By David Asbury
The 2025 Season Starts Now!
ODU just released its schedule! Make sure you buy your tickets for this make-or-break season which is shaping up to be a good one. It is Spring, so it is way too early for any locked in predictions but we still have a lot of information on how good each school should be going into 2025. I am very high on this ODU team but I prefer not to do power rankings for the Sun Belt Conference for multiple reasons. One of which is because I do not think any team is outside of the Monarchs' reach for an upset. Moreover, I prefer to give ODU fans a picture on just how difficult each game should be compared to another.
This season, looks like a mixed bag from tough P4 road matchups and easier FCS and lower-tier SBC teams. It is certainly easier than past seasons. There is no matchup the Monarchs cannot win but there is also no FBS matchup that is a sure win. The Monarchs' outlook looks good and expectations should be higher than most recent years. It really is shaping up to be a special season.
These rankings are solely the opinion of David M. Asbury and do not reflect the opinion of The Pride of ODU Collective or the other Monarchists.
1. Indiana
(8/30, Bloomington, IN, ) - The Indiana Hoosiers had a Cinderella playoff season last year losing to only two teams, Notre Dame and Ohio State. There's no shame losing to those teams because both ended up playing in the National Championship. 2024 was a huge accomplishment for the Hoosiers but it will be difficult to replicate it in 2025. The Hoosiers will have a more difficult schedule and have had a lot of turnover. But still, this Big Ten school should be the best team on the Monarchs' schedule and could even be ranked at the time of the game. ODU is also 0-2 against IU head coach Curt Cignetti. If Old Dominion were to go into Bloomington and defeat the Hoosiers (which is not impossible) it would shock the college football world.
2. Virginia Tech
(9/13, Blacksburg, VA) - The Hokies actually disappointed last season going 6-7, losing their bowl game. They had been expected to compete for the ACC and had the returning personnel to do so. Head coach Brent Pry is now on the hot seat and it would not be surprising that he loses his job after another disappointing season. But again, the Hokies are a P4 team with a budget that dwarfs ODU's. The Monarchs have never defeated them in Blacksburg and doing it this year will be an uphill battle. On the bright side, the Hokies face two SEC teams the weeks before the match-up while the Monarchs will probably be coming off an easy FCS win. The Hokies could be beat up after such competition and play a down game against an ODU team that historically plays up to them.
The Monarchs are 2-4 against the Hokies, but 0-3 in Blacksburg. Photo Courtesy of CB Sports Photography.
3. James Madison
(10/18, Harrisonburg, VA) - The damn vassals are probably ODU's top competition in the Sun Belt. Bob Chesney returns good pieces from his team last season and also picked up a top quarterback Matthew Sluka from the transfer portal that already knows his system from their time together at Holy Cross. Alonza Barnett is likely out for the season with injury, but Sluka may be just as good and has plenty of experience. Rahne needs a win here as he is 0-3 in the Royal Rivalry and Monarch fans have a right to be mad about that.
ODU is 2-0 against JMU when both teams were in the FCS but now 0-3 against them in the FBS. The Monarchs need to beat their rival. Photo Courtesy of CB Sports Photography.
4. Liberty
(9/27, Norfolk, VA) - This Liberty team is not the same as the stellar 2023 team that won CUSA, embarrassed ODU, and went to a NY6 Bowl. Jamey Chadwell had a down season in 2024 and star quarterback Kaidon Salter left for Deion Sanders' Colorado. However, Liberty returns a lot of its 2024 production and replaced Salter at quarterback. The villain who decommitted from ODU, Ethan Vasko transferred to Liberty and will return to the Castle where he won the high school state championship for Oscar Smith and got his first college start and win against the Monarchs in 2023. While starting at CCU, Vasko defeated the Monarchs twice in the past two seasons. Vasko has some competition for the starting role there but even if he does not play, the Monarchs must be striving for revenge.
5. Georgia Southern
(11/22, Statesboro, GA) - Clay Helton's Eagles have a pretty strong identity. They can pass the ball on anybody and will score a lot of points even if his quarterbacks also throw a lot of interceptions. Meanwhile Helton's defenses...will let just about anybody score on them. Still, Helton returns his quarterback in JC French as well as other playmakers. Expect high scores in their games and to compete with JMU and ODU for the East.
Colton Joseph had a career game against Georgia Southern in 2024.
6. Troy
(Thursday, 11/13, Norfolk, VA) - Troy was a juggernaut in the Sun Belt not too long ago but first year head coach Gerard Parker had a down season in 2024 going 4-8. That's okay though, first-year head coaches can have mulligans while they rebuild. This year, much more is expected from Troy as Parker should have this team progressing and because they have the most returning production in the Sun Belt. But will they though? The West may be more difficult to win with a rebuilt Southern Miss. competing with the other good teams that division already has.
7. App. State
(10/25, Norfolk, VA) - After a disappointing 5-7 season, the App. State Mountaineers will have a new head coach and a lot of roster turnover. They did very well in the transfer portal but it is still a lot of turnover. Given so much turnover, it is a little mysterious if they can climb these rankings fast or drop these rankings fast. It really could go either way so seven is a good place for them until we get more information.
ODU defeated App. State for the first time in Norfolk in 2023. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.
8. Marshall
(10/11, Huntington, WV) - Similar to App. State, the Herd are in a complete rebuild after Huff won a SBC Championship and then took all of his best players with him. Also like App. State, new head coach Tony Gibson did pretty well recruiting in the transfer portal. They likely will not compete for the entire conference again but we just might see this brand new team put it together quickly and go bowling. But just like App. State, its pretty mysterious. I am giving App. State the edge because the Herd is in last place in the conference for returning production.
Marshall has been a major thorn in ODU's side since 2014 and have not beat them since 2016. If they cannot defeat them this year with so much turnover then I am just not sure if Rahne's team ever will. Photo Courtesy of CB Sports Photography
9. Coastal Carolina
(10/4, Norfolk, VA) - Tim Beck's CCU might be going in the wrong direction. They faced 37 transfers out without that many great transfers in. They played their bowl game in their own stadium for the Myrtle Beach Bowl and the team they left behind got throttled by UTSA. They were on CFBudge's list of teams he does not feel great about. Beck's third season at Coastal with two new coordinators will be a huge test for him. If they miss a bowl game, expect him to be on the hot seat in 2026. On the other hand, with the turnover at Marshall and App. State, maybe he can jump them on this list?
ODU is 2-2 against Coastal Carolina defeating them in 2022 and the 2012 FCS Playoffs. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.
10. UL-Monroe
(11/1, Monroe, LA) - ULM has been a basement dweller in the Sun Belt for years. Every other team SBC team expects to defeat them. Surprisingly, last season first-year head coach Bryant Vincent started the team 5-1 with an impressive win against James Madison at home. Running back Ahmad Hardy played well enough to be named the SBC Freshman of the Year. Many thought they might shock the world and make it to the SBC Championship Game. But all that was fool's gold hiding behind an easy start in the schedule. They ended 2024 losing their last six conference games and missing a bowl game. This season, the Warhawks have a lot of returning production on defense and might have one of the best defenses in the conference. However, the offense looks very questionable after that stud running back transferred to Mizzou.
11. Georgia State
(11/29, Norfolk, VA) - Dell McGee's Panthers can hang their hat on their win against Vanderbilt but otherwise 2024 was a bad season going 3-9. Well, McGee should get a mulligan because it was his first year, they had significant roster turnover, and he was hired late in the process. At the time, I genuinely liked the hire but nothing the Panthers have done this offseason makes it look like 2025 will fare any better. There were major shakeups at both coordinator positions. McGee promoted former-NFL head coach Hue Jackson to be the team's offensive coordinator. Is that really an improvement to hire the guy that went 3-36 as the Cleveland Browns head coach? His recent time in college football at Tennessee State and Grambling State were not impressive either. I have my doubts. The Panthers need to prove it before climbing this list.
The Monarchs are 5-1 against the Georgia State Panthers only losing to them during the rough 2022 season. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.
12. NC Central
(9/6, Norfolk, VA) - Coming in at last place is, of course, the FCS team from the MEAC. NC Central is a very good MEAC school that can compete to win that conference but ODU should easily defeat any team from the MEAC because it is just not a top FCS conference. ODU is 8-0 against teams from the FCS since the Monarchs promoted to FBS in 2014. That streak should continue here. However, the Monarchs cannot take the team lightly. A loss here would be an unrecoverable embarrassment. Indeed, in 2023, the Monarchs just barely defeated Texas A&M-Commerce by a single point and that was embarrassment enough.
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