soon due to weak backup options. The running back is kind of trash, with their top three players about to be up out of there in 2 seasons, and the top receivers and tight ends are also mostly seniors. So we got some work to do. Freshmen like Jeyquan Smith and Jonathan Echols, along with impact players like Michael Williams II and Rodney Hill, will be key along with your recruiting class in making this team nice in the next few years.
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Florida Atlantic Owls
FAU, also in the AAC has the privilege of battling East Carolina for who decides to rise up. FAU benefits greatly from being in Florida and getting kids from Central and South Florida, and essentially picking up the leftovers of the Florida, Florida State and Miami teams.
Rice Owls
The Owls’ being in Texas provides probably the biggest recruiting advantage in the game outside of controlling a Florida team, allowing them to get guys from some of the best talent pools in North and East Texas. This team is about to flip quick, with 24 seniors and 21 juniors ready to get up out of there the next year, you got some spots to fill. Now Rice does have a nice young talent in Chase Jenkins, and freshman Drayden Dickman, whose impact development trait could make him your best player in a year. The Owls just sneaked onto our list, as they haven’t had a recruiting class ranked higher than 86th in FBS over the last four cycles, but there were too many other positive things going their way in terms of dynasty mode. Firstly, E.J. Warner (son of Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner) transferred to Rice from Temple this offseason, coming off a 3000-yard passing season along with 23 touchdown passes. Drew Devillier also signed with them, a three-star quarterback coming out of Texas powerhouse, Plano East. That leads to our second reason: Rice is located in Houston, Texas, meaning you’re just miles from talent-rich high schools that the game will generate prospects from. And finally, the biggest factor in our decision was Rice’s staggering returning production numbers. No team in FBS has more returning production on defense at 89%, and their overall rate of 81% is fifth-best of any team.
QBs:E.J. Warner (Jr.), Drew Devillier (Fr.)
Returning production:81% overall, fifth in FBS
73% offense, 28th in FBS
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89% defense, first in FBS
Recruiting class rankings:
2024: 122nd in FBS, 12th in AAC
2023: 86th in FBS, ninth in AAC
2022: 120th in FBS, ninth in C-USA
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2021: 94th in FBS, fifth in C-USA
Transfer class rank:
2024: 109th in FBS
2023: 102nd in FBS
Recruiting states: Texas, California, Florida, Alabama
South Alabama Jaguars
While Alabama is dominated by the powerhouse Crimson Tide, South Alabama can parlay their name being South Alabama into getting some craps. They don’t have the reach of Bama, so you’re going to have to focus on the remaining talent and avoid getting jumped by the other powerhouse squads. Starting with an overall rating of 78, South Alabama has a 77 offensive rating and a 79 defensive rating. So, their working with something… On offense, the standout player is sophomore McReynolds, though his development trait is Wack he’s a player. You also have a redshirt freshman quarterback, Gio Lopez, who has decent ratings to begin, providing a solid foundation for the future. If Lopez isn’t right for you, there’s a sophomore quarterback with a normal development trait who can also be developed. At wide receiver, Anthony Eager, a redshirt freshman with an impact development trait and 95 speed can make stuff happen. On defense, RJ Moss Jr. can hold down the middle for you with his strong run-stopping ability. With 18 seniors set to depart, including eight from the wide receiver and tight end positions, and 23 juniors on the roster, you’ll need to focus on recruiting on offense to build a strong future.
Toledo Rockets
Despite their pipeline level which is crazy low, being in Ohio, lets Toledo just chill and offer in state guys an ability to start that Ohio state can’t to help build the team up because our team sucks. The Rockets are starting College Football 25 with a solid overall rating of 79, with key players like defensive end Travis Ford and sophomore Kvon Sherman providing a strong foundation. The Rockets have had two recruiting classes that topped all MAC teams in the last four years and will likely have Tucker Gleason as the starting quarterback this year. The former Georgia Tech quarterback is entering his third year with Toledo and has shown flashes of his talent. He’s got no starts in the last two seasons but has played in 22 games in that span, throwing for 1,083 yards with a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 12 to three. Kalieb Osborne will enter the mix once Gleason is done, a 2024 signee who was ranked as the third-best quarterback out of Michigan. The one knock on Toledo is their loss of production, with only 42% of last year’s returning. With Gleason, a deceptively good transfer class and close proximity to some of the best recruiting hotbeds in the country, Toledo still makes our list as a strong team to start a dynasty with.
QBs:Tucker Gleason (RS Jr.), Kalieb Osborne (Fr.)
Returning production:42% overall, 122nd in FBS
32% offense, 127th in FBS
53% defense, 103rd in FBS
Recruiting class rankings:
2024: 66th in FBS, first in MAC
2023: 101st in FBS, fifth in MAC
2022: 92nd in FBS, sixth in MAC
2021: 70th in FBS, first in MAC
Transfer class rank:
2024: 115th in FBS
2023: 111th in FBS
Recruiting states: Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania
Colorado State Rams
Playing in the Mountain West you have your work cut out for you playing against Boise State and San Diego State, but you’re going to be able to make it work dipping into Colorado’s talent pool to build your roster up. With 32 freshmen joining the squad and 27 seniors on the roster, the Rams are in a smooth transitional phase, where opportunities for young guys to play are there. The quarterback position is solid, with an ideal development trait for him to develop quickly. However, all five of their top receivers are seniors, and the lack of young, speedy players tells you that you need to get speed immediately in recruiting. The Rams bring back one of the most potent offenses in the Mountain West along with back-to-back recruiting classes ranked second in the Mountain West (and top 70 in FBS). They’re also the only Group of 5 team on our list that has a player rated in the top 100 of the game, with receiver Torry Horton earning a 91 overall. Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi highlights the current roster, as the redshirt sophomore threw for over 3,500 yards and 26 touchdown passes in his first year as a starter. Waiting in the wings is Darius Curry, a top 65 quarterback in the class of 2024, who played at Long Beach Poly - a perennial powerhouse in the talent-rich area that is southern California. Colorado State also brings back 64% of their production from last season, most notably bringing back 68% on offense specifically.
QBs:Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi (RS So.), Darius Curry (Fr.)
Returning production:64% overall, 61st in FBS
68% offense, 44th in FBS
60% defense, 68th in FBS
Recruiting class rankings:
2024: 70th in FBS, second in Mountain West
2023: 69th in FBS, second in Mountain West
2022: 78th in FBS, fourth in Mountain West
2021: 90th in FBS, sixth in Mountain West
Transfer class rank:
2024: 117th in FBS
2023: 89th in FBS
Recruiting states: California, Texas
Fresno State Bulldogs
The Bulldogs have been one of the more successful Group of 5 teams in the past few years and have all the components with which to build a strong dynasty. They’ve garnered four straight recruiting classes in the top 90 of FBS, with all four landing in the top four among Mountain West teams. They also bring back 65% of their production from last season, highlighted by redshirt junior quarterback Mikey Keene. He was one of 15 Group of 5 signal-callers to throw 24-plus touchdown passes and is backed up by Jayden Mandel, who was ranked in the top 80 quarterbacks for the class of 2023.
QBs:Mikey Keene (RS Jr.), Jayden Mandal (RS Fr.)
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