College Football 25: Best Schools to Rebuild in Dynasty

One of the most exciting things you can do in EA Sports College Football 25 is take a school that’s either fallen from grace or never been to the mountaintop and completely rebuild it in Dynasty mode. Of course, with 134 different schools to choose from, picking a rebuilding project can be a daunting task. While you can use your skills to rebuild any team in the country, a few of them are even more enticing given the history around the programs. Below, you’ll find a full rundown of our favorite teams to rebuild in College Football 25, spreading it out between three different categories.

Best Sleeping Giants to Rebuild

If you’re looking to start with a lesser challenge, you should consider looking to one of the many sleeping giants in college football. These teams haven’t won anything substantial for a few years now, but do have the resources you need to quickly turn things around. This is a great way to get your rebuilding teeth wet before jumping into a tougher project. Here are our three favorite sleeping giants:

Virginia Tech Hokies

Beamer Ball was some of the most electric football you could see in the late 90s and 2000s. Couple head coach Frank Beamer’s knack for producing big plays on defense and special teams with quarterback Michael Vick’s game-changing running ability, and you had one of the most exciting teams of the era. However, the Hokies have fallen into mediocrity at best in recent seasons. That said, quarterback Kyron Drones looks poised to take another jump and the Hokies have solid recruiting that should make it easy to turn them back into a contender.

Miami Hurricanes 

During its heyday, Miami sometimes looked like it could play against NFL teams and hold its own. These days, things aren’t quite that good, but the recruiting hotbed that is southern Florida makes this a relatively easy Dynasty project. Even before you get to adding new players, the roster has some incredible offensive firepower. Quarterback Cam Ward threw for nearly 4,000 yards at Washington State last year and he has star running back Damien Martinez and slot receiver Xavier Restrepo backing him up.

Nebraska Cornhuskers

The Cornhuskers were a force in the mid-90s, but haven’t ended the season ranked in the last decade. To be fair, it’s a bit tougher to recruit if you select the Cornhuskers, so consider this the most challenging of the three sleeping giants, but it is possible. Fortunately, you’re playing in the Big 10, giving you access to one of the best conferences in the country and all kinds of marquee matchups. They also have a five-star freshman quarterback in Dylan Riaola who will help accelerate the rebuild if you effectively manage his career.

Best Mid-Tier Schools to Rebuild

The schools below aren’t slouches, but the rebuild will be tough. Here, we’re looking for teams with access to a solid Pipeline state of teams that have a few players on the roster that should help you make quick gains. Here’s the list:

UCF Golden Knights

UCF is going to be a popular option for rebuilds this year. The Big 12 team claims the 2017 national championship, but they were playing in a lower conference at the time and weren’t selected to play for the title. They were average during their first season in the Big 12, but having that Florida pipeline at their back means they could jump to the top of the league quickly.

Marshall Thundering Herd

The Herd isn’t a total rebuild. After all, Marshall did win nine games in 2022. However, the goal here would be to get them out of the Sun Belt and become a national contender. One of the fun things about Marshall is that their quarterback is Cole Pennington. His dad Chad played for Marshall alongside Randy Moss. Finding the younger Pennington his own world-class receiver would be our first order of business.

Temple Owls

Temple hasn’t won more than three games in a season since 2019. This is a total rebuild with plenty of room to grow. Fortunately, the team does play in Philly at Lincoln Financial Field. That’s something you can entice recruits with to hopefully turbo charge this rebuild and take the Owls to the top of the AAC.

Best Low-Rated Schools to Rebuild

These teams are going to be the toughest rebuilds on our list. Expect to spend at least a few years building up your roster before competing for anything noteworthy. You’ll have to be smart with recruiting and carefully manage the transfer portal. Here’s the list:

FIU Panthers

FIU’s last winning season came in 2018. It’s been bad for the Panthers. Quarterback Keyone Jenkins showed flashes in high school but was erratic last year. Hopefully, you can build on that while taking advantage of the Florida pipeline to add speed to your roster. It won’t be easy, but the tools are there for a good recruiter.

UTEP Miners

UTEP is another Conference USA school with potential. While they probably don’t have the quarterback of the future on the roster, you are recruiting in Texas. That’s a great Pipeline state. If you’re able to pick up the players largely schools like Texas miss, you could quickly turn this roster around.

San Jose State Spartans

San Jose State’s inclusion is all about location, location, location. As you can see from this portion of the list, you want a team that’s located near a major Pipeline. California is another recruiting hotbed and you can use it to turn around the Spartan’s fortunes very quickly. You’re going to struggle for the first year or so, but the potential for a contender is there.

Kennesaw State Owls

Finally, we end with the newest team to the FBS ranks. Kennesaw State is going to be one of the toughest rebuilds you can take on without using Team Builder. The biggest factor in their favor is that the school is in Georgia, another hotbed for recruiting talent. If you play your cards right, you’ll even be able to slide into Florida and tap into that market.

College Football 25 is out now on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S