Unsurprisingly, the SEC and the Big Ten make up most of the top 10 teams in the country. From the Texas Longhorns at No. 1 to the LSU Tigers at No. 9, the two conferences claimed seven of the top nine spots in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll.
However, the Clemson Tigers are ranked No. 4 and the Miami Hurricanes are ranked No. 10 –– not to mention, the independent Notre Dame Fighting Irish are sixth in the nation.
Yet, SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee isn't satisfied. His Mustangs are No. 16 in the preseason poll, as well as the Coaches Poll, but he still believes the whole thing is "rigged."
The biggest problem? ESPN's power index dropped the ACC teams a handful of spots, pushing them beyond the top 10 and moving SEC and Big 10 programs into those spots.
Because the whole thing is rigged
— Rhett Lashlee (@rhettlashlee) August 16, 2025
The funny thing? In that same FPI by ESPN, the SMU Mustangs moved up a spot to No. 19 in the country, having been previously ranked No. 20. Yet, Lashlee simply couldn't be satisfied.
Last year, Lashlee questioned whether or not the SEC and Big 10 actually had the depth that the conferences so proudly claimed.
"There’s other leagues that claim depth,” Lashlee said. “The SEC has had the same six schools win the championship since 1964. Same six. Not a single one has been different since 1964. That’s top-heavy to me. That’s not depth.”
After all was said and done last season, the Big 12 and ACC teams that made their way into the College Football Playoffs (Clemson, SMU, and Arizona State) all lost their first games in the postseason tournament.
The Clemson Tigers and the Arizona State Sun Devils were bested by the Texas Longhorns (freshly in the SEC), and the Mustangs were demolished by the Penn State Nittany Lions (a Big Ten stronghold).
So, while there is certainly a way to frame college football to fit Lashlee's perspective, it's an extremely hard stance to defend when his team and the rest of the non-Big 10 or SEC teams struggled to find their footing in last year's CFPs.
This season, the Mustangs are scheduled to kick off their 2025 campaign with a home game against the East Texas A&M Lions (not exactly a strong start for a strength-of-schedule argument). Going off the preseason AP Poll, Clemson and Miami are the only ranked teams SMU is scheduled to play this year.