RotoWire.com is breaking down the most penalized college football teams during the 2025 season, updating on a weekly basis for the most up-to-date stats, to see which teams are the most disciplined. Using TeamRankings.com, we ranked teams based on a discipline score, which is found by taking Penalties per game + Penalty yards per game and dividing it by two. [(Penalties per game +penalty yards per game)/2].
2025's Most Penalized College Football Teams: Weekly Rankings & Analysis
Rank | Team | Discipline Score |
1 | Mississippi State Bulldogs | 66.5 |
2 | Maryland Terrapins | 57.0 |
3 | Appalachian State Mountaineers | 53.5 |
4 | Texas Tech Red Raiders | 52.0 |
5 | UNLV Rebels | 50.0 |
6 | Rutgers Scarlet Knights | 49.0 |
7 | East Carolina Pirates | 48.0 |
8 | Auburn Tigers | 46.0 |
9 | UCF Knights | 44.5 |
T10 | Utah State Aggies | 42.0 |
T10 | Florida Atlantic Owls | 42.0 |
12 | Wake Forest Demon Deacons | 41.5 |
13 | Kansas Jayhawks | 40.5 |
14 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 39.0 |
T15 | Kennesaw State Owls | 38.5 |
T15 | Stanford Cardinal | 38.5 |
17 | Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors | 37.5 |
18 | Old Dominion Monarchs | 37.0 |
T19 | Michigan Wolverines | 36.5 |
T19 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | 36.5 |
Who Are America's Most-Penalized CFB Teams?
After two weeks of college football, America's leading institute of improper gridiron execution is the Mississippi State Bulldogs of the SEC, who are 1-0 for the year after beating Southern Mississippi, 34-17, though they did so while committing 14 penalties for 119 yards against the Eagles.
That plethora of penalty flags earned the Bulldogs the top spot nationally, with a discipline score of 66.5 points, finishing ahead of the Maryland Terrapins, who committed 14 penalties for 100 yards in their 39-7 victory over FAU in Week 1, earning the Terps' a discipline score of 57.0 points.
Across the FBS, no other team committing more than 100 yards worth of infractions in the first full weekend of the season, though the Appalachian State Mountaineers of the Sun Belt Conference did their darnedest, with nine infractions worth a total of 98 yards in a 34-11 rout of Charlotte on Saturday, netting them a total score of 53.5 points.
The rest of the college football penalty top five were made up of teams like Texas Tech, which battled the elements and themselves in a 67-7 shellacking of Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Week 1, with a total score of 52.0 points to place fourth nationally, while the UNLV Rebels pulled down a score of 50.0 to rank fifth in the FBS after beating Idaho State and Sam Houston State by matching 38-21 scores to start the season.
Nationally, the other schools with the most penalty yards per game to open the year were the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (49.0 discipline score), East Carolina Pirates (48.0 score), Auburn Tigers (46.0 score), UCF Knights (44.5 score), Utah State Aggies and FAU Owls (42.0 score each) rounded out the CFB top 10, discipline wise.
Unsurprisingly, none of the teams on this week's list are near the top of the CFP title odds board at Bet365, with teams like Ohio State (+550), Penn State (+600), Georgia (+650), Texas (+750) and LSU (+1000) leading the way after two weeks of college football action, with the Alabama Crimson Tide being the highest ranked team of the lot, at +1400.
Bookmark RotoWire's Heisman Trophy odds as the season rolls along.
Q&A:
Q: What are the most penalized college football teams in 2025?
A: Each week of the 2025 season, RotoWire updates its rankings of the most penalized college football teams using penalty data from TeamRankings.com. Teams are ranked by their discipline score, which combines both penalties per game and penalty yards per game. The teams with the highest scores are considered the most penalized and least disciplined.
Q: How is the discipline score calculated?
A: The discipline score is designed to balance both the frequency of penalties and their impact. The formula is: (Penalties per game + Penalty yards per game) / 2. This ensures that a team that commits a lot of penalties and/or racks up significant yardage losses, gets reflected properly in the ranking.
Q: Why do penalties matter in college football?
A: Penalties can change the outcome of games. They can stall offensive drives, extend opponents' possessions, and swing momentum. Teams that consistently rank among the most penalized often struggle in close games, while disciplined teams are more likely to avoid costly mistakes in high pressure situations.
