College Football Stat Leaders

2025 Defensive PPA Leaders

Source-provided CFBD Predicted Points Added allowed per defensive play.

Seasons Covered

2004-2025

Current Leader

Toledo (-0.078)

Best Season

Texas State 2004 (-0.213)

Scope

All Conferences • 2025

Browse Metrics

Crawl sibling stat pages without leaving the shared leaderboard template.

Total Yards Per GamePassing Yards Per GameRushing Yards Per GamePoints Per GameOffensive PPADefensive PPATurnover MarginHavoc Rate

What The Numbers Say

Route-specific context pulled from the current leaderboard, winner trend, and historical baseline.

How Defensive PPA Reads

Defensive PPA is CFBD's source-provided scoring-value metric allowed by a defense, so lower numbers are better because they indicate opponents created less value per play. On this 2025 leaderboard, the visible range runs -0.078 to -0.014, with Toledo setting the pace.

Conference Context

Big 12 Conference places 1 of the current top 5 teams, while Mid-American Conference owns the most recent yearly winner slot in the trend table.

Spread At The Top

The gap from No. 1 Toledo to No. 5 Ohio State is 0.064, which shows how tightly packed the top of this leaderboard is.

Recent Trend And Baseline

The yearly winning mark improved from -0.010 in 2024 to -0.078 in 2025, a swing of 0.067. Toledo's current mark of -0.078 sits above the all-time average leader benchmark of -0.009 held by Alabama.

Leaderboard

Top 25 rows for the current route scope.

1ToledoMid-American Conference2025-0.078
2Texas TechBig 12 Conference2025-0.065
3San Diego StateMountain West Conference2025-0.018
4OklahomaSoutheastern Conference2025-0.016
5Ohio StateBig Ten Conference2025-0.014
6James MadisonSun Belt Conference20250.002
7IndianaBig Ten Conference20250.014
8Old DominionSun Belt20250.018
9Notre DameNCAA Division I FBS independent schools20250.023
10MissouriSoutheastern Conference20250.026
11SMUAtlantic Coast Conference20250.033
12MiamiAtlantic Coast Conference20250.034
13OregonBig Ten Conference20250.041
14Wake ForestAtlantic Coast Conference20250.041
15Louisiana TechConference USA20250.045
16East CarolinaAmerican Athletic Conference20250.050
17Western MichiganMid-American Conference20250.053
18IowaBig Ten Conference20250.055
19WashingtonBig Ten Conference20250.057
20AuburnSoutheastern Conference20250.060
21LouisvilleAtlantic Coast Conference20250.060
22BYUBig 12 Conference20250.063
23VirginiaAtlantic Coast Conference20250.064
24UtahBig 12 Conference20250.068
25WyomingMountain West Conference20250.069

Trend Chart

Yearly winning values for the current filter scope.

Yearly Winners

SeasonTeamConference at timeValue
2025ToledoMid-American Conference-0.078
2024Ohio StateBig Ten Conference-0.010
2023Penn StateBig Ten Conference-0.014
2022MarshallSun Belt Conference-0.043
2021GeorgiaSoutheastern Conference-0.046
2020San Diego StateMountain West Conference0.001
2019Ohio StateBig Ten Conference-0.011
2018Mississippi StateSoutheastern Conference-0.053
2017James MadisonCoastal Athletic Association Football Conference-0.069
2016AlabamaSoutheastern Conference-0.102
2015Boston CollegeAtlantic Coast Conference-0.086
2014Penn StateBig Ten Conference-0.045
2013Georgia SouthernSouthern Conference-0.086
2012Michigan StateBig Ten Conference-0.080
2011AlabamaSoutheastern Conference-0.137
2010Georgia SouthernSouthern Conference-0.080
2009TexasBig 12 Conference-0.099
2008USCPacific-10 Conference-0.106
2007Oregon StatePac-12 Conference-0.113
2006Western KentuckyMissouri Valley Football Conference-0.168
2005UL MonroeSun Belt Conference-0.184
2004Texas StateSouthland Conference-0.213

Historical Leaderboard

Average across seasons for each team in the current filter scope.

RankTeamSeasonsAverageBest Season
1Alabama2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004-0.0092004 (-0.177)
2Clemson2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0112004 (-0.065)
3Ohio State2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0182004 (-0.104)
4Iowa2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0312004 (-0.134)
5Penn State2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0332014 (-0.045)
6Georgia2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0362004 (-0.071)
7Wisconsin2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0372006 (-0.095)
8Michigan2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0382004 (-0.146)
9Boise State2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0512004 (-0.139)
10TCU2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0532008 (-0.097)
11Utah2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0532004 (-0.106)
12LSU2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0552004 (-0.115)
13Florida State2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0582004 (-0.149)
14Florida2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0602008 (-0.060)
15Notre Dame2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0612004 (-0.029)
16Virginia Tech2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0612004 (-0.186)
17Miami2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0612004 (-0.116)
18Oregon2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0612004 (-0.077)
19Texas2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0662009 (-0.099)
20Oklahoma2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0672004 (-0.103)
21San Diego State2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0672004 (-0.047)
22Auburn2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0692004 (-0.117)
23Boston College2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0702008 (-0.095)
24Pittsburgh2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0722004 (-0.081)
25Michigan State2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 20040.0732012 (-0.080)

Frequently Asked Questions

Who leads college football in defensive ppa in 2025?

Toledo ranks first at -0.078 in 2025.

Which team has the best all-time average in defensive ppa?

Alabama leads the historical average leaderboard at -0.009 across 22 seasons.

Who won the most recent defensive ppa season?

Toledo finished first in 2025 with -0.078.