Welcome to the 2025 college football preseason!

Offseason hibernation is over. The days are getting longer, but time is getting shorter until Ireland gets introduced to Farmaggedon. Now is the time to start learning about teams for 2025, whether it’s the new QB for the reigning National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes or who has the best chance to win Conference-USA. This series will cover my top 100 preseason teams for 2025 as we count down 100 days until Week 0. We will dive into a new team each day as we draw closer to the college football season.

Countdown to Kickoff: Day 99

Coming in at No. 99 in our 2025 preseason rankings: Florida International Golden Panthers.

Florida International is coached by Willie Simmons. He is in his 1st year with the program. Florida International finished the 2024 season with a record of 4-8 and 6th in Conference-USA.

Florida International returns 45% from the 2024 team: 44% on the Offense and 46% on the Defense. According to 247Sports, the Golden Panthers finished the 2025 cycle landing 23 recruits, ending the recruiting cycle with the 98 overall ranked class, good for 4/10 in the Conference-USA. Along with their high school recruiting, FIU has brought in 20 players through the transfer portal and has a portal ranking of 93. 43% of the 2025 roster will be made up of new additions.

Also in his first year, Offensive Coordinator Nick Coleman looks to improve the offense that averaged 24.9 points per game in 2024. The Golden Panthers finished 2024 with 63.1 plays per game (122nd nationally) and a pace of 27.5 seconds per play (101st). The offense averaged 34.1 runs for 121.3 per game, along with 27.5 pass attempts for 217.4 yards per game for a balanced 48%-52% run-pass play call split. The overall offensive success rate was 39%.

Up front, Florida International returns 39% of their Offensive Line production from last year, with 1 defined starter for 2025. Keyone Jenkins returns from last year and looks to grow as a Junior. In 2024, Jenkins finished as the 50th-ranked QB with 21.2 fantasy points per game. In 75% of games, Jenkins passed for at least 129 yards and 1 touchdown to score at least 13.35 fantasy points, with a season high of 43.6 and a low of -2.3. The Golden Panthers used the spring window to focus on improving last season’s average 42% passing success rate.

Jenkins will rely on transfer pass catchers Alex Perry and Dallas Payne to step up this year in place of Eric Rivers and Dean Patterson. As WR1, Rivers totaled 1172 yards and 12 touchdowns off 62 receptions last year. That earned him the 6th rank among wide receivers in 2024 with 20.7 fantasy points per game. He totaled 13.2 fantasy points in 75% of games, eclipsing 51 total yards, 1 touchdown, and 4 receptions. His best game was against New Mexico State, where he caught 11 passes for 295 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Tight End Antonio Ferguson will look to solidify himself as an offensive weapon. In 2024, Josiah Miamen caught 10 passes for 120 yards. Finishing as TE 195, Miamen averaged 3.2 fantasy points and scored 2.7 fantasy points in 75% of games.

With the return of starter Kejon Owens, the FIU backfield returns 68% of rushing production from last year. Owens’s skillset, mixed with the game script, led him to 92 carries, 392 yards, and 5 touchdowns. Owens finished as the 166th-ranked RB with 7.6 fantasy points per game. Owens surpassed 3.6 fantasy points in 75% of his games, totaling 20 rushing yards. Look for Owens to improve on the team’s bad success running the ball in 2024 at 37%.

After finishing 2024 with a record of 4-8, Florida International enters 2025 with the 110th-ranked strength of schedule. The Golden Panthers will play in front of the home crowd 6 times, with back-to-back home games in Weeks 3 and 4, along with Weeks 12 and 13.

Our model predicts a 6-6 record for FIU. Our model gives the team a 75+% win expectancy in 1 game, a 50-75% win expectancy in 7 games, a 25-50% win expectancy in 1 game, and <25% win expectancy in 3 games.

The Golden Panthers are predicted to finish 6th in Conference-USA, according to their conference championship odds of +1500.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to return tomorrow as we continue the countdown with team 98.

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Returning Production for all teams can be found at Punt and Rally

Stats for all players can be found at College Football Team Stats | TeamRankings.com