2025-2026 College Football Thread

[BizCat]

Love watching Penn State lose.

Hated watching SMU lose.

[ChadFL]

VERY happy about UCF's hire of Scott Frost. The guy was a disaster at his alma mater Nebraska, but there is no doubt his prior stint at UCF was a monumental success, ushering in their best years, including a perfect 13-0 season in 2017.

[ChadFL]

Opening CFP spreads. Home teams are all favored by at least a TD in the first round.

5. Texas (-10.5) vs. 12. Clemson
6. Penn St. (-8.5) vs. 11. SMU
7. Notre Dame (-8.5) vs. 10. Indiana
8. Ohio St. (-7) vs. 9. Tennessee

Can't say I have any major complaints with the field they selected or the seeding. Guess the biggest two misses were my Canes and Alabama. But Bama lost 3 games and the U played like trash at the end of the year, so I definitely don't feel either was snubbed.

The biggest surprise for me was 2-loss Arizona St. getting a bye over 1-loss Notre Dame. By every statistical measure, Arizona St. simply isn't a better team than Notre Dame (or Ohio St., Texas, and Penn St. for that matter). I suspect that selection was for a few reasons. Maybe the committee didn't want to be seen as having a pro-ND bias, which historically is the case with both polls and committees. Also, Notre Dame playing an extra playoff game is a great thing financially and for TV ratings. All four teams they selected for byes were conference champions from different conferences, so they clearly put weight into that and probably didn't want to favor any one conference too much.

Nice to see Boise St. finally get an actual shot at a national title, after going through decades under the old system where they could frequently go undefeated or 1-loss, making an winning major bowl games, but never compete for a national title. Still irks me a little that UCF's finest team's in 2017-18 never got a shot at competing for a title despite two undefeated regular seasons, but at least something like that won't happen in the future.

As far as who wins the national title, I really don't see anyone as strong favorites. Unlike the past several years, none of these teams really feels dominant. Here are the current betting odds for national champ. Nobody has much better than 4-1 odds, with Georgia, Texas, Oregon clustered together, followed by Ohio St., Penn St. Oregon was the best team in the regular season, but hardly dominant. Their avg margin of victory was only 18 PPG and their wins against top teams (Boise St. Ohio St., Penn St.) were all very close.

Georgia +360
Texas +360
Oregon +380
Ohio St. +500
Penn St. +600
Notre Dame +1200
Everyone else is +2500 or worse

Georgia is an enigma this year. I always hate betting against Kirby Smart (unless they're playing Bama). I do think this is his least talented team in many years, but they did play a brutal schedule, which included 4 games against playoff teams (Texas x2, Tennessee, Clemson) and another 2 games against teams that barely missed the playoff (Bama, Ole Miss). They also went 4-0 against teams that made the playoff, with 3 of those games double-digit wins.

[JDub1]

What's the point of playing bowl games since college fotball is now about being in the playoffs. My Hawkeyes are playing in the Music City Bowl & I could care less. That stadium will be half empty.

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by JDub1

What's the point of playing bowl games since college fotball is now about being in the playoffs. My Hawkeyes are playing in the Music City Bowl & I could care less. That stadium will be half empty.

Money, apparently. Supposedly, those bowl games still generate decent revenue, presumably from TV deals.

For some teams in the playoff, if they make it to the national title game, they'll have played 17 games for the season. Crazy given when I was a kid the standard was 12 games, including bowl game.

Then again, the longer schedules is happening across all levels of football. NFL has expanded to 17 games, with fewer teams getting a playoff bye. When I was a kid here in Florida, a high school state title worked out to around 12 or 13 games played, compared to 15 or 16 today.

[JDub1]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

Money, apparently. Supposedly, those bowl games still generate decent revenue, presumably from TV deals.

For some teams in the playoff, if they make it to the national title game, they'll have played 17 games for the season. Crazy given when I was a kid the standard was 12 games, including bowl game.

Then again, the longer schedules is happening across all levels of football. NFL has expanded to 17 games, with fewer teams getting a playoff bye. When I was a kid here in Florida, a high school state title worked out to around 12 or 13 games played, compared to 15 or 16 today.

And because of the extended season in college because of the playoffs, I bet college level junior football players will leave for the NFL if they know they can make it.

[Eye Candy]

[BizCat]

I would love to see Indiana pull of a Round 1 victory.

[JDub1]

Am hearing that Indiana vs Notre Dame tickets are running for $5 grand

[traths]

Bill Belichick got hired to be the North Carolina head coach. He will be 73 years old in April so it makes me wonder how many more years does he have left?

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by traths

Bill Belichick got hired to be the North Carolina head coach. He will be 73 years old in April so it makes me wonder how many more years does he have left?

Not sure how many he'll be able to to coach, but I can see that guy living to 90+ easily. His dad lived to age 86 and his mom 98, so good genes. Still, a bizarre move. I never thought he'd coach again, let alone college football, which he has never done before. Somehow, UNC does manage to get big name coaches despite being a historically mediocre football program.

[BizCat]

Rich Rod is back in WV

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by BizCat

Rich Rod is back in WV

Really, the only big program he had any real success. Should be a good fit.

[The Lizard King]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

Not sure how many he'll be able to to coach, but I can see that guy living to 90+ easily. His dad lived to age 86 and his mom 98, so good genes. Still, a bizarre move. I never thought he'd coach again, let alone college football, which he has never done before. Somehow, UNC does manage to get big name coaches despite being a historically mediocre football program.

His GF is 24, so he's getting plenty of exercise.

[JDub1]

Watching the Army vs Navy game was like watching a Rose Bowl game from the 1980's. Navy was to fast and athletic for the big, slow lumbering Black Knight players.

[JDub1]

Indiana in the 1st half so far looking like typical Indiana football vs N. Dame.

[ChadFL]

LOL @ Georgia only being a 1.5 point favorite vs. Notre Dame.

[Eye Candy]

Texas with 21 point lead. Nice.

[ChadFL]

Updates quarterfinal spreads. Penn St. opening as a double digit favorite. Seems a bit steep. Georgia seems like they should be a good deal more than a 1.5 point favorite.

Matchups Set:
Sugar Bowl - 2. Georgia (-1.5) vs. 7. Notre Dame
Fiesta Bowl - 6. Penn St. (-10) vs. 3. Boise St.

Projected spreads for matchups not yet set in stone. Oregon expected to be favored regardless of opponent, Arizona St. an underdog regardless.

Peach Bowl - 5. Texas (-13.5) vs. 4. Arizona St.
Peach Bowl - 12. Clemson (-4.5) vs. 4. Arizona St.
Rose Bowl - 1. Oregon (-1.5) vs. 8. Ohio St.
Rose Bowl - 1. Oregon (-4.5) vs. 9. Tennessee

[emac213]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

LOL @ Georgia only being a 1.5 point favorite vs. Notre Dame.

Idk man I think Notre Dame might win. No Beck might be the reason the spread is so close.