Official 2025 College Football Thread

[Edward64]

Alright, new thread for a new season, Aug 23 is the official start of CFB season.

College Football News has their Top-25 and there are 6 SEC teams in the top 25. IMO somewhat underrepresented (I mean, where are the Hogs?) but we'll see soon enough.

collegefootballnews.com

25 James Madison Dukes
24 Memphis Tigers
23 Toledo Rockets
22 Liberty Flames
21 Tulane Green Wave
20 Louisville Cardinals
19 SMU Mustangs
18 Kansas State Wildcats
17 Indiana Hoosiers
16 USC Trojans
15 Ole Miss Rebels
14 Michigan Wolverines
13 Oklahoma Sooners
12 Clemson Tigers
11 Boise State Broncos
10 Alabama Crimson Tide
9 Oregon Ducks
8 Georgia Bulldogs
7 LSU Tigers
6 Ohio State Buckeyes
5 Utah Utes
4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
3 Miami Hurricanes
2 Texas Longhorns
1 Penn State Nittany Lions

Not much news for the Hogs. Returning QB Green for his 2nd season under Petrino. The Hogs have lost a lot of starters. I'll be happy for another 6-6 season and minor bowl game but wouldn't be surprised if we didn't go to one. I think this is the last year for Sam Pittman. Short of wildly exceeding expectations of mediocrity (or worse), think this is his last year.

EDIT: below came out a day after I made above prediction about Pittman. Hope is high but reality & expectations are low

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/ne...-team-in-2025/

There is very little buzz around the football program right now. And while the posturing from Arkansas all offseason has signaled that head coach Sam Pittman will be coaching out his contract, a lifeless start will test the patience of the administration. Let’s just say Arkansas loses 5 in a row from Sept. 13 through Oct. 18. If the Auburn game (at home) goes sideways, offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino will get a shot in a winnable game against Mississippi State the following weekend.

[albionmoonlight]

I was at the gym the other day watching the TVs on mute. And the local news had a piece about the area of football coaches, all being part of some coaches kickoff against cancer fundraiser or something like that. And watching Bill Belichick have to stand there and pretend he wanted to be there as opposed to coaching football was really funny. The man really is not wired like a college coach and I still think his tenure will be short and semi disastrous.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I was at the gym the other day watching the TVs on mute. And the local news had a piece about the area of football coaches, all being part of some coaches kickoff against cancer fundraiser or something like that. And watching Bill Belichick have to stand there and pretend he wanted to be there as opposed to coaching football was really funny. The man really is not wired like a college coach and I still think his tenure will be short and semi disastrous.

I hadn't thought about this until now, but this story made me think "hmm, it's like a more skilled Jim Donnan"

[GrantDawg]

Deion Sanders has a press conference scheduled with his medical team to update everybody on his health. It seems he has been in and out of the hospital since April, and it must have been something big. Some speculation that he is stepping down, but it looks more like he is in recovery from whatever it is and plans to come back this year. He might be limited early.

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[Atocep]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I hadn't thought about this until now, but this story made me think "hmm, it's like a more skilled Jim Donnan"

Jim Donnan's best skill was paying players 1-A rates in 1-AA.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Deion Sanders has a press conference scheduled with his medical team to update everybody on his health. It seems he has been in and out of the hospital since April, and it must have been something big. Some speculation that he is stepping down, but it looks more like he is in recovery from whatever it is and plans to come back this year. He might be limited early.

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Colorado coach Deion Sanders said he has beaten bladder cancer - ESPN

[Edward64]

CFN strength of schedule.

Hogs at #5. Rooting for 6-6 and minor bowl but realistically, a losing season. I just hope Petrino can make some close (and fun).

collegefootballnews.com

5 Arkansas
Strength of Schedule Score: 416
Hardest Game: Nov 22 at Texas
Easiest Game: Aug 30 Alabama A&M

[Edward64]

I don't know why but CFN has updated their SoS from just a couple days ago and the Hogs are now #1.

5 Mississippi State
Strength of Schedule Score: 408

4 Wisconsin
Strength of Schedule Score: 386.5

3 Florida
Strength of Schedule Score: 384

2 UCLA
Strength of Schedule Score: 363.5

1 Arkansas
Strength of Schedule Score: 332

The initial rankings never hold up, be interesting on the real SoS at end of season.

[Edward64]

AP Top-25 is out.

Top-10 order is pretty different from collegefootballnews ranking above. No real surprise I guess.

1. Texas
2. Penn State
3. Ohio State
4. Clemson
5. Georgia
6. Notre Dame
7. Oregon
8. Alabama
9. LSU
10. Miami
11. Arizona State
12. Illinois
13. South Carolina
14. Michigan
15. Florida
16. SMU
17. Kansas State
18. Oklahoma
19. Texas A&M
20. Indiana
21. Ole Miss
22. Iowa State
23. Texas Tech
24. Tennessee
25. Boise State

Others receiving votes:

BYU 156, Utah 144, Baylor 132, Louisville 90, Southern Cal 64, Georgia Tech 63, Missouri 33, Tulane 23, Nebraska 23, UNLV 21, Toledo 13, Auburn 10, James Madison 9, Memphis 9, Florida St. 8, Duke 6, Liberty 5, Navy 5, Iowa 5, TCU 4, Pittsburgh 3, Army 2, Colorado 1, Louisiana-Lafayette 1.

[bhlloy]

Does it strike anyone else as interesting that ESPN is subtitling the week 0 game in Ireland as “Farmageddon”?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Does it strike anyone else as interesting that ESPN is subtitling the week 0 game in Ireland as “Farmageddon”?

That's apparently the official name of that particular rivalry

[HerRealName]

The sackless NCAA let Michigan go with a big fine. They explicitly call out that they deserved a two year postseason ban but went against their regulations. It's open season now.

[sovereignstar v2]

Now?

[HerRealName]

On the financial side they were already irrelevant. You can expand that to all cheating related activities as well. No school should ever cooperate with them again.

[JonInMiddleGA]

With Harbaugh now having show-cause penalties totaling fourteen years, I have to think that's got to be a record for a college HC ... unless somebody has gotten a lifetime ban.

Anybody know off-hand whether that's happened (I'm thinking MAYBE the SMU scandal but I don't know honestly)

edit: if the Google AI is correct, it's the most ban years for a coach for anything other than gambling. The record appears to be a single 15 year show cause for three people with gambling (2 basketball, 1 baseball)

[HerRealName]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

With Harbaugh now having show-cause penalties totaling fourteen years, I have to think that's got to be a record for a college HC ... unless somebody has gotten a lifetime ban.

Anybody know off-hand whether that's happened (I'm thinking MAYBE the SMU scandal but I don't know honestly)

I think Bliss at Baylor previously held the record at 10 years.

[HerRealName]

Sorry, I know I've posted about this too often but I thought this was hilarious.

The NCAA: "Harbaugh ran a program that was largely dismissive of rules compliance. There was little, if any, emphasis on following the rules."

— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) August 15, 2025

"Michigan agreed that Harbaugh violated head coach responsibility legislation. Harbaugh,
however, disagreed with this violation in his NOA response. Specifically, Harbaugh stated that a
head coach responsibility violation would constitute “double jeopardy,” since he already received
a three-game suspension from the Big Ten Conference in response to the scouting scheme.
However, the conference’s imposition of a penalty does not impact the COI’s ability to conclude
that a violation occurred."

[GrantDawg]

SEC announce they are officially going to a 9 conference game schedule in 2026. The plan is three permanent rival games and 6 rotating games, with every team playing every other team every two years, and a home and home every 4. They said the three rival games will be reevaluated every four years. I find it pretty easy to come up with lots of teams permanent three, but I hit a wall with some (like Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri...)

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

SEC announce they are officially going to a 9 conference game schedule in 2026. The plan is three permanent rival games and 6 rotating games, with every team playing every other team every two years, and a home and home every 4. They said the three rival games will be reevaluated every four years. I find it pretty easy to come up with lots of teams permanent three, but I hit a wall with some (like Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri...)

For the Hogs, I want Texas, LSU and Old Miss !!

[sovereignstar v2]

Gophers almost losing to Buffalo in the first half at home, but this might be the most promising QB I’ve seen play for us in a long time

Rs Frosh Drake Lindsey from Arkansas

[Edward64]

Good to see an Arkansas kid doing well elsewhere. Hope he does great up there.

I really cannot fault any Arkansas HS kid not staying home. Our program is ... trending down. A miracle could still happen, but if it did, it'll probably be because of Petrino and not Pittman.

[bhlloy]

I absolutely DESPISE the trend to spend large parts of broadcasts these days talking to somebody about bullshit that has very little or nothing to do with the game.

Wisconsin's starting QB gets hurt on a potentially serious non-contact play and the booth doesn't even notice or show it because they are too busy asking Montee Ball some nonsense trivia about Wisconsin hall of famers. Are there more than 10 people in the country who care about that? Is there anyone in the country who wants to hear Montee Ball talk for more than 30 seconds over one of the first big college football game of the year?

Christ I sound like a boomer... but please just show and talk about the game. Is that too much to ask?

[cuervo72]

I also yell at clouds on this. I want to hear two/three guys talking about the game and sometimes other things, and that's it. No in-game interviews with coaches/managers, no mic'd up players. Keep other people out of the booth.

Preseason football this year was particularly bad. Not that the action is particularly gripping, but it's still something. But I'd tune in and there would be multiple 15 minute stretches of just talking to whomever with nary a care what was happening on the field. Especially don't care if this is an out of market game.

[sovereignstar v2]

Thats the thing, Edward. Everything I have read says Arkansas never offered him, which seems crazy with him being a legacy guy and he is from the hometown. Like what the heck. Put up ridiculous numbers and was Gatorade PotY in AR. He doesnt seem very mobile, but his arm looks like it could be special - at least in a Gopherly sense lol. It did seem like the Gophers were in on him early and had him fairly boxed off. I guess his family is loaded so we might not have to worry about NIL if his stock does take off. I think he absolutely shiuld have been a 4 star recruit

[bhlloy]

Woof. I hate bagging on a guy who just beat cancer, but that last two minutes for Colorado was about as poorly coached as it is possible to coach.

[RainMaker]

Haynes King pretty fun to watch.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Haynes King pretty fun to watch.

He is that dude.

[bob]

I really hope we don't have to run King like that all season.

Also, nice of Deion to not use his timeouts there at the end of the 4th quarter. Really just some terrible clock management. Got the ball with 1:07 left and didn't use his last two timeouts... and then ran out of time.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by bob

I really hope we don't have to run King like that all season.

Also, nice of Deion to not use his timeouts there at the end of the 4th quarter. Really just some terrible clock management. Got the ball with 1:07 left and didn't use his last two timeouts... and then ran out of time.

Didn't help his QB ran around like a chicken with his head cut off and ran a bunch of time off the clock.

[JPhillips]

So much talk about how important this OSU/TX game is and I'm sitting here thinking it doesn't matter one bit. The loser can easily get into the playoffs even with another loss.

[JPhillips]

I know the defenses are great, but this OSU/TX game isn't great entertainment.

[albionmoonlight]

game looks a little too big for Arch Manning right now

[bhlloy]

At least Mel Kiper will be able to reuse all his notes from this year on Shedeur Sanders at next years draft

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

At least Mel Kiper will be able to reuse all his notes from this year on Shedeur Sanders at next years draft

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

At least Mel Kiper will be able to reuse all his notes from this year on Shedeur Sanders at next years draft

[JonInMiddleGA]

Yeah, Vols have scored 31 points in the first half.

It's pretty obvious that Syracuse is absolute assssss defensively.

But how does one interpret the 9/18 passing? Is it great that they've scored 31 points despite all that? Or is it increasingly worrisome that there's only 9/18 passing against a defense this bad?

Up big at the half but I've seen very little (aside from the running back) that makes me feel inclined to change my 8-4 or 7-5 expectations for a Tennessee team with this QB starting.

[JPhillips]

Sayin has looked pretty good, but the whole offense only goes ten yards deep right now. There's no mid or long game.

edit: lol literally 30 seconds later.

[GrantDawg]

Manning really not impressive. He can grow, obviously. Right now he looks "eh."

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[bronconick]

Replays should have a timer. If you can't decide in 2 minutes, call stands.

[Atocep]

Probably a week 1 overreaction, but neither OSU or Texas looked like top 10 teams let along top 5.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Probably a week 1 overreaction, but neither OSU or Texas looked like top 10 teams let along top 5.

Agreed, but it is way too early. Both of those offenses will look better as the season progresses. Those are probably two of the best defenses in CFB right now as well.

[HerRealName]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Probably a week 1 overreaction, but neither OSU or Texas looked like top 10 teams let along top 5.

Despite all the hype for Manning, both teams were playing with inexperienced QBs. Sayin is a RS Freshman and hadn't even taken a meaningful snap in a game before today. I'm glad Ohio State won but both teams will look nothing like this at the end of the season.

[GrantDawg]

Bama's defense not exactly projecting fear right now.

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[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Bama's defense not exactly projecting fear right now.

With every passing minute the coaching search in Tuscaloosa intensifies

This looks like an 8-4 team at most.

[sovereignstar v2]

What a fine Saturday afternoon

[Edward64]

Hogs up 31-7 at the half over the Aggies!

(... Alabama Aggies that is)


Hope our QB2 get some playing time in 4Q

[sovereignstar v2]

William Wallace: HOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLDD

[GrantDawg]

Bama going to have a long season. Well, at least some of the coaching staff is going to have a long season.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Manning really not impressive. He can grow, obviously. Right now he looks "eh."

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I would have been the first one to crush the kid when I was younger but I hope Arch gets a bit of a break now. The desperation from the sports media to crown him not just as the next Manning but the equal of seven year NFL vet Peyton right now all spring/summer was ridiculous.

[Thomkal]

So yeah Coastal not looking good this season-losing 45-7 to Virginia right now