The Meltdown Meter Top 10 After Week One Of The College Football Season

Week one of the 2025 college football season is officially in the books. And while several teams made impressive first impressions, several others have their fan bases already throwing in the towel on the new season.

With that, we’re introducing a new poll for the upcoming season: The BroBible Meltdown Meter.

The Meltdown Meter will consist of the 10 teams whose fan bases are most on the verge of a complete and total breakdown over the state of their program. Whether it’s bad coaching, poor quarterback play, or a defense that just can’t get off the field, these programs are in big trouble – at least according to the fans.

College Football Meltdown Meter Top 10 – Week 1

One game can’t make or break a college football team’s season in the era of a 12-team College Football Playoff. But it can certainly set off alarm bells, especially for fans who were already skeptical of their teams entering the season.

Losing is one thing. But the way your team looks went it loses is a whole different kettle of fish. While not every team on our meltdown meter top 10 for Week 1 is 0-1, the majority are, and they’re staring down the barrel of a lost season almost before things even get going.

1) Alabama Crimson Tide

• Ty Simpson was average in his first Alabama start. He wasn’t bad (no turnovers), but he gave fans no reason to believe he can be elite.
• Defensive players looked uninterested and were jogging during crucial moments of the game.
• Is Kalen DeBoer the guy? He’s now 6-5 vs. P4 competition with fanbase support dwindling.

2) Kansas State Wildcats

• Going 5-for-13 on third downs against a middle-of-the-road FCS defense is a huge red flag.
• In no world should North Dakota record more offensive yards against Kansas State’s defense than Iowa State.
• Avery Johnson looks great on the box score but is he consistent enough to win big games? It certainly doesn’t seem that way through the first two weeks.

3) North Carolina Tar Heels

• Everybody knew that the Tar Heels’ roster talent wasn’t going to be great in 2025. But it’s somehow worse than anybody could’ve possibly imagined.
• Does Bill Belichick really want to hang around college football for a rebuild that is going to take at least three years?
• Gio Lopez doesn’t look anything remotely like a Power 4 starting quarterback, while Max Johnson is held together by duct tape and string.

4) Notre Dame Fighting Irish

• Uhhh, why did superstar running back Jeremiyah Love carry the ball only 10 times against Miami? And why did he look extremely unathletic on the limited carries he did have?
• Freshman quarterback CJ Carr looked solid and was a surprisingly effective runner. But can his body hold up taking so many hits?
• What happened to having one of the nation’s best offensive lines?!

5) UCLA Bruins

• Nico Iamaleava did not live up to his 5-star billing in Game 1 with UCLA.
• The new offense was one-dimensional, and the run game never got off the ground.
• The defense took a major step back after a strong finish to the 2024 campaign. Utah had nearly 500 yards, and dual-threat QB Devon Dampier was unstoppable.

6) UCF Knights

• Scott Frost is back but it already looks more like his time at Nebraska than his “national championship.”
• Jacksonville State ran for an average of 4.2 yards per carry. YIKES! Stopping the run needs to be priority No. 1 for UCF.
• 424 yards of offense is great, but it means nothing if you can’t convert those yards into points! Finish in the red zone.

7) Colorado Buffaloes

• Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter ain’t walking through that door. Where is the offensive production going to come from?
• It already sounds as if players have turned on offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur.
• What in the world was that late-game clock management from Deion Sanders? And why won’t he acknowledge he screwed it up?

8) Kentucky Wildcats

• Deja Vu… The offense is bad again under another transfer QB. Being outgained by Toledo should not happen to an SEC unit, no matter who’s under center.
• Has Mark Stoops reached his ceiling? He led Kentucky to a pair of 10-win seasons, but the program is declining.
• There might be an issue in the secondary. If Toledo threw for 270 yards on 11.7 yards per catch, what can Ole Miss do in Week 2?

9) Arizona State Sun Devils

• A 38-19 victory might not look like a reason to panic but the Sun Devils took a long time to really get going. Slow starts will be a season killer against FBS opponents.
• 12 penalties… woof.
• If Northern Arizona can burn the secondary for 242 yards, Big 12 offenses are going to score at will.

10) Oregon State Beavers (Clay)

• What is Oregon State’s path to future relevance? The new Pac-12 looks like a joke and Oregon isn’t exactly loaded in terms of high school talent.
• Is Cal freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagopulutele one of the best true freshmen quarterbacks we’ve ever seen? Or is Oregon State’s pass defense just a complete nightmare?
• Star running back Anthony Hankerson averaged just 2.8 yards per carry. That’s not going to get it done!