The 2025 AP Poll has been getting a lot of heat lately, and honestly, it’s not complicated to see why. Programs from the Big 10 and SEC with one or two losses stay high in the rankings because of their reputation. On the other hand, undefeated or under-the-radar teams get overlooked. This prompted Fox’s Robert Griffin III to channelize his inner Kirk Herbstreit to discuss the AP Top 25 poll.

With all the inconsistencies, many analysts, like RG3, Josh Pate, and others, play by their own numbers. Add in some regional bias from voters and slow reactions to big wins or losses, and it’s easy to understand why so many think the AP Poll is outdated. Thus, Robert Griffin’s stance on the matter is eye-opening.

Just days after Herbstreit shocked fans by naming Indiana his No. 1 team, RGIII followed suit with a nearly identical top five – and used it to demolish the AP Top 25 poll. Calling the rankings “horrible,” RGIII accused voters of showing bias toward powerhouse programs, arguing that teams shouldn’t receive rewards for their conference “patch” but for one thing only: winning!

On October 15, RG3 hopped onto his own ‘Outta Pocket’ podcast with his wife, Grete Griffin, and became one of the many analysts who decided to throw digital haymakers at the AP Poll ranking. His wife asked, “What do you think of Week 8 of the AP Poll?” RG3 didn’t even blink: “They’re horrible. They’re so bad that we’re gonna go ahead and throw up our out-of-pocket rankings, aka the OP rankings. Throw those up on the screen, because I’ve got a bone to pick about that.”

The inconsistency and genuineness of the polls irked RG3, who continued, “And you bring up a very solid point. Some teams don’t drop out of the top 25 or top 10 after they’ve suffered a loss, and it’s because of the patch that is on their jersey. And no team should be ranked just because of the patch on their jersey.” He did it to call out how unfair and biased the regular rankings can be, especially when some teams get special treatment just because of their name or the conference they’re in.

His biggest complaint is that some teams don’t fall in the rankings after losing because of “the patch on their jersey.” He means that if a team plays in a big conference like the SEC or Big Ten, they get a free pass even after a terrible loss.

Even Ohio State loyalist Kirk Herbstreit stirred debate earlier this week on the Nonstop podcast with Joey Golloday. Herbstreit surprised everyone by naming ‘Indiana’ as his top team. “My top five will probably shock you a little bit. Look what I did. And let me tell you why I did that,” Herbstreit said. He admitted he hadn’t given Indiana much credit before, even joking, “I have relatives that are IU alums that hate me because I’ve not given Indiana enough love.”

Herbstreit explained that last year, Indiana looked solid but didn’t prove itself against strong teams like Ohio State or Notre Dame. But this year, things changed. “I was excited to see how they’d play against Illinois,” he said. “I thought Illinois is a good team, and they blew Indiana.”

The Hoosiers’ 63-10 win completely changed Herbstreit’s view of them. His top five ended up being Indiana at No. 1, Ohio State at No. 2, Miami at No. 3, Texas A&M at No. 4, and Texas Tech at No. 5. RGIII’s list was similar, except he had Ole Miss at No. 4 instead of A&M. Apart from these individuals, even Curt Cignetti calls out the media for non-logical bias.

Curt Cignetti calls out media bias toward select conferences

Curt Cignetti, the ‘Google me, I win’ Man’, is the hottest name in college football. On The Joel Klatt Show, Cignetti talked about how Indiana went from being the media’s “darling,” to being overlooked last season. “Last year, we were kind of the media darling until the playoff rankings came out,” he said.

“When I got the job here, I felt like I had to be out there and make some noise to get people to notice Indiana football. That was what the program needed — someone to carry the flag and show we’re not afraid of the big boys.”

Last season, Cignetti guided the Hoosiers to 10 straight wins before losing to eventual champion Ohio State, still earning a Playoff berth as the No. 10 seed. That run helped build the foundation for this year’s even more vigorous campaign, and now, there’s a lot more confidence that the CFP committee will take Indiana seriously.

This year, Cignetti says the focus is on football and continuing to prove they belong among the elite. The 64-year-old coach also called out the national media for being divided, blaming it on TV networks that favor specific conferences. “College football has changed a lot in the last 10 to 15 years,” Cignetti said. “There’s definitely a divide in the media – tied to which TV network covers which conference.”

Regardless of that bias, Indiana’s dominance is hard to ignore. Cignetti’s Hoosiers are no longer underdogs; they play like a team that expects to be in a weekly playoff conversation. As for AP Poll legitimacy, it’s up to you, fans, to decide in the comments below.