From the Ground Up: Five Programs to Rebuild in College Football 25

By Mike Huesmann

With the recent ratings released on offense and defense for EA Sports College Football 25, we know who is going to be elite. What we don’t know, yet, is the other side of the spectrum. That is, who’ll be near the bottom and a time-consuming project to rebuild. It’s pretty easy to play and win games and titles if you’re a blue blood - or six star - under the previous game's format. What will be difficult, especially against online users, is taking a smaller outpost school and making them competitive. Here are five teams to do that with.

Kennesaw State

To me, this is the only logical place to start if you want a challenge. The school that is brand new to the FBS and little known. I’ve asked multiple people with great knowledge of college football to name me the head coach and no one has succeeded. It is Brian Bohannon, a former Paul Johnson disciple and assistant. There are so many unknowns with a team that hasn’t played at this level before, but we know that they have a ways to go to be competitive, which makes for a fun rebuild. You also get to recruit in Georgia, which is solid.

UTEP

Few programs have been as inept as UTEP in recent memory, even if it seemed like Dana Dimel was doing some things alright. In UTEP you’ll be taking over a poor roster with a new coaching staff. Three things make this a fun rebuild in the game: you get to play in CUSA, you get to recruit Texas, and the stadium has one of the coolest views in college football. CUSA is probably the worst conference top to bottom right now. Rebuilding there will be better than many places. Recruiting-wise, Texas will be a Top 3 state along with California and Florida.

Kent State

On talent alone, Kent State may end up being dead last in the game. This roster will be weak. That can be a blessing in recruiting because you’ll recruit a strong state in Ohio and be able to promise regular playing time to incoming freshmen and guys in the portal. MACtion is always a fun time and we had to include one team from the conference here for Midwesterners like me. The Golden Flashes could be an intriguing rebuild for the right person.

Charlotte

The 49ers are relatively new to the FBS and have had little success. In the game their prestige or star ratings will be minimal, but there is something here. The roster assembled by Biff Poggi will be decent and have a fun QB to play with in Max Brown. The state and geographic region will have teams. In a dynasty you probably won’t mix ACC and AAC programs, so this could be a good one. I feel like this could be the fastest rebuild of the list.

Southern Miss

Being the only G5 team in the state gives Southern Miss the edge over teams like ULM. The Golden Eagles have struggled at QB for many years, evidenced by playing wildcat with Frank Gore Jr. a significant amount of time. The Sun Belt is a solid but not daunting conference and being in Mississippi and close proximity to other recruitable states is key. This could be a fun one with the right playbook.