2025 San Jose State Football Predictions: Spartans Ranked 80th in RJ Young's Ultimate 136

By RJ Young
Published

This isn't your average college football ranking.

My Ultimate 136 is a set of rankings that is fluid, but it's my job to look ahead and make a claim for all FBS teams based on what I know and why I know it. Here are the three pressing questions I started by asking when putting together this list:

  • Who do I think is good?
  • Why do I think they're good?
  • What are the chances they will finish above or below my expectations?

Here is a look at where San Jose State lands in my Ultimate 136.

San Jose State ranking: 80
Last year’s ranking: 110
Top player: LB Jordan Pollard: Second-team All-CUSA selection, led Liberty with 88 tackles last season.

[San Jose State's 2025 schedule]

RJ’s take: The Spartans managed to finish 7-6 in large part due to an air raid philosophy of feeding your best playmaker the ball as often as possible. That led to wide receiver Nick Nash catching 104 passes for 1,382 yards with an FBS-leading 16 touchdowns in 2024. Now, head coach Ken Niumatalolo has to try to replace that production with returning receiver Matthew Coleman, former Washington wideout Caleb Presley and USC cornerback Malik Crawford. 

But returning quarterback Walker Eget is going to have to do better than 2,504 passing yards with a 57.3 completion percentage and a 13-to-10 touchdown-to-interception ratio if San Jose State is to contend in the Mountain West.

[Check out RJ Young's Ultimate 136 College Football Rankings here]

San Jose State Win Total Odds: Over 7.5 (+114) Under 7.5 (-140)

Have an issue with my rankings? Think your alma mater is too low, or your school's rival is too high? Get at me on X, @RJ_Young, and I'll select my favorite tweets and respond to them in a future article.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him at @RJ_Young.