Every year, dating back to 2014, we here at CBS Sports have taken the opportunity to celebrate the impending arrival of college football with a comprehensive list of stories, predictions, burning questions, names and games to note for the upcoming season. This 100-Day Countdown is as much a part of our year as media days or the start of fall camp; we’ve wrapped up spring practice but not quite gotten into the business of putting pen to paper when it comes to our final projections for what’s to come in the season ahead.
May is a time for meandering, discussion and debate as we consider what’s ahead in a 2025 college football season that will no doubt be loaded with results that prove us wrong and performances that make the sport feel right. In 100 days we will have college football, and even if there are only a handful of FBS games on the Week Zero slate, the schedule includes a conference game between conference title hopefuls in a foreign country — Kansas State vs. Iowa State in Dublin, Ireland. When you consider those factors, it’s hard not to be romantic about this big, dumb sport that we love so much.
So, we’re back at it with 100 names, games and talking points to set the stage for the season ahead as we sit 100 days away from Week Zero in the 2025 college football season.
Betting odds below via FanDuel Sportsbook.
Prominent storylines
1. The Arch Manning Era begins for title-contending Texas
Texas quarterback Arch Manning got a perfect 100 rating as a prospect coming out of New Orleans in the Class of 2023, wowing scouts with his size, tools, intuition and playmaking in both camp and live-game settings. Every move Manning has made since committing to Texas, from a lost student ID in his first semester all the way to some flash plays as a second-year backup, has been worth its own headline. Now, the time has arrived for one of the most promising and hyped prospects of the last decade to take over. Texas opens 2025 with Arch Manning as the starting quarterback — not the “what if” behind Quinn Ewers but the true QB1 in the spotlight for a team that some have No. 1 going into the season.
Texas also opens 2025 against Ohio State on the road, the reigning national champions, in a rematch of last year’s College Football Playoff semifinal.
It’s not enough that he’s Arch Manning, named after the patriarch of the first family of quarterbacks. He’s also at Texas during a time when the Longhorns’ proud program is running at a level we have not seen since 2009. Steve Sarkisian has had Texas playing in conference championship games and national semifinals in each of the last two seasons, and thanks to stellar recruiting and resources, he’s got one of the best rosters in the country after setting new program records in the NFL Draft in back-to-back seasons. Texas would already be one of the biggest stories of the season without the star power of its new starter, but because it’s the much-awaited arrival of Arch — and because of that high-profile matchup in Week 1 — it’s arguably the story that will have the most attention as the college football season gets underway.
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2. Ohio State’s encore
The Buckeyes started last season as one of the biggest stories in the sport, with a “rockstar roster” made up of high-profile portal additions and significant NFL Draft retention. So, if you fell asleep at halftime of the season-opening blowout win against Akron and woke up to scarlet confetti falling on Jan. 20 in Atlanta, it would seem as though all had been fulfilled as expected. The reality, of course, was much more dramatic. The late-game drama in an early season loss at Oregon, the defensive stands required to survive a physical war at Penn State and ultimately the Michigan loss and flag-plant fiasco created a wildly different discussion around the Buckeyes heading into the College Football Playoff. But, credit to Ryan Day and the team’s leadership, because Ohio State rallied and found some of its best football at the perfect time to win four consecutive games against teams that finished No. 9, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 2 in the final AP Top 25 poll en route to a national championship.
It was an emotionally draining year; at most programs, there would be some buffer when it comes to expectations the following season. But Ohio State is not most programs, because subjective fan expectations are that the Buckeyes should be competing for a national championship every year. As we prepare for 2025, the objective expectations agree. Ohio State is currently the co-favorite, with Texas, to win the national championship at +600 odds despite the Buckeyes losing their offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and 14 NFL Draft picks. Ohio State does still have arguably the offensive skill player (Jeremiah Smith) and defensive back (Caleb Downs) in the country, but how the “next man up” mentality translates for a lot of highly recruited players who will be thrust into bigger roles with title-contending expectations will be a huge storyline to track for the reigning champs.
Oh yeah and, for Ryan Day specifically, there is a major storyline looming on Nov. 29 in Ann Arbor. Winning a national championship undoubtedly alleviated some pressure that has been building, but he’s still riding a four-game losing streak in the sport’s biggest rivalry.
3. Georgia and Alabama respond to disappointments of last season
Every single season since 2014, either Alabama or Georgia has played for the SEC championship. They’ve played against each other in Atlanta three times in that stretch, and only once was the SEC title not won by either the Crimson Tide or the Bulldogs. And while Georgia continued that streak by besting Texas in overtime last season, neither of the SEC’s two premier programs were happy with the way the season ended.
Georgia may have won the SEC for the third time under Kirby Smart, but to have the Bulldogs offer up a one-and-done showing in the College Football Playoff limited the amount of time that title could be celebrated. An injury to Carson Beck in the SEC title game undoubtedly changed the tenor of the matchup, but the odd feeling of disappointment for Georgia fans lingered as Beck left the program — first declaring for the NFL Draft and eventually transferring to Miami — and the roster saw a bit of a reset with draft exits and portal additions. If you find it hard to drum up sympathy for a Bulldogs program that went 42-0 against everyone not named Nick Saban for three seasons (2021-23), it’s understandable. But while an SEC title was won last year, there were more losses (3) than any season since 2018 and a sour finish in the playoff. Will there be a bounce back to form in 2025 with a bit of a roster rest? Or is dominance no longer the norm for an SEC that hinted at real parity with its results last season.
Alabama’s situation is certainly different in that last season’s disappointments were saddled with getting used to not having Saban on the sideline. So any conversation about expectations following a 9-4 campaign are likely coupled with some existential dread that the run is over, even if Kalen DeBoer showed moments where the Crimson Tide still flexed their muscles as one of the top programs in the sport. The issue with Alabama was consistency, and the inability to stack success without a setback prevented the Crimson Tide from playing for an SEC title and competing in the College Football Playoff. An epic, early season win against Georgia was immediately followed by an upset loss at Vanderbilt one week later. Then, after seemingly righting the ship with a blowout win in Baton Rouge against LSU, Alabama threw away its edge in the SEC and CFP race by losing 24-3 at Oklahoma. The CFP Selection Committee then chose 11-2 SMU over 9-3 Alabama for the final at-large spot, and the Crimson Tide added insult to injury with a 19-13 loss to Michigan as a 16.5-point favorite. Alabama, like Georgia, has to hate the way last season ended and will be itching to get on the field with its new roster and a fresh slate. If they bounce back, it will be celebrated but largely accepted. If the Tide cannot defend their spot at the top of the mountain, it will be a bigger story, and one that will demand week-by-week check-ins throughout the year.
4. The post-Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders era at Colorado
Speaking of week-by-week check-ins, two straight years of the Deion Sanders Colorado football experience have brought unprecedented attention to the Buffs and levels of real success not foreseen for a program that was 1-11 as recently as 2022. Travis Hunter’s run to a Heisman Trophy, Colorado finishing in a four-way tie for first place in the Big 12 standings and much more of 2024’s breakthrough normalized having one of football’s biggest stars wearing the headset on the sideline at the power conference level. The individual successes of Hunter and Shedeur Sanders drew some of the attention away from Coach Prime, and our discussions pivoted to football instead of focusing on what had been viewed as unorthodox methods of flipping the roster through the transfer portal.
Two notable things have happened since Sanders first told a meeting room full of players that he was “bringing his Louis” that have changed how we view that transition now. The first, and most important, is that his methods produced results in the form of nine wins and a top-25 finish last season. But also because of the changing portal and NIL rules, we have now seen similar roster overhauls in the wake of coaching changes. First-year coaches at Purdue, West Virginia, UCF and North Carolina will have transfer portal classes that, according to 247Sports, range between 39 and 53 players with Barry Odom (53) and Rich Rodriguez (52) each taking at least 50 transfers.
That first Colorado portal class was a never-before-seen outlier, but given the recent trends, the Buffs portal-heavy approach is not a differentiator. Colorado has also boosted its high school recruiting prowess since Sanders arrived, giving evidence that this is a staff looking to build the future and not just for the upcoming fall. Now, Colorado is judged by results, like everyone else, but without a Travis Hunter Heisman push or Shedeur Sanders NFL Draft storylines, the attention will fall back to the superstar head coach. Colorado is 10th on the odds board to win the Big 12 (+2700) and have a preseason win total of 6.5, so another first place finish might not be the expectation, but this should again be a winning season for Coach Prime.
5. Bill Belichick puts the ’33rd NFL team’ to the test
When Deion Sanders showed up to Colorado, he brought with him a son that could produce NFL-caliber quarterback play and an eventual Heisman Trophy winner from Jackson State. North Carolina coach Bill Belichick brought two sons for the defensive staff, a handful of old coaching connections and a vision for a pro program at the college level. The sales pitch wowed influential members of the UNC community, and quickly the unusual marriage of Bill Belichick and college football came to be in Chapel Hill.
It’s been about six months since the introductory press conference, and what we still don’t know is exactly what the team is going to look like when the Bill Belichick era begins on Labor Day against TCU. Thanks to 247Sports, we can track the transfer portal ins and outs and project how players might fit into a depth chart, but between the two transfer portal windows and the incoming freshman class, there are going to be about 70 new additions since the end of last season. We get platitudes about being the “33rd Team” in the NFL, where they practice and prepare like a pro. Or general manager Michael Lombardi offers a vision of a team that’s “tough” and good in the middle of the field, trying to emulate SEC teams that produce more pro players than any other conference. To the credit of the messaging, the heights and weights of the portal additions point to getting taller, heavier and longer in a lot of places, but even the most dedicated media members have struggled to put that information to work with open practices that include no numbers on the uniforms.
So with no player availability to the media, no numbers on the jerseys during open sessions and so many moving pieces on the roster, it’s been nearly impossible to talk about the football side of Bill Belichick at UNC.
On the contrary, it’s been extremely easy to discuss the non-football side of Bill Belichick at UNC. With an absence of football-forward topics, Belichick intrigue has instead focused on his relationship with Jordon Hudson, her role in the program and much more. We’ve seen multiple university letterhead statements attempting to clarify or refute what’s been reported or insinuated elsewhere, and that’s not what university officials were hoping to use that letterhead for when they hired Bill Belichick at a $10 million salary that’s previously unheard of for UNC football.
Listening to Belichick’s comments at ACC spring meetings this week, it sounds like he might be ready to be past this post-spring practice media tour and get back to football. Being in the room with ACC coaches discussing the sport and, in his own words, continuing to learn about the college game will make him better prepared for a busy couple of months ahead. June is a huge month for recruiting, fall camp will begin in August and then, on Sept. 1, the Tar Heels will start the season against TCU in Chapel Hill. Maybe then North Carolina will begin using that letterhead to celebrate football victories rather than clarify off-field reports.
Tracking Bill Belichick through Amelia Island: With Jordon Hudson offstage, UNC coach refocuses on football
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Bold predictions
6. Penn State will finally have its breakthrough season: This is purposely vague because predicting Penn State to have a good season is not bold. The Nittany Lions are among the three most likely teams to win the Big Ten — along with Ohio State and Oregon — according to the oddsmakers, and FanDuel Sportsbook has their win total set at 10.5. But this is not about objective markers of success as much as it is the very subjective feeling for Penn State fans that have watched one of the most consistent programs of the College Football Playoff era come just one win, or two, away from stepping out of the shadow of its national championship-winning conference rivals. With Michigan and Ohio State claiming the last two crowns, it sets a fascinating backdrop for Penn State going into a year where James Franklin is as loaded up to make a run as we’ve seen since he arrived in Happy Valley.
It’s not bold to say Penn State will be good, but I think all the pieces are in place from a commitment standpoint for the Nittany Lions to get over the hump in the Big Ten and national title races. Even Penn State’s 2016 Big Ten title, which was the first since 2008, seems to be treated with an asterisk and not as a breakthrough because Ohio State, not Penn State, ended up making the CFP. The narrow margin between Penn State and being a national champion last season has brought players back, lured high-profile players and coaches in and united a proud program behind this effort. I say these investments will not go without a worthy return.
7. The Clemson Tigers will be playing on the final Monday night of the season: Dabo Swinney has made the College Football Playoff National Championship four times, winning twice, and though they have returned to the CFP twice (2020, 2024) since then, they have yet to show that high-end ceiling of the teams that played for it all in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. The 2025 edition of Clemson checks all the boxes for what we have come to believe as a title-winning blueprint for the Tigers. They have one of the top quarterbacks in the country in Cade Klubnik, a defensive line highlighted by surefire NFL talent and a versatile collection of skill talent that includes vets and young, emerging stars. You’ve got players like T.J. Parker and Peter Woods seeing their name on 2026 NFL Mock Drafts but also sophomores like Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J. Moore who flashed as rookies in 2024.
8. Parity will NOT rule the day in the Big 12: We have a running bit on the Cover 3 Podcast discussing the Big 12 and its upside-down nature, where no team should be favored by more than a touchdown against any other team and literally any set of results is believable because the league is a “random number generator.” That certainly held up last season as three of the four teams that finished tied for first in the Big 12 league standings were picked 11th (Colorado), 13th (BYU) and 16th (Arizona State, the eventual champion) in the preseason media poll. The inverse also held true as four of the top five teams in the preseason media poll — Utah, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Arizona — failed to even make a bowl game in 2024.
But, I think 2025 will be a break from that trend, with not only some clear tiers to the league but the preseason favorites actually holding up their end of expectations in terms of being at the top of the conference. Arizona State, Kansas State and Texas Tech are currently the betting co-favorites to win the Big 12, and while teams like TCU, Iowa State, Kansas, Baylor and Utah will all provide stiff competition, I do think the winner of the conference comes from that trio. Arizona State might have been a little bit ahead of schedule with its Year 2 success under Kenny Dillingham, but arriving early does not mean the Sun Devils have to leave the company of contenders anytime soon, Texas Tech has loaded up the roster in the transfer portal, and Kansas State was a couple of head-scratching upset losses away from fulfilling its expectations last season. If Avery Johnson and the Wildcats can clean up some of those costly errors, it won’t take much to be a contender not just for a Big 12 title but being an at-large selection to the College Football Playoff.
9. A non-quarterback will win the Heisman Trophy for a second straight season: Last year at this time, there were zero non-quarterbacks in the top 25 names on the Heisman Trophy odds board, and eventual winner, Travis Hunter, was listed at 65-1. Now, after seeing Hunter win and running back Ashton Jeanty finish as the runner-up, there has been a market correction with a whole three players listed inside 50-1 or better on the board, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. There are some extremely easy results that produce obvious quarterback Heisman winners like Arch Manning leading Texas to an SEC title or Drew Allar being the face of Penn State’s breakthrough, but in both of those cases — and some others — any team success could end up being shared by enough contributors to split votes. That’s where options like Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams, Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love or others could end up being enticing in the preseason as Heisman voters have clearly bucked the quarterback-only trend with non-quarterbacks finishing No. 1 and No. 2 in last year’s voting.
10. The 2025-26 coaching carousel will be a storm: As you will be able to gather from our “New faces, new places” section below, a total of 25 FBS programs will have new coaches this fall. While that’s a pretty normal total for the entire (and expanding) FBS, the power conferences were light on movement. That’s because there are several spots where coaches under real pressure were retained, and combined with other hot seat activity, that could lead to a landscape-shifting offseason ahead depending on how things play out this fall. Florida, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Auburn are among the teams under the microscope when it comes to analyzing the future, and those are the kind of jobs that can set off domino effects throughout the industry at the power conference level. If you add retirement watch and some mid-tier power conference jobs where pressure is mounting, it’s easy to see a deluge of coaching changes approaching on the horizon.
Burning questions
11. Who will win the Nico-Tennessee breakup? Josh Heupel and Tennessee moved on from quarterback Nico Iamaleava, stating that no one is bigger than the “Power T” in the wake of one of the most publicly discussed “holdouts” of the modern NIL era. Iamaleava hit the transfer portal, immediately becoming the highest-rated player of the winter or spring portal windows, and he eventually landed at UCLA. Tennessee supplemented the loss in the quarterback room by adding former Appalachian State and spring-time UCLA quarterback Joey Aguilar, who in being pushed out by Nico’s arrival now becomes the “team-first” character in the story of Tennessee’s season for many Vols fans. Just like any high-profile breakup, we will be judging how Tennessee is fairing without Nico and whether the quarterback is finding success without the Vols at nearly every turn. If Nico can find production that matches his potential at UCLA, then he’s been able to bounce back from the drama and retain his status as a certified pro prospect. But if Tennessee is again an SEC and CFP contender, even without the well-compensated quarterback, then the Vols will claim victory in the breakup.
Winners and losers from Nico Iamaleava saga: QB overplays his hand, UCLA makes a splash, Tennessee will be OK
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12. How much pressure is Mike Norvell under at Florida State? When viewed in a vacuum, the actions of Florida State’s football program indicate a coach that’s on — or at least nearing — the hot seat. Wholesale changes to the staff that include both coordinator positions and new transfer portal additions at quarterback and other key positions point to a “win now” attitude that you often see when the internal pressure is getting ramped up. If Florida State fans had their way, the 13-1 campaign of 2023 would have been followed by double-digit wins (or something close) in 2024 and an increased level of success in high school recruiting to build out the future plans for a national championship-winning program seeking sustained success. Instead came a 2-10 record, the aforementioned offseason changes and a hard reboot on expectations that have Florida State kind of floating in obscurity between a good TV draw and possibly competitive against the best teams on its schedule. Is that good enough for Florida State? Does Norvell have to deliver something better than 7-5 to avoid bringing about real hot seat talk? You could tell me Florida State still believes in Norvell thanks to the work he did to bring the program back to stable ground and finding the success of 2023, but how long will that banked credit hold up?
13. Is Dante Moore ready to dominate? Oregon might be flying below the radar for a team that won the Big Ten in Year 1 of conference membership and has now won 35 games across three seasons of the Dan Lanning era. Oddsmakers aren’t giving up, naming the Ducks as a top-three pick to win the Big Ten again and a top-five pick to win the national title. That’s a lot of confidence invested in how Oregon replaces Dillon Gabriel and a program-record 10 NFL Draft picks, which means high expectations for new starting quarterback Dante Moore. The Ducks have been eyeing Moore since his high school recruitment, losing him as a late flip to UCLA before getting back through the transfer portal. Moore’s one year with the Bruins had mixed results, with 11 touchdowns to nine interceptions in nine games as he was thrown into the fire as a true freshman. He spent all last season in Eugene backing up Gabriel, and now we get to see real results from the development process. As a former five-star prospect coming out of high school, the potential for playing at a first-round level is there, and if Oregon is going to be a national title contender, then he probably needs to be playing at a difference-making level that usually brings that kind of attention.
14. What will be the on-field impact of USC’s off-field moves? Lincoln Riley saw a lot of players leave USC’s roster in the offseason, but the Trojans did some notable work with portal additions and should have another competitive team in 2025. Year 1 in the Big Ten did not come with success worthy of the championships won in a previous era, but the way USC competed against the best teams on its schedule showed how close this program was to establishing a status in the Big Ten worthy of its high-profile brand. To that end, most of the headlines around USC in the offseason have been more coaching or off-field related, as Chad Bowden arrives as the new general manager and Trumain Carroll takes over as strength and conditioning coach. There has always been discussion about a culture change at USC, both inside the building and for those around the program, that would be required for the Trojans to reclaim past glory in the modern era. Can these changes, and last season’s defensive adjustments, be enough to see some steps forward on the field?
15. Who will be the best quarterback in the SEC? There is one read of last year’s SEC results that says the conference has drifted even closer to the NFL in terms of year-to-year parity. It would make sense that the conference that sends the most NFL Draft picks would have some NFL flavor, but typically when the SEC beats itself up it is because the lines of scrimmage are dominating and the quarterbacks are struggling to find success. Last season saw plenty of quarterback talent across the league, but consistency of performance was lacking in enough instances to really highlight the SEC’s offerings at the most important position on the field. As we sit here 100 days out, though, the league looks loaded and could be set for a bounce-back season at the top. Once you get past Arch Manning, Garrett Nussmeier and LaNorris Sellars, you still have a couple new full-time starters with promise (Ty Simpson, Gunner Stockton, Austin Simmons) and transfers looking to make a splash (Jackson Arnold at Auburn, Joey Aguilar at Tennessee) to think the competition for QB1 across the SEC will be a competitive battle.
New faces, new places
As we mentioned earlier in the bold predictions, this was a coaching carousel that was mostly dominated in number by the Group of Five. Notable trends at that level include more schools tapping coaches from outside the FBS ranks (Ball State, Kennesaw, Rice, Tulsa, Washington State), and of course some name-brand hires at North Carolina, West Virginia and UNLV.
16. Appalachian State: Dowell Loggains
17. Ball State: Mike Uremovich
18. Central Michigan: Matt Drinkall
19. Charlotte: Tim Albin
20. ECU: Blake Harrell
21. FAU: Zach Kittley
22. FIU: Willie Simmons
23. Fresno State: Matt Entz
24. Kennesaw State: Jerry Mack
25. Marshall: Tony Gibson
26. North Carolina: Bill Belichick
27. Ohio: Brian Smith
28. Purdue: Barry Odom
29. Rice: Scott Abell
30. Sam Houston: Phil Longo
31. Southern Miss: Charles Huff
32. Temple: K.C. Keeler
33. Tulsa: Tre Lamb
34. UCF: Scott Frost
35. UMass: Joe Harasymiak
36. UNLV: Dan Mullen
37. Utah State: Bronco Mendenhall
38.Wake Forest: Jake Dickert
39. Washington State: Jimmy Rogers
40. West Virginia: Rich Rodriguez
National championship contenders
Tier 1
We’re going to lean on the national title odds at FanDuel Sportsbook to set some tiers to the national title race, starting with the teams at the top. The first group is smaller, only including teams with odds of 20-1 or better. We’ve listed them below with a note on their chances to cash in as national champs at the end of the season.
41. Texas (6-1): For all the talk about Arch Manning, Texas’ defense could end up providing the game-changers that the Longhorns need to take the next step in the College Football Playoff and win the national championship. The 2026 NFL Draft picture includes another impressive collection of Texas talent, but sophomore edge rusher Colin Simmons might be one of the best players in the country in 2025, and he’s still not eligible for another year.
42. Ohio State (6-1): Julian Sayin has gotten a ton of buzz since the moment he stepped on campus, and if the former Alabama signee is comfortable in live action, then he’s got it all set up to lead another year of a successful Ohio State offense. Things are a little more interesting on defense where you’ve got a new coordinator (Matt Patricia) and plenty of experience and production to replace after the title campaign.
43. Penn State (7-1): As we said above, this crew is loaded up with returning talent that could have gone pro and key transfer portal additions at positions of need. Combine it with grabbing defensive coordinator Jim Knowles away from Ohio State, and it’s clear that this is the year for James Franklin to make a run at winning it all in Happy Valley.
44. Georgia (15/2): For all the roster turnover that Georgia has to deal with from 2024 to 2025, there is a schedule adjustment that works in the Bulldogs’ favor. Kirby Smart bemoaned the SEC handing last year’s team road trips to Alabama, Texas and Ole Miss as he accepted the conference championship trophy in Atlanta, but now all those same opponents have to visit Athens in 2025. If Georgia defends home turf between the hedges, the Dawgs will be back with a shot to win the league and go for even more in the CFP.
45. Oregon (9-1): Year 4 of Dan Lanning’s time with the Ducks will be a great test for those early recruiting classes that have been developing in Eugene. Oregon has gotten a lot of high-level contributions from the portal, but it’s the program’s recruiting wins out of high school that have gotten a lot of attention each December. Those players will be called into action in new ways and will ultimately determine if Oregon can run it back as Big Ten champs.
46. Notre Dame (12-1): The ability of the Fighting Irish to sustain multiple season-ending injuries to starters and still make the national championship game speaks to the depth that Marcus Freeman has built with the roster. Now, those younger players thrust into action are back with CFP experience ready to make another run at the title and instead of leaning on a transfer quarterback. Notre Dame has a couple home grown options (CJ Carr-Kenny Minchey) ready to lead the way.
47. Alabama (14-1): This is a huge year for Kalen DeBoer as he looks to guide a roster that’s talented enough to make the CFP into the event after being the first team left out last year. The schedule is not without challenges, including a road trip to Georgia and home dates against Tennessee and LSU, but anything short of 10-2 would be a disappointment.
48. Clemson (14-1): Early 2026 NFL Mock Draft analysis has thrust as many as a half dozen Clemson players into the spotlight as Dabo Swinney has a group that more closely resembles the teams that have previously made runs at a national championship. While college football as a whole has become more transient and transactional, Clemson has doubled down on their values and only come out stronger.
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49. LSU (19-1): Garrett Nussmeier has looked like one of the best quarterbacks in the country at times, but he’s struggled to avoid the bad mistake enough to put together the argument as an elite player at the position to this point. If talent meets performance on offense, and the defense can take some steps forward thanks to transfer portal additions, LSU is a real threat to that supposed Texas-Georgia-Alabama triumvirate in the SEC.
Tier 2
Our second tier includes the nine teams listed between 25-1 and 60-1, with thoughts on the path or likelihood of one of these dark horses breaking through.
50. Ole Miss (25-1): Recent hype and reporting around new starting quarterback Austin Simmons has renewed the excitement for the Rebels not giving up a step in the climb to the top of the SEC. Ole Miss might have lost Jaxson Dart and multiple key starters to last year’s success, but Lane Kiffin has a group talented enough to make the playoff and cause some trouble.
51. Michigan (28-1): Any national title hopes for Michigan almost certainly include five-star freshman Bryce Underwood playing a role, because it’s highly unlikely a player of his size, talent and skill set is going to be sitting on the sidelines on a trophy-hoisting campaign.
52. Tennessee (30-1): Is the “Power T” bigger than any one player? That will be put to the test as the rest of the Tennessee locker room looks to fill the void left by Nico Iamaleava and chase a second-straight bid to the College Football Playoff.
53. Texas A&M (37-1): Letting Conner Weigman transfer to Houston and not chasing another portal quarterback is a vote of confidence for Marcel Reed. Spending portal resources to boost the skill positions also points to efforts to improve the offense, so it’s clear the staff that lost 23-13 and 17-7 in its only two games against College Football Playoff teams understands what needs to be improved to compete against the best.
54. Miami (37-1): There is no doubt that Miami is set to have one of the best offensive and defensive lines in the ACC and thus will be in position and/or favored to win every conference game it plays. But making the playoff as an at-large will likely require beating Notre Dame or Florida in nonconference play, and that’s going to need some good recovery from Carson Beck after injury and major improvements on defense.
55. Florida (40-1): The future of Billy Napier at Florida hangs on DJ Lagway being healthy and productive in 2025. Luckily for Napier, the results if Lagway is healthy and productive put the Gators in a great position because the team is otherwise loaded up along the lines of scrimmage and ready for a breakthrough season.
56. South Carolina (45-1): LaNorris Sellars, as mentioned above, could become one of the stars of the season. But there is a ton lost from last year’s nine-win team that needs to be replaced for the Gamecocks to wind up in the College Football Playoff hunt for a second-straight season.
57. Oklahoma (60-1): A bet on Oklahoma is a bet on John Mateer playing up to all of the high-end projections in a new league, even as he’s benefiting from having the same offensive coordinator that helped guide him to 44 touchdowns (29 passing, 15 rushing) at Washington State last season.
58. Auburn (60-1): Instant-impact freshmen like Cam Coleman showed the value of Auburn’s talent acquisition operation, but now it’s time for Hugh Freeze to turn those resources into a run that satisfies the investors.
Best nonconference games
59. Nebraska vs. Cincinnati (Aug. 28 in Kansas City)
60. Ohio State at Texas (Aug. 30)
61. LSU at Clemson (Aug. 30)
62. Alabama at Florida State (Aug. 30)
63. Tennessee vs. Syracuse — (Aug. 30 in Atlanta)
64. Auburn at Baylor (Aug. 30)
65. Georgia Tech at Colorado (Aug. 30)
66. South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech (Aug. 31 in Atlanta)
67. Notre Dame at Miami (Aug. 31)
68. TCU at North Carolina (Sept. 1)
69. Illinois at Duke (Sept. 6)
70. Missouri vs. Kansas (Sept. 6)
71. Michigan at Oklahoma (Sept. 6)
72. Texas A&M at Notre Dame (Sept. 13)
73. Florida at Miami (Sept. 20)
74. Clemson at South Carolina (Nov. 29)
Heisman Trophy contenders
Last year’s winner, Travis Hunter, had odds of 65-1 in May. But the two winners before him, Jayden Daniels and Caleb Williams, were both top eight on the odds board at this time in the cycle. Somewhere in between, we will likely find our winner.
Below we have listed everyone who is one the odds board at 50-1 or better. It serves as a healthy list of preseason A-listers for fans to keep tabs on in the early weeks of the season. Among players with Heisman odds of 50-1, all but three are quarterbacks, which is honestly better than last year where the entire board 50-1 or better was filled with quarterbacks and some schools had multiple quarterbacks listed.
But after a wide receiver-cornerback won the Heisman and a running back finished as the runner-up, there could be some more open-mindedness in the market. That’s definitely on display with Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith currently listed fourth with 12-1 odds to win the award next season and three non-quarterbacks listed with odds of 50-1 or better.
75. Garrett Nussmeier, LSU QB (8-1)
76. Arch Manning, Texas QB (8-1)
77. Cade Klubnik, Clemson QB (9-1)
78. Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State WR (12-1)
79. Julian Sayin, Ohio State QB (13-1)
80. LaNorris Sellars, South Carolina QB (16-1)
81. DJ Lagway, Florida QB (16-1)
82. Drew Allar, Penn State QB (16-1)
83. Dante Moore, Oregon QB (19-1)
84. Carson Beck, Miami QB (25-1)
85. John Mateer, Oklahoma QB (25-1)
86. Sam Leavitt, Arizona State QB (31-1)
87. CJ Carr, Notre Dame QB (31-1)
88. Kevin Jennings, SMU QB (33-1)
89. Gunner Stockton, Georgia QB (33-1)
90. Austin Simmons, Ole Miss QB (33-1)
91. Ty Simpson, Alabama QB (33-1)
92. Miller Moss, Louisville QB (40-1)
93. Ryan Williams, Alabama WR (40-1)
94. Marcel Reed, Texas A&M QB (42-1)
95. Devon Dampier, Utah QB (45-1)
96. Joey Aguilar, Tennessee QB (45-1)
97. Jackson Arnold, Auburn QB (50-1)
98. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana QB (50-1)
99. Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame RB (50-1)
100. Bryce Underwood, Michigan QB (50-1)
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