RotoWire.com, where you can find the best college football betting information, used follower counts from Instagram and X to create a social media hype power ranking system for college football teams' official accounts, ranking teams based on percentage growth week-over-week on the platforms, following their previous game.
At the end of the season, we pulled out the teams with the most impact across a handful of categories.
The categories are:
- Social Consistency Leaders - the programs that were featured on our rankings the most
- Top 5 Mainstays – teams that were in the Top 5 most frequently
- Top Rank Movers – teams that jumped the most spots in our rankings week-over-week
- Growth Spike Leader – teams that had the strongest week-over-week growth throughout the season
Social Consistency Leaders
Team | Total Weeks |
| 8 Weeks |
| 8 Weeks |
New Mexico Lobos
North Texas Mean Green Looking back at the 2025 college football season, two teams stood tall when it came to growth on social media, with the North Texas Mean Green and New Mexico Lobos riding successful seasons and parlaying them into newfound online popularity.
In North Texas' case, a historic 12-2 season in the final year of head coach Eric Morris' time in Denton saw the American Conference stalwart finish with double-digit wins for the first time in a single season, with the school reaching as high as No. 20 in the AP poll and beating San Diego State (49-47) in this year's New Mexico Bowl to cap things off.
In Albuquerque, the first season of Jason Eck's time with the Lobos was nearly as magical, with UNM going 9-4 and finishing in a tie with three teams (1997, 2007 and 2016) for the second-most wins in school history, ranking behind the 1982 squad that went 10-1.
Unlike that 1982 squad, UNM played in a bowl game this season, though the Lobos were on the wrong end of a 20-17 loss to Minnesota in the Rate Bowl.
Overall, the two teams finished inside our social media rankings for eight weeks apiece, helping both lay claim to being CFB's most consistent social media darlings in 2025.
Top 5 Mainstays
Team | Total Top 5 Spots |
| 7 Weeks |
Speaking of the Lobos, New Mexico's first bowl eligible team since 2016 finished with the most weeks spent inside the top five of our social media rankings during the year, doing so for seven weeks in total.
That consistency is the direct result of Eck's affable nature, along with the Lobos' rise to success after spending years around the bottom of the Mountain West Conference standings and the work put in by the school's creative team during the year, according to Natalie Clark, who is UNM's director of creative content and social media.
"It's been exciting to showcase the Lobo Football team's journey and the belief the players have in the program through social media," Clark told RotoWire.com. "Our head coach has played a major role in the program's social media growth because he's eager to be part of the content and use his platform to amplify visibility. We have a great team of creatives who bring different strengths, prepare for and capitalize on big moments, and produce versatile content that elevates the program."
Top Rank Movers
Team | WoW Jump |
| +67 Positions |
| +67 Positions |
Texas State Bobcats
Western Michigan Broncos When it came to the college football teams that made the biggest movements on social media during a single week of the season, few could contend with the likes of Texas State and Western Michigan.
That's because the Bobcats and Broncos both saw their social media rankings jump by 67 spots apiece at some point during the year, giving them the honor of taking home our top rank movers award for the 2025 season.
According to Griffin Rowe Cohen, who serves as the creative director and recruiting content coordinator for the Broncos, the school's ability to climb the ranks online stemmed from creating quality content that speaks for the team at large, allowing football fans of all backgrounds to relate with and connect with WMU online.
"There is no doubt that meaningful, impactful, social content drives the engagement that surrounds a program; but it can also set the tempo for the athletes themselves," Cohen said. "Our primary goal this year was to distinguish ourselves as a brand, be present and vocal within the team itself, find opportunities to grow, and showcase the talent of EVERYONE in the building that contributed to the seasons' success."
Growth Spike Leader
Team | WoW Growth Spike |
| +3.227% |
Speaking of the Bobcats, Texas State's 7-6 campaign under head coach G.J. Kinne didn't just end on a high note with the program routing Rice, 41-10, in the Armed Forces Bowl.
It also included the nation's top week-over-week growth rate, social media follower wise, with the Bobcats averaging a +3.227% growth rate during the year, speaking to the program's ongoing rise that's helped them go from FBS newcomer in 2012 to Sun Belt Conference contender under Kinne's watch, with a move to the reconstituted Pac-12 awaiting them on July 1.
When it comes to online presence, Gabrielle Barnes, who serves as Texas State's social media coordinator and graphic designer, said the school actively embraces social media as a way to grow the Bobcats' football program, helping spur non-fans into supporting the San Marcos-based university by helping connect them to the program at large.
"Social media has become a vital extension of a football program's brand and visibility," Barnes said. "Our growth comes from being intentional — leaning into authentic storytelling, adapting quickly to trends, and creating content that reflects who we are both on and off the field. A major part of our strategy is collaboration. If you aren't already watching Texas State Football, we want you to see Texas State Football. Partnering with other football and sports media accounts allows us to bring new eyes to our page, amplify our football players, and expand our reach beyond our existing audience. When creativity, collaboration, and authenticity align, growth follows."
