The College Football Czar: 2025 Season Preview

The Original College Football Czar

2026 Season Preview

a sports publication from The Shinbone

by Daniel Clark

Description: The College Football Czar

Welcome to the 2026 season preview issue of The College Football Czar, a seasonal sports publication by the author and editor of The Shinbone. In the coming months, you will find weekly analyses and predictions of college football games posted at this site. To find out more, please consult the Ground Rules.

This issue contains the Czar's rankings for all 138 teams in Division I-A football, as well as conference preview capsules, potential upsets to watch for, postseason projections, a guide to help you locate head coaches and starting QBs on the move, and so many bad puns you'll accuse him of plagiarizing from Dick Loudon. Most importantly, it includes early nominees for the Lardhead of the Year Award, which the Czar never gets around to actually presenting, but for which he dispenses nominations promiscuously.

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COACHING MOVES

New coach ..... arriving at ..... previous position ..... former coach

Ryan Silverfield ..... Arkansas ..... head coach Memphis ..... Sam Pittman

Alex Golesh ..... Auburn ..... head coach South Florida ..... Hugh Freeze

Tosh Lupoi ... California ... def. coord. Oregon ... Josh Wilcox

Ryan Beard ..... Coastal Carolina ..... head coach Missouri St. ..... Tim Beck

Jim Mora Jr. ..... Colorado State ..... head coach Uconn ..... Jay Norvell

Jon Sumrall ..... Florida ..... head coach Tulane ..... Billy Napier

Jimmy Rogers ..... Iowa State ..... head coach Washington St. ..... Matt Campbell

Billy Napier ..... James Madison ..... head coach Florida ..... Bob Chesney

Collin Klein ..... Kansas St. ..... off. coord. Texas A&M ..... Chris Klieman

Will Stein ..... Kentucky ..... off. coord. Oregon ..... Mark Stoops

Lane Kiffin ..... LSU ..... head coach Ole Miss ..... Brian Kelly

Charles Huff ..... Memphis ..... head coach So. Miss ..... Ryan Silverfield

Kyle Whittingham ..... Michigan ..... head coach Utah ..... Sherrone Moore

Pat Fitzgerald ..... Michigan State ..... head coach Northwestern ('22) ..... Jonathan Smith

Casey Woods ..... Missouri State ..... off. coord. SMU ..... Ryan Beard

Neal Brown ..... North Texas ..... assistant HC Texas ..... Eric Morris

Rob Harley (interim) ..... Northern Illinois ..... def. coord. No. Illinois ..... Thomas Hammock

Pete Golding ..... Ole Miss ..... def. coord. Ole Miss ..... Lane Kiffin

JaMarcus Shephard ..... Oregon State ..... off. coord. Alabama ..... Trent Bray

Matt Campbell ..... Penn State ..... head coach Iowa St. ..... James Franklin

Brian Hartline ..... South Florida ..... off. coord. Ohio St. ..... Alex Golesh

Blake Anderson ..... Southern Miss ..... off. coord. So. Miss ..... Charles Huff

Mike Jacobs ..... Toledo ..... head coach Mercer (I-AA) ..... Jason Candle

Will Hall ..... Tulane ..... off. coord. Tulane ..... Jon Sumrall

Alex Mortensen ..... UAB ..... off. coord/interim HC UAB ..... Trent Dilfer

Jason Candle ..... Uconn ..... head coach Toledo ..... Jim Mora Jr.

Bob Chesney ..... UCLA ..... head coach James Madison ..... DeShaun Foster

Morgan Scalley ..... Utah ..... def. coord. Utah ..... Kyle Whittingham

James Franklin ..... Virginia Tech ..... head coach Penn St. ..... Brent Pry

Kirby Moore ..... Washington St. ..... off. coord. Missouri ..... Jimmy Rogers

ROLLING HEAD WATCH

The following coaches will have a difficult time hanging onto their noggins through the 2026 season:

Dave Aranda, Baylor -- Since winning the Sugar Bowl to finish the 2021 season at 12-2, the coach has had three losing seasons out of four, the worst such stretch they've seen on the Brazos since the late aughts. Each of those three campaigns ended in a November nosedive, although last year the schedule was partly to blame. His job may be resting on the shoulders of former Florida quarterback D.J. Langway, whose arrival he described in ways that were a bit insulting to the QB's former school. The coach said Langway was "just all boxed in" at UF, that it was as if he had been in a straightjacket, and that "I could see someone that just wanted to be free." Well, if Aranda is ejected from the Baylor box after this season, he will have newfound freedom, too. We will know this when we hear him hollering "Midgetmidgetmidgetmidgetmidget!" on his way out the door.

Mike Norvell, Florida State -- Is anyone still clinging to the idea that the Seminoles are getting ready to prove they belonged in the 2023 playoffs? Last year, Norvell's Noles hammered Alabama and put up a great battle against eventual CFP finalist Miami, and still only finished 5-7. Even with an 8-0 conference record three years ago, FSU is only 22-26 in ACC play under Norvell. His predecessor, Willie Taggart, was fired halfway through his second season with a record of 9-12. Taggart was given a quick hook because the school had not had a losing season in four decades prior to his arrival. So why should Norvell be allowed to stick around if he has a fifth losing record in seven years? Because the people in Tallahassee have gotten used to it by now?

Mike Locksley, Maryland -- Like his namesake, Robin of Locksley, the coach is a man in a tight spot. During his seven years in College Park, his only three winning seasons have been with Taulia Tagovailoa taking the snaps, and there doesn't happen to be another one of him lying around. In none of his other four seasons has the coach won more than four games. And then there's that long-ago three-year stint at New Mexico he's hoping everyone has forgotten, where he went 2-26 and was reprimanded for an altercation with one of his assistants. Not such a merry man after all.

Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee -- At first, it must have seemed like something of a coup for the MT-heads to make off with a former head coach from a neighboring SEC school. Still, it's not as if Mason had done well at Vanderbilt, where he went 27-55 in seven years. By the end of the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he was so disinterested that he put the goalie from the women's soccer team into the game to kick off the second half of a 41-0 loss to Missouri. If he thought the PC police would protect his job because of that, he was mistaken. Four years later, he returned to the head coaching ranks in Murfreesboro, where he has had back-to-back seasons with identical records of 3-9 overall, and 2-6 in a crummy Conference USA.

Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State -- The days when a head coach was given four years to prove himself are long gone, and no SEC team is going to tolerate a third straight season with no more than one conference victory. Unfortunately for Lebby, his team does not face Arkansas this year, but a league opener against unheralded South Carolina should be a good indicator of whether he can survive another year in Starkville. If his Bulldogs drop that one, he might finish the season listening to cowbells that are actually attached to cows.

Bill Belichick, North Carolina -- The NFL coaching legend lost his first collegiate game by 34 points, in a Labor Day drubbing by TCU. His Tar Heels will likely get hammered in a different way at this year's Emerald Isle Classic, where they have another opener against those same Horned Frogs. Belichick's ... um ... distraction, combined with his lackadaisical appearance on the sideline, suggested that his presence in Chapel Hill might be a great experiment gone wrong, but the six-time Super Bowl champion is going to play mad scientist for at least one more year. Doubts about his staying power obviously hurt the Heels in the transfer portal this offseason, where his two biggest gets were Wisconsin QB Billy Edwards and LSU running back Kaleb Jackson, each of whom missed almost all of last season with a knee injury. If the ex-Patriot is to improve significantly upon last year's 4-8 mark, he'll have to do it against a challenging ACC schedule that is without either of the Bay Area schools or Boston College.

Luke Fickell, Wisconsin -- Lucky for Luke the folks are not fickle in Madison, where back-to-back losing seasons have dropped his overall mark to 17-21. He has had terrible luck with injuries, however, especially at the quarterback position. The College Football Czar wonders if new dual-threat QB Colton Joseph might be discouraged from running the ball for this reason. The Badgers have got to do something to open up the O, though, after finishing a distant last place in the conference in both yardage and points in 2025.

QB TRANSFER TRACKER

Name ..... arriving at ..... previous team ..... starting status

Reese Poffenbarger ..... Akron ..... North Texas ..... certain

Malachi Singleton ..... Appalachian State ..... Purdue ..... probable

Cutter Boley ..... Arizona State ..... Kentucky ..... contested

Mikey Keene ..... Arizona State ..... Michigan ..... contested

Trey Owens ..... Arkansas State ..... Texas ..... contested

Byrum Brown ..... Auburn ..... South Florida ..... certain

Keldric Luster ..... Ball State ..... Texas State ..... likely

D.J. Lagway ..... Baylor ..... Florida ..... probable

Grayson Wilson ..... Boston College ..... Arkansas ..... contested

Austin Novosad ..... Bowling Green ..... Oregon ..... certain

Alonza Barnett ..... Central Florida ..... James Madison ..... certain

J.C. French ..... Cincinnati ..... Georgia Southern ..... likely

Deuce Bailey ..... Coastal Carolina ..... Missouri State ..... contested

Trevor Jackson ..... Coastal Carolina ..... Arkansas ..... contested

Hauss Hejny ..... Colorado State ..... Oklahoma State ..... likely

Walker Eget ..... Duke ..... San Jose State ..... likely

Emory Williams ..... East Carolina ..... Miami ..... contested

Mitch Griffs ..... East Carolina ..... Texas Tech ..... contested

Aaron Philo ..... Florida ..... Georgia Tech ..... contested

J.J. Kohl ..... Florida International ..... Appalachian State ..... probable

Ashton Daniels ..... Florida State ..... Auburn ..... probable

Khristian Martin ..... Fresno State ..... Maryland ..... certain

Alberto Mendoza ..... Georgia Tech ..... Indiana ..... likely

Katin Houser ..... Illinois ..... East Carolina ..... probable

Josh Hoover ..... Indiana ..... TCU ..... certain

Jayden Raynor ..... Iowa State ..... Arkansas State ..... probable

Arrington Maiden ..... James Madison ..... Memphis ..... contested

Davi Belfort ..... James Madison ..... Central Florida ..... contested

Rickie Collins ..... Kennesaw State ..... Syracuse ..... certain

Kenny Minchey ..... Kentucky ..... Notre Dame ..... contested

Lincoln Keinholz ..... Louisville ..... Ohio State ..... probable

Sam Leavitt ..... LSU ..... Arizona State ..... certain

Darian Mensah ..... Miami ..... Duke ..... certain

Austin Simmons ..... Missouri ..... Ole Miss ..... probable

Henry Belin ..... Missouri State ..... Duke ..... contested

Skyler Locklear ..... Missouri State ..... UTEP ..... contested

Anthony Colandrea ..... Nebraska ..... UNLV ..... certain

Luke Duncan ..... Nevada ..... UCLA ..... contested

Billy Edwards ..... North Carolina ..... Wisconsin ..... likely

Tayven Jackson ..... North Texas ..... Central Florida ..... likely

Aidan Chiles ..... Northwestern ..... Michigan State ..... certain

Drew Mestemaker ..... Oklahoma State ..... North Texas ..... certain

Dylan Raiola ..... Oregon ..... Nebraska ..... unlikely

Rocco Becht ..... Penn State ..... Iowa State ..... certain

Jacurri Brown ..... Rice ..... Central Florida ..... certain

Dylan Lonergan ..... Rutgers ..... Boston College ..... probable

Carson Conklin ..... Sacramento State ..... Fresno State ..... certain

Luke Kromenhoek ..... South Florida ..... Mississippi State ..... contested

Michael Van Buren ..... South Florida ..... LSU ..... contested

Ajani Sheppard ..... Temple ..... Washington State ...... unlikely

Jaxon Smolik ..... Temple ..... Penn State ..... probable

Ryan Staub ..... Tennessee ..... Colorado ..... unlikely

Jake Merklinger ..... Uconn ..... Tennessee ..... certain

William Watson ..... Umass ..... Virginia Tech ..... certain

Jackson Arnold ..... UNLV ..... Auburn ..... certain

McCae Hillstead ..... Utah State ..... Brigham Young ..... certain

Beau Pribula ..... Virginia ..... Missouri ..... probable

Eli Holstein ..... Virginia ..... Pitt ..... unlikely

Ethan Grunkemeyer ..... Virginia Tech ..... Penn State ..... certain

Gio Lopez ..... Wake Forest ..... North Carolina ..... probable

Michael Hawkins ..... West Virginia ..... Oklahoma ..... contested

Brock Glenn ..... Western Kentucky ..... Florida State ..... unlikely

Colton Joseph ..... Wisconsin ..... Old Dominion ..... certain

WHAT'S NEW IN 2026

* Deion doing better -- The Colorado coach, whose bladder had to be removed last year, is currently believed to be cancer-free after having reconstructive surgery in the spring. In spite of lots of irresponsible speculation about his supposedly imminent retirement, Coach Prime says he isn't hanging it up anytime soon, and he expects to remain at CU for the rest of his career. How much control he actually has over that situation is something he may find out this season.

* High five to the 5-in-5 rule -- In a surprisingly smart move, the NCAA has changed the eligibility rules so that a player now has five years' eligibility, provided he uses all of them within five years upon enrolling in college. The College Football Czar's favorite thing about this is that it eliminates redshirts. The days of players shutting themselves down after four games to preserve a year's eligibility upon transferring are over. Whatever legitimate reasons there had ever been for redshirting are antiquated anyway, because coaches no longer have realistic expectations of keeping key players for four years. There's still a long way to go to end this trend of players deciding to play only when they feel like it, but this is a good first step.

* Rio roh-roe -- A planned Week Zero game in Rio de Janeiro between Nc State and Virginia has been moved back home to Scott Stadium on the UVa campus, because event organizer Athlete Advantage determined after an extensive review that it could not be put on in Brazil as planned. There is no more detailed an explanation than that, but the College Football Czar has got to conclude that ticket sales were a problem. If a game is being organized in a foreign country, then at least one of the participants should be a team from a part of the United States that has a large population that identifies with the host nation. In Brazil, a matchup between Miami and Rutgers might draw some Americans of Brazilian descent down to Rio for a vacation, but Raleigh vs. Charlottesville just doesn't cut it.

* Good PR decision -- With the twice-relocated Bahamas Bowl not returning this year, the inaugural Puerto Rico Bowl will take its place. This will be a relief to coaches and administrators, who will no longer have to worry about ensuring that the entire team has valid passports during the brief window after the bowl invitations go out. For the benefit of any lardheads who may be reading this, the reason is that Puerto Rico, unlike the Bahamas, is part of the United States. Yes, the Czar realizes that it has its own Olympic basketball team and Miss Universe contestant, but trust him on this.

* State of flux -- The new-look Pac 12 plays its first season, with eight schools whose names all end in "State." If the coaches all wore those lardheaded Penn State "S" hats, it would get a mite confusing.

* Game Above Bowl gone -- Say it ain't so. The bustling tourism hotspot of Greater Detroit will be without a bowl game for the first time since the Motor City Bowl was founded in 1997. Fans will now have to reschedule their Christmas vacations, without that 11AM Tuesday kickoff at Ford Field to look forward to.

* USA Network is useful again -- for the first time in four decades, college football games are scheduled to be broadcast on the USA Network (originally USA Sports), which has signed on for part of the carriage deal for the new Pac 12. The first game is a Week 1 renewal of the Bronze Boot game between P12 member Colorado State and Mountain West rival Wyoming. So, if you have forgotten where this channel is ever since it drove you away by showing Walker, Texas Ranger eleventy-twelve times a day, now's the time to rediscover it.

WHAT'S NOT NEW

* Endless expansion -- The SEC wants to expand the playoff to 16 teams, but the Big Ten, ACC and Big XII are proposing to increase that number to 24. Realistically, the SEC might as well give in right now, because once this trend starts, there's no stopping it. If the CFP does grow to 16, that will only be an incremental step toward a considerably larger field. This phenomenon has become a plague on the entire world of sports. Just last year, the Division II playoff expanded from 28 teams to 32. Division III expanded from 32 to 40. This year's World Cup expanded all the way from 32 countries to 48, rendering group play a mere formality for every team that's worth anything. Next March, there will be 76 schools participating in the NCAA basketball tournament. The more these tournaments are diluted, the worse the product becomes for the fans. Division I-A football used to have a solution to this. It was called the bowl season, and the "mythical national championship."

* Re-misalignment -- You can't get much less mid-American than the capital of California, but Sacramento State has joined the MAC as a football-only member, because it needed to have a conference affiliation in order to be allowed to make the move from Division I-AA. Having already been rejected by both the Mountain West and Pac 12, Sac State's options boiled down to staying put until further notice, or accepting a geographically problematic schedule, starting with a Week Zero conference opener in Ypsilanti. The MWC has accepted another I-AA school, perennial powerhouse North Dakota State, which the College Football Czar hates to see because it increases the number of Division I-A dome teams to four. In a peculiar development, Northern Illinois has left the MAC for the Mountain West, which surprises the Czar because of NIU's ill-fated stint in the Big West from 1993-95. In a couple moves that make eminently more geographical sense, two schools have upgraded from Conference USA: Louisiana Tech joining intrastate foes ULL and ULM in the Sun Belt Conference, and UTEP joining the Mountain West, where it reunites with seven former rivals from the WAC, to which it belonged from 1968-2004.

* Replay giveaways -- When ESPN Classic still existed, it could be enjoyable on occasion to watch an old football game, but only if you didn't already know how it turned out. When you come across one now, the first thing you'll notice is a large banner at the top of the screen that says something like, "Wake Forest Day," at which point you're no longer curious to see how they fared against Nc State five years ago.

* The postseason piddles on -- The ever-anticlimactic CFP will now drag on all the way until seven days short of February. The first-round playoff games will take place on December 18-19, but the quarterfinals won't start until the Phony Fiesta Bowl is played on the 30th, with the remaining three games making for a sparse schedule on New Year's Day. After that, it will be two more weeks before the semifinals are held in the Phony Orange Bowl and Phony Sugar Bowl on January 14-15, and the championship is set for January 25th, which of course is a Monday, just for maximum enthusiasm-crushing effect. The Liberty Bowl on January 2nd is the last of the traditional bowl games, which means there will only be three games played during the last 23 days of the season. For decades, we've been told this is the way things must be, because the traditional New Year's bowl game grand finale was too unsatisfying for the fans.

LARDHEAD OF THE YEAR AWARD NOMINEES

* Judge Ken Curry -- who issued an injunction against the NCAA, prohibiting it from suspending newly arrived Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby for gambling. Not only had Sorsby been betting on college football, but he bet on Indiana when he was playing for the Hoosiers as a freshman. Unless you're a pro-Pete Rose lardhead (he says redundantly) who thinks wagering on your own team does nothing to corrupt the game, the decision to ban the QB from playing this season was an obvious one. Curry based his opinion on the belief that Sorsby would suffer an "imminent and irreparable injury" by not being behind center for the Red Raiders in 2026. Hyperbole aside, isn't there enough chaos in college football without some kooky judge declaring a right not to be suspended? Just think of the potential implications for all the players who have been suspended by their coaches for nebulous "violations of team rules." And if there is a right not to be suspended, is there also a right not to be benched? Not playing is not playing. One would think the "imminent and irreparable injury" standard would still apply. It's a moot point as far as Sorsby is concerned, because he withdrew his lawsuit and attempted, unsuccessfully, to enter the NFL Supplemental Draft But don't think there aren't other judges out there who would find Curry's point persuasive.

* Pitt athletic director Allen Greene -- His decision to tarp over the upper deck sideline seats at Acrisure Stadium signals a surrender for Panther football, as the school will no longer strive to fill the 68,4000-seat facility, but instead will artificially reduce its capacity by 17,000. The College Football Czar, who is among the season ticket holders who has been forced to relocate as a result, is more than slightly bitter. Last season, Pitt averaged 51,800 tickets sold, although the actual in-person attendance wasn't nearly that high. With the expansion of the ACC schedule to nine games, and the Panthers playing five conference games on the road this year, they have made a point of scheduling all three nonconference games at home. The problem with this, as fans around the country are finding out, is that when you're reluctant to play road nonconference games, you do not get home nonconference opponents that draw a lot of fans. To wit, this year's slate consists of Miami Ohio, Central Florida, and Division I-AA Bucknell. Without a Notre Dame or West Virginia to drive season ticket sales, Greene sees that attendance is about to crash, and rather than address the scheduling crisis, he has decided to just give up. What's worse, he's telling the fans that he's doing it for us, improving the game-day experience by herding us into a smaller area, in seats with worse sight lines than the ones from which we've been ejected. As a side note, the Czar is also blaming Greene for the completely unjustifiable decision to stop selling I.C. Light at Pitt baseball games. What the heck, the university gives us little recourse to complain about these things, so the Czar figures the A.D. is ultimately responsible.

* Pitt WRs Cataurus Hicks and Tyreek Robinson, and CB Zion Ferguson -- The three were arrested on multiple minor charges after they went joy riding through campus on dirt bikes. Actually, it's worse than that, because what Pitt calls a campus is really just a city neighborhood with very busy streets, and these Panthers were reportedly weaving through traffic, riding on the sidewalks, and going the wrong way down one way streets, with Ferguson eventually running into a fire department vehicle. There were no reported injuries, except to the players' pride, assuming they have any capacity for embarrassment in the first place.

* The ACC -- for devising the most moronic tiebreaking system of all time, which is really saying something. In an attempt to avoid a repeat of last year, when Duke won the conference with an overall record of 8-5, the league has revised its method of determining who plays in the championship game. Because not all of the teams were able to comply with the new 9-team ACC schedule this year, the supposedly academically excellent conference decided that, "No team will be overly rewarded or penalized based on the number of conference games it played." Um, not to put a fine point on this, but a team that played eight games and a team that played nine cannot be tied; hence, no need for a tiebreaker. An 8-1 team is ahead of a 7-1 team, no matter how you slice it. How is it even possible to be "overly rewarded or penalized" for that? While other conferences have to worry about sorting through five-way ties, the ACC caught a break this year because of this clarifying quirk in scheduling, yet it is determined to muddy the water all the same. Another bullet point on the press release declares that, "Head-to-head results will always matter most," which would make perfect sense, if deciding between teams that are actually tied, but it would be nonsensical for a head-to-head result to supersede the standings. "When head-to-head competition cannot separate tied teams," it continues, "the team with the strongest overall body of work will earn the opportunity to compete for the ACC Championship and the conference's automatic bid into the College Football Playoff." This new system is as dishonest as it is dopey. The league might as well come out and say that it will select its championship participants subjectively, so that if Duke finishes a half-game ahead of Miami, Duke is out and Miami is in, cuz "eye test."

* The University of Massachusetts -- for embarking on a three-year renovation of McGuirk Stadium that does not include any plans to expand its capacity. The fact that the Minutemen find 17,000 seats to be sufficient tells us that they don't really have any intention of ever competing at the Division I-A level. So why are they here?

THE CZAR DECREES ...

If the College Football Czar could issue proclamations changing college football, these are some examples of what those would entail:

* Blast to the past -- By now, the College Football Czar's regular readers are more than familiar with his litany of curmudgeonly grievances: The ill-conceived playoff has reduced New Year's Day to a blip on the college football schedule. Players are free to abandon their teams whenever they want. Most NIL deals have got nothing in the world to do with N, I or L. There's entirely too much roster turnover from year to year. Too many big games are played indoors. Official reviews take too much time without correcting a high enough percentage of blown calls. Unsportsmanlike conduct is now the rule rather than the exception. Geographically ludicrous conference realignment is squelching traditional rivalries. Quality nonconference games are going extinct. It seems like there are fewer fans than there used to be, but more gambling addicts and jocksniffers. How the Czar wishes he could borrow Mr. Peabody's wayback machine and go back to a time when college football was still as much fun as it was meant to be, even if that means watching games on Mizlou.

* Don't "Protect College Sports" -- The bipartisan Protect College Sports Act, sponsored by Senators Ted Cruz (R, Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D, Wash.) may be well-intentioned, but it goes entirely too far. The College Football Czar is not going to pretend to understand all the entanglements of antitrust law, but a limited exemption for the NCAA would probably be a good idea, insofar as it would allow the organization to reimpose a certain degree of badly needed structure. If there were a proposal that would do only that, it might be supportable, but the 111-page PCSA would get the feds involved in the granular details of college sports, by imposing their own rules regarding eligibility, player transfers, coaching changes, and even the treatment of injuries. Perhaps worst of all, it would institute a permanent "Congressional Commission on the Future of College Athletics" to create opportunities for future meddling. The Czar is especially disappointed that such a proposal should come from Cruz, reputedly one of the most conservative members of the Senate, whose involvement in sports should never extend beyond being a slightly less awful basketball player than Jimmy Kimmel. The senator would do well to heed the words of Ronald Reagan, who famously warned that the nine most frightening words in the English language are, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help."

* Take the village away -- The College Football Czar is beginning to think sports announcers receive daily texts and e-mails from Beijing giving them certain words and phrases that they are expected to use on the air. How else to explain the frequency with which he hears the phrase "it takes a village" desperately wedged into otherwise mundane commentary during broadcasts. This is not a common saying among normal, unhillary people. The fact that it was once used as a book title by the most widely loathed person in America does not mean we have adopted it as a national motto. The Czar would actually prefer the in-your-face political blowhardity of the late Bill Walton to this kind of snotty semantic subterfuge.

* Leave the "leverage" There's no apparent political angle to this one, but the proliferation of the phrase "high-leverage" has gotten almost as annoying. The closest it comes to actually meaning anything is that a "high-leverage situation" is a juncture of the game that might previously have been described as pivotal or crucial. It's more passive and opaque than that, however, and is therefore an inferior choice of words. Announcers will sometimes refer to a "high-leverage player," meaning that the player excels in "high-leverage situations," which makes it a less useful synonym for "clutch." It has morphed beyond that, though, into an all-purpose adjective that announcers use whenever they don't know what else to say. This is not a phrase that is effective in communicating to the viewers. It's just another unwelcome example of geekspeak that needs to be sent back to the Land of Exit Velocities, whence it came.

* Return to team colors == Isn't there enough of a lack of continuity with quarterbacks jumping around to four different teams in four years? What Jerry Seinfeld said about rooting for the clothes becomes truer all the time, which means at least the clothes have got to be reliable. If you go to your team's home opener, and in addition to most of last year's players being gone, the new guys come running onto the field wearing brown with pink polka dots, how seriously are you going to root for that team? The College Football Czar proposes that every school designate two official team colors, at least one of which must be incorporated into its uniform every week. That way, the next time the Oregon Ducks forsake their classic uniforms and show up wearing black and silver, the referee could say, "You're not the Ducks. Tell the Ducks to get their green and yellow butts out here in ten minutes, or else they forfeit this game."

* It's official: replay experts are stupid -- Football broadcasts already had too many participants without the announcing crew consulting an ex-referee for his opinion whenever there is a replay review. For the most part, all this guy does is watch the replay out loud with us. "You see, the runner's knee is down before the ball comes out, therefore it's no fumble and this call should be reversed." The announcers themselves should be well versed enough in the rules of the game that they shouldn't need to throw out a lifeline. And now that they have AI to help them, any necessary clarifications are right at their fingertips. The College Football Czar would say that the on-air officiating expert is an idea whose time has passed, except that it had never arrived in the first place.

TEAM RANKINGS, 1-138

1. Ohio St. (B10)	41. Tennessee (SEC)	81. Cincinnati (XII)	121. C. Carolina (SB)
2. Georgia (SEC)	42. Fresno St. (P12)	82. Oregon St. (P12)	122. Toledo (MAC)
3. Indiana (B10)	43. Utah (XII)	83. N. Carolina (ACC)	123. Kent St. (MAC)
4. Texas (SEC)	44. Virginia (ACC)	84. Air Force (MW)	124. Tulsa (AC)
5. LSU (SEC)	45. Minnesota (B10)	85. Old Dominion (SB)	125. Mid. TN (CUSA)
6. Oregon (B10)	46. Kentucky (SEC)	86. Rice (AC)	126. S. Alabama (SB)
7. Notre Dame (Ind.)	47. Illinois (B10)	87. Colorado (XII)	127. MO St. (CUSA)
8. BYU (XII)	48. Pitt (ACC)	88. W. Mich. (MAC)	128. NM St. (CUSA)
9. Texas A&M (SEC)	49. S. Florida (AC)	89. La. Tech (SB)	129. Charlotte (AC)
10. Alabama (SEC)	50. Wisconsin (B10)	90. Army (AC)	130. E. Mich (MAC)
11. USC (B10)	51. TCU (XII)	91. Colorado St. (P12)	131. Buffalo (MAC)
12. Texas Tech (XII)	52. W. Kent. (CUSA)	92. Miami OH (MAC)	132. Georgia St. (SB)
13. Oklahoma (SEC)	53. Miss. St. (SEC)	93. Maryland (ACC)	133. Akron (MAC)
14. SMU (ACC)	54. Hawaii (MW)	94. Oklahoma St. (XII)	134. UTEP (MW)
15. Ole Miss (SEC)	55. Vanderbilt (SEC)	95. Arkansas St. (SB)	135. FL Int'l (CUSA)
16. Miami (ACC)	56. UCLA (B10)	96. Boston Coll. (ACC)	136. ULM (SB)
17. Arizona (XII)	57. Duke (ACC)	97. UAB (AC)	137. Sam Hstn. (CUSA)
18. Michigan (B10)	58. Liberty (CUSA)	98. C. Florida (XII)	138. Umass (MAC)
19. UNLV (MW)	59. San Diego St. (P12)	99. N. Dakota St. (MW)
20. Louisville (ACC)	60. Va. Tech (ACC)	100. Marshall (SB)
21. Auburn (SEC)	61. Uconn (Ind.)	101. Purdue (B10)
22. Navy (AC)	62. Syracuse (ACC)	102. Utah St. (P12)
23. Iowa (B10)	63. W. Virginia (XII)	103. So. Miss (SB)
24. Boise St. (P12)	64. N'western (B10)	104. N. Texas (AC)
25. Clemson (ACC)	65. S. Carolina (SEC)	105. Delaware (CUSA)
26. Tulane (AC)	66. Texas St. (P12)	106. San Jose St. (MW)
27. Ga. Tech (ACC)	67. J. Madison (SB)	107. Wash. St. (P12)
28. Missouri (SEC)	68. Temple (AC)	108. ULL (SB)
29. Florida St. (ACC)	69. Jax State (CUSA)	109. Bowl. Grn. (MAC)
30. Penn St. (B10)	70. E. Carolina (AC)	110. Kenn. St. (CUSA)
31. Nc State (ACC)	71. Wake Forest (ACC)	111. No. Illinois (MW)
32. Houston (XII)	72. Kansas (XII)	112. C. Mich. (MAC)
33. Memphis (AC)	73. Rutgers (B10)	113. Troy (SB)
34. Washington (B10)	74. New Mexico (MW)	114. App. St. (SB)
35. Kansas St. (XII)	75. Baylor (XII)	115. So. Miss (SB)
36. Florida (SEC)	76. Arkansas (SEC)	116. FL Atlantic (AC)
37. California (ACC)	77. Michigan St. (B10)	117. Nevada (MW)
38. Nebraska (B10)	78. Iowa St. (XII)	118. Sac. St. (MAC)
39. Ga. Southern (SB)	79. UTSA (CUSA)	119. Ohio (MAC)
40. Arizona St. (XII)	80. Stanford (ACC)	120. Wyoming (MW)

CONFERENCE CAPSULES

American Conference

Navy Midshipmen -- goat-to guys go to the head of the class
Tulane Green Wave -- waving bye-bye to another head coach
Memphis Tigers -- installing new pyramid scheme with powerful ground game
South Florida Bulls -- palm reading of Hartline sees a bright future
Temple Owls -- already know who, with few losses through the portal
East Carolina Pirates -- roster needs more patches than just on the eye
UTSA Roadrunners -- meepers must mop up after messy 2025 season
Rice Owls -- Arroz by any other name is just as lame
Army Black Knights -- need to be leggier, after dropoff in rushing yardage
UAB Blazers -- nation's second-worst defense must steel its resolve
North Texas Mean Green -- need some better football through chemistry
Florida Atlantic Burrowing Owls -- not an underground success, or over, either
Tulsa Golden Hurricane -- not many prevailing winds in the past four seasons
Charlotte 49ers -- Pick-Cs have gotten dusted in their last nine games

Outlook: For the most part, the military academies are happily stuck in a pre-portal time warp, which allows the Midshipmen to return most of the talent from their 11-win season from a year ago. The other presumptive contenders have significant rebuilding to do, especially at North Texas, where neither the coaching staff nor the roster will bear much resemblance to last year's Top 25 team.

Atlantic Coast Conference

SMU Mustangs -- Fifth-year QB Jennings is no strang-er to the Stangs
Miami Hurricanes -- acquiring Mensah was a no-brainer
Louisville Cardinals -- backfield boasts the best Browns in football
Clemson Tigers -- still can't be feline groovy about their ground game
Georgia Tech Yellowjackets -- portal brings newbees at key positions
Florida State Seminoles -- Things went blam after beating Bama last year
Nc State Wolfpack -- Strutting Tuffy might have to run the ball for them
California Golden Bears -- clawed out a winning record, minus Mendoza
Virginia Cavaliers -- new offense may be more buckle than swash
Pitt Panthers -- They're preparing for fewer fans? They've got 'em
Duke Blue Devils -- defending champs in Durham would do well to win a steak
Virginia Tech Hokies/Gobblers -- lightning rod Franklin takes over the turkeys
Syracuse Orange -- must preserve Angeli, or they're in a jam
Wake Forest Demon Deacons -- wake us when conference play begins
Stanford Cardinal -- poor TD-to-INT ratio crops up again on The Farm
North Carolina Tar Heels -- The honeymoon is over in the Chapel of Love
Boston College Eagles -- Have they ever bean this bad before?

Outlook: The College Football Czar would say it should be a great battle among the top three teams, but the Canes aren't scheduled to play against the Cards or Mustangs. Such is life in an over-expanded conference. Meanwhile, the worst rushing conference in the nation seems determined not to do anything about it, which will hurt its depth and make it difficult to get an at-large CFP bid.

Big Ten Conference

Ohio State Buckeyes -- Bo Jackson is a Royal pain for opposing tacklers
Indiana Hoosiers -- new Hoosier Hoover says woo-hoo upon arriving from TCU
Oregon Ducks -- quackers get even saltier on their defensive line this season
USC Trojans -- hiring Horned Frog legend as DC could be a prickly situation
Michigan Wolverines -- Does old hand Whittingham fit into the Big Mitten?
Iowa Hawkeyes -- The only thing to fear is Ferentz's self
Penn State Nittany Lions -- needed to Ames higher than ISU coach and QBs
Washington Huskies -- head coach Fisch casts himself as offensive play-caller
Nebraska Cornhuskers -- Have the N-men finally got some O?
Minnesota Golden Gophers -- not rowing the boat very merrily these days
Illinois Fighting Illini -- running game needs more pop in Champaign
Wisconsin Badgers -- in tons of trouble on the tundra, in opener vs. ND
UCLA Bruins -- Iamaleava, hear him not roar
Northwestern Wildcats -- could strike out and get noogied at new Ryan Field
Rutgers Scarlet Knights -- Uh-oh, Piscataway-O can't open up a can
Michigan State Spartans -- odd coaching hires are giving MSU fans Fitz
Maryland Terrapins -- a crab cake on the schedules of conference opponents
Purdue Boilermakers -- another uphill climb for the Little Train That Could Puke

Outlook: The defending national champion Hoosiers shouldn't drop off much, but it won't take much for the 2024 champion Buckeyes to overtake them. Southern Cal led this conference in offense last season, but it's the only team in the top half of the league that lacks a formidable defense. The Fighting Ducks won't win a national championship until coach Dan Lanning learns how to prepare his team for a rematch.

Big Twelve Conference

Brigham Young Cougars -- league-leading rusher L.J. Martin looms larj
Texas Tech Red Raiders -- QB is a Sors-pot after offseason turmoil
Arizona Wildcats -- QB Fifita can hang half a hundred on you if he has time
Houston Cougars -- being on the Fritz means everything is working properly
Kansas State Wildcats -- Avery Johnson did not have avery productive 2025
Arizona State Sun Devils -- need that big fork to pick up the pieces
Utah Utes -- embarking on a yoot movement after losing 66-year-old coach
TCU Horned Frogs -- leaping lizards are grounded by loss of QB, WRs, OC
West Virginia Mountaineers -- playing threesies with Jax State transfers on O
Kansas Jayhawks -- How will they jell without Jalon Daniel at quarterback?
Baylor Bears -- There are fewer kids left in Waco than in the fake Rock Ridge
Iowa State Cyclones -- Clones are starting over from the embryonic stage
Cincinnati Bearcats -- 5-game skid was like their helmet logo on a chalkboard
Colorado Buffaloes -- They're a lot more low than buff in Boulder these days
Oklahoma State Cowboys -- struggling to get out from under that mullet
Central Florida Knights -- hoping they've hit bottom in the Bounce House

Outlook: This league could plausibly get two teams into the CFP, but the College Football Czar does not see a genuine national contender among them. BYU got buried twice by Tech last year, but the two will not meet this regular season. With the unexpected loss of lardheaded Cincinnati transfer Brendan Sorsby at quarterback, the Red Raiders turn to Will Hammond, who backed up Behren Morton a year ago. If it works out, might we see more teams developing their own QBs within their programs, instead of repeatedly reaching into the portal?

Conference USA

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers -- They've got an unger for a title at Feix Field
Liberty Flames -- QB Vasko needs to keep his head in da gama
Jacksonville State Gamecocks -- rooster has been depleted by defections to WVU
Delaware Fighting Blue Hens -- keeping their starting QB was a Minicucci coup
Kennesaw State Owls -- They saw, they conquered, they got mugged in the portal
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders -- need to start playing before middle season
Missouri State Bears -- Does a bear hire Casey Woods? Naturally
New Mexico State Aggies -- a torn Las Cruces would at least be an excuse
Florida International Panthers -- Men of Mystery are really quite predictable
Sam Houston Bearkats -- will win as many games as they do spelling bees

Outlook: Previewing this conference drives home the point that the group-of-six teams are now little more than a supply cabinet for the power conferences. With so many key players missing from the previous season, there figures to be a premium on coaching stability, which means eighth-year head Hilltopper Tyson Helton has got an advantage. Delaware has got the league's most valuable quarterback, but he has to contend with a defense that gave up an even 31.0 points per game last year. The Flames need a reliable QB to run Jamey Chadwell's shotgun-based triple option, and if they have one, it might take half of the season to find out.

Independents

Notre Dame Fighting Irish -- CB Moore = less, because nobody throws against him
Uconn Huskies -- new coaching staff may have a surprise in Storrs

Outlook: If the Irish won't stand for anything less than a CFP berth, then they better not drop two games again, because their schedule is remarkably soft until a road game against BYU in Week 7. The Conn Men could be headed for a third consecutive winning season, with a schedule that includes three lower-echelon power conference opponents, all at home.

Mid-American Conference

Western Michigan Broncos -- You can't bottle the horsey RB, Jalen Buckley
Miami OH RedHawks -- the cradle won't fall far from last year, if at all
Bowling Green Falcons -- does Duck backup QB Novosad fit the bill?
Central Michigan Chippewas -- Chipps might not process in the AIr
Ball State Cardinals -- Ballstate are not the good hands people
Sacramento State Hornets packing their Sac for some long road trips
Ohio Bobcats -- Every Tom, Dick and Harry has coached the Bobs since 2024
Toledo Rockets -- hopes flicker when 20 transfers follow coach Candle to Uconn
Kent State Golden Flashes -- Coach Carney has added some va-va-va-vooom!
Eastern Michigan Eagles -- treading a slippery slope in Ypsilanti
Buffalo Bulls -- UB in for a long season, if they B U
Akron Zips -- The Czar can't come up with a pun for Poffenbarger
Umass Minutemen -- going from minute to minuscule

Outlook: Last year's championship game opponents, WMU and Miami, appear to be headed for a rematch, with no obvious challenger among the rest of the pack. Don't expect too much out of Sac State in its first year of I-A ball. The Hornets, who had been contenders at the I-AA level as recently as 2022, only went 7-5 last season, and then lost QB Cardell Williams to Maryland.

Mountain West Conference

UNLV Rebels -- building a solid foundation in Rock Vegas
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors -- no need to make Chang-es to Team Timmy
New Mexico Lobos -- a couple running backs short of a pack
Air Force Falcons -- left with 'AFA team, with all O and no D
North Dakota State Bison -- don't have Fargo to compete in this league
San Jose State Spartans -- turned into Jose and the Pussycats last November
Northern Illinois Huskies -- surprised that Coach Hammock didn't hang around
Nevada Wolf Pack -- Kaepernick U pretends it wants to play, but doesn't
Wyoming Cowboys -- Pokes only moseyed downfield for 24 pts in last 4 games
UTEP Miners -- Home fans tep in their tadium at their own risk

Outlook: The top half of the league should produce plenty of offense, led by QBs Jackson Arnold at UNLV and Micah Alejado at UH. Even with some rebuilding to do, perennial Division I-AA powerhouse North Dakota State should be immediately competitive. The Miners belong in this league geographically, but after a 2-10 season while playing in the inferior Conference USA, they're lucky to have very few players coming back.

Pac 12 Conference

Boise State Broncos -- new conference, same bush league field and uniforms
Fresno State Bulldogs -- foes don't find The Boneyard all that humerus
San Diego State Aztecs -- missing more people than the real Aztecs, who ate them
Texas State Bobcats -- The armadillo armada arrives at the Left Coast
Oregon State Beavers -- Can they possibly be that bad again? Gnaw.
Colorado State Rams -- son of Jim E. Mora is going to give 'em L
Utah State Aggies -- portal returns used USU quarterback McCae Hillstead
Washington State Cougars -- head man was pulled from Pullman too soon

Outlook: Contrary to widely reported rumor, BSU and OSU are not already looking to bolt this new league for the Big XII, a conference that has no immediate plans to expand again anyway. The Bulldogs should be a better offensive team now that they have moved on from the wandering E.J. Warner. The depleted SDSU defense can no longer keep that team in contention without help.

Southeastern Conference

Georgia Bulldogs -- Can they go wire-to-wire without WRs?
Texas Longhorns -- Arch has fallen, but he can get up
LSU Tigers -- New Mister from Ole Miss will make they/them contend
Texas A&M Aggies -- Nov. schedule is a potential aTm smasher
Alabama Crimson Tide -- Last season they ran as if their shoes were Tide together
Oklahoma Sooners -- dominating D makes Sooners tougher than Now and Laters
Ole Miss Rebels -- Will new scheme count too many Mississippis?
Auburn Tigers -- ex-USF head coach Golesh gets his feet wet in the SEC
Missouri Tigers -- Big MO opted out midway through last season
Florida Gators -- portal moves are not enough to tip the scales
Tennessee Volunteers -- School of Hard Knox is in for a few nasty bumps
Kentucky Wildcats -- Coach Stein has won his money, now he must win games
Mississippi State Bulldogs -- D must play with more naked aggression in Starkville
Vanderbilt Commodores -- might fire blanks without Bennie Blanco from the Bronx
South Carolina Gamecocks -- Sellers a Heisman candidate? Noet anymeuh
Arkansas Razorbacks -- in a more uncomfortable position than Ned Beatty

Outlook: New LSU coach Lane Kiffin can make his impact known in the most obnoxious manner possible when his Bayou Bengals visit former team Ole Miss in Week 3. The Rebels have got almost all their playing talent back this year, but how much can they keep of the up-tempo offensive scheme that had been implemented by Kiffin and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr? Georgia's chances of winning the SEC and/or the CFP depend on its ability to attack more directly downfield, which suggests a tremendous year for its tight ends. Arch Manning and his Longhorns get another crack at the lumpy nuts in Austin in Week 2.

Sun Belt Conference (east division)

Georgia Southern Eagles* -- The Statesboro Blues are All man
James Madison Dukes -- ex-Gator head coach has little to grin about
Old Dominion Monarchs -- entire offense has gone to the guillotine
Marshall Thundering Herd -- team runs with current QB Del Rio Wilson
Appalachian State Mountaineers -- return to glory is a corncob pipe dream
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers -- No-Homers are a transplant team from Springfield
Georgia State Panthers still the pits of the Peach State

Sun Belt Conference (west division)

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs -- change of affiliation will be LT for them
Arkansas State Red Wolves -- in a stAte of transition after loss of QB Raynor
Southern Miss Golden Eagles -- Hattiesburg is old hat for the new coach
Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns -- Lunch counter must tally more passing yards
Troy Trojans -- Old College Troy gives Goose another go at quarterback
South Alabama Jaguars -- not much player movement in Mobile
Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks -- These belligerent birds must be Russian

* projected conference champion

Outlook: The stratifying effect of the transfer portal is most visible in this league, which has lost an abundance of talent since last year, especially at quarterback. The College Football Czar is glad to see the conference persist in splitting into divisions, Rather than stacking 14 teams in the standings, and deciding the second conference championship berth by playing rock-paper-scissors. The most likely chance for the Sun Belt to land a second consecutive CFP bid would be for GASO to upset either Clemson or Houston, and then run the table in conference play.

BOOBY-TRAP BALLGAMES

The College Football Czar has no idea who he will end up picking to win the following games, but he highlights them now as possible upsets which threaten to ensnare some of the nation's most prominent programs. The favored teams appear in bold face.

Sept. 5

Oregon at Boise State -- BSU still leads this series 3-1, and even when the Fighting Ducks finally dented the W-column in 2024, it was far from emphatic. Having been outplayed in most facets of the game, they used a few big special teams plays to eke out a 37-34 victory. This series is best known for its only previous meeting in Boise, in which UO running back LeGarrette Blount failed to back up his tough talk during an ugly 19-8 defeat, and then tried to make up for it by slugging a gloating Bronco linebacker Byron Hout after the game. It was just about the only hard hit the webfoots landed all night long.

Sept. 12

Texas Tech at Oregon State -- Maalik Murphy has been a good quarterback before, just not last season in Corvallis. New Beaver head coach JaMarcus Shephard, the former offensive coordinator at Alabama, will try to get him to take care of the ball and finish drives the way he did at Duke two years ago. The Red Raiders are loaded at running back, but their offense might be a bit one-dimensional early in the season, as QB Will Hammond comes back from a torn ACL. If OSU can bog them down in a low-scoring game, its passing game might be able to Pac the one big wallop it needs.

Sept. 26

Boise State at Western Michigan -- In the battle of the badly doodled horseheads, Boise ventures a long way east, which doesn't tend to work out very well for them. WMU returns most of the talent from last year's MAC championship team, including dual-threat QB Broc Lowry, who finished 37 yards shy of a 1,000-yard rushing season. It can also dish out some beef to go with that broclowry, in the form of 1,000-yard running back Jalen Buckley and an experienced offensive line.

Nov. 7

Clemson at Syracuse -- The Cuse has caused a lot of trouble for the Son of Clem in recent years, including last season, when it went on the road to topple the Tigers 34-21. SU couldn't really celebrate that victory, however, because of the loss of quarterback Steve Angeli to a season-ending Achilles injury. With the avenging Angeli on their side, the Orange have a chance to be surprise contenders in the ACC, with arguably their four toughest conference games at home.

Oct. 10

Indiana at Nebraska -- This could be an awkward transitional game for the Hoosiers, hoo don't figure to have much of a problem with their first five opponents, and might not anticipate a serious challenge until they collide with Ohio State a week after this. The Cornhuskers, with Anthony Colandrea arriving from UNLV, will likely field their most formidable passing game at least since Adrian Martinez was a freshman in 2018. Of course, IU went undefeated last year, but by far its three toughest tests came on the road.

Oct. 17

Alabama at Tennessee -- It might sound absurd for a visit to Rocky Top to be a trap game, but on Bama's schedule it falls in between battles with Georgia and Texas A&M. When it comes to the Crimson Tide's weak ground game against the Volunteers' weak run defense, UT seems to have done more during the offseason to address its deficiencies. In recent years, Bama has had a bit of a checkered past in Neyland Stadium, falling there to the Vols in 2022 and 2024.

Auburn at Georgia -- If the Bulldogs have beaten both Oklahoma and Alabama by this point, they just might look past this Tiger team. On the other hand, if they've dropped both of those games and at least temporarily fallen out of the CFP conversation, they could be ready to unravel. Head coach Alex Golesh arrives at AU after leading South Florida to three consecutive winning seasons, with a record of 23-15. The year before he took over in Tampa, the Bulls went 1-11.

Oct. 31

Ohio State at USC -- The Buckeyes have an idle week after a visit to Indiana, so maybe there won't be a letdown for this game. Southern Cal is still their only opponent in between IU and Oregon, however, and that's an awfully tough three-game stretch to have to keep one's intensity up. The Trojans are 7-1 in the Coliseum against Big Ten opponents, having only let a game they should have won get away from them in 2024, against Penn State in overtime. Last year's home schedule included a dominant victory over Michigan and an important win against Iowa. While it's true that the lumpy nuts had the nation's best defense last season, SC counters with an offense that led the Big Ten in total yardage.

Nov. 7

Texas at Missouri -- Last year, the Longhorns did not come far from going winless on the road, managing to finish 2-3 by barely escaping back-to-back games at Kentucky and Mississippi State. Moreover, Faurot Field has been a dangerous place for visiting teams to play in recent years, most notably in a near-upset of Alabama last season. These former Big XII foes face off for the first time since the Horns prevailed in the 2017 Texas Bowl, 33-16. Oh sherr. Like that one wasn't fixed.

Nov. 14

Duke at Miami -- The U almost always appears to be the superior team going into this matchup, but they have only split the last six games in the series. The defending ACC champion Blue Devils will have something to prove, not just to the CFP committee, but to former quarterback Darian Mensah. Now a Hurricane, the one-time Tulane tosser made controversial remarks about the size of his NIL contract at Duke causing friction in the locker room. He won't have to worry about friction on this day, because the Devils will be looking to make more solid contact than that.

Nov. 28

SMU at Stanford -- Unless the Mustangs are still competing for the ACC championship, their previous week's game at Notre Dame will have been like a bowl game, except with the players actually showing up. Having to travel to Palo Alto for a generally inconsequential game against a conference misfit will seem like an afterthought, comparable to the regrettable last stop on a bar-hopping spree. Former Cardinal QB and current head coach Tavita Pritchard has some promising offensive talent to work with, and his team could be motivated by the possibility of a bowl game of its own.

POSTSEASON PROJECTIONS

Just for fun, here are the Czar's projections for this season's bowl and playoff matchups.

Game ..... Location ..... Date ..... Projection

Arizona Bowl ..... Tucson, AZ ..... TBA ..... Miami OH vs. Air Force

Holiday Bowl ..... San Diego, CA ..... TBA ..... California vs. San Diego State

Salute to Veterans Bowl ..... Montgomery, AL ..... Dec. 15 ..... Delaware vs. Ball State

Frisco Football Classic (nee, Xbox Bowl) ..... Frisco, TX ..... Dec. 15 ..... Middle Tennessee vs. Old Dominion

Boca Raton Bowl ..... Boca Raton, FL ..... Dec. 18..... East Carolina vs. Virginia Tech

Gasparilla Bowl ..... Tampa, FL ..... Dec. 18 ..... Duke vs. South Florida

CFP First Round ..... Baton Rouge, LA ..... Dec. 18 ..... UNLV at LSU

CFP First Round ..... College Station, TX ..... Dec. 19 ..... Brigham Young at Texas A&M

CFP First Round ..... Eugene, OR ..... Dec. 19 ..... Alabama at Oregon

CFP First Round ..... South Bend, IN ..... Dec. 19 ..... SMU at Notre Dame

Myrtle Beach Bowl ..... Myrtle Beach, SC ..... Dec. 21 ..... Georgia Southern vs. Kennesaw State

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl ..... Boise, ID ..... Dec. 21 ..... Central Michigan vs. Boise State

Puerto Rico Bowl ..... Bayamon, PR ..... Dec. 22 ..... Bowling Green vs. James Madison

Cure Bowl ..... Orlando, FL ..... Dec. 22..... Marshall vs. Uconn

Independence Bowl ..... Shreveport, LA ..... Dec. 22 ..... Kansas State vs. Liberty

New Orleans Bowl ..... New Orleans, LA ..... Dec. 23 ..... Jacksonville State vs. Louisiana Tech

Armed Forces Bowl ..... Fort Worth, TX ..... Dec. 23 ..... TCU vs. Western Kentucky

Frisco Bowl ..... Frisco, TX ..... Dec. 23 ..... Western Michigan vs. Wisconsin

New Mexico Bowl ..... Albuquerque, NM ..... Dec. 24 .....New Mexico vs. Arkansas State

Hawaii Bowl ..... Honolulu, HI ..... Dec. 24 ..... Minnesota vs. Hawaii

Pinstripe Bowl ..... Bronx, NY ..... Dec. 26 ..... Georgia Tech vs. Penn State

Fenway Bowl ..... Boston, MA ..... Dec. 26 ..... Florida State vs. Tulane

Duke's Mayo Bowl ..... Charlotte, NC ..... Dec. 26 ..... Louisville vs. Illinois

68 Ventures Bowl ..... Mobile, AL ..... Dec. 26 ..... Southern Miss vs. Temple

Cactus Bowl ..... Phoenix, AZ ..... Dec. 26 ..... Arizona State vs. Iowa

Military Bowl ..... Annapolis, MD ..... Dec. 28 ..... Nc State vs. Navy

Birmingham Bowl ..... Birmingham, AL ..... Dec. 29 ..... Kentucky vs. Memphis

Pop Tarts Bowl ..... Orlando, FL ..... Dec. 29 ..... Miami vs. Arizona

Alamo Bowl ... San Antonio, TX ... Dec. 29 ... Houston vs. Texas A&M

Gator Bowl ..... Jacksonville, FL ..... Dec. 30 ..... Florida vs. Clemson

Music City Bowl ..... Nashville, TN ..... Dec. 30 ..... Missouri vs. Nebraska

Fiesta Bowl (CFP QF) ..... Glendale, AZ ..... Jan. 8 ..... Brigham Young vs. Ohio State

ReliaQuest Bowl ..... Tampa, FL ..... Dec 31 ..... Auburn vs. Michigan

Sun Bowl ..... El Paso, TX ..... Dec. 31 ..... Virginia vs. Fresno State

Las Vegas Bowl ..... Las Vegas, NV ..... Dec 31 ..... Tennessee vs. Washington

Texas Bowl ..... Houston, TX ..... Dec 31 ..... Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss

Cotton Bowl (CFP QF) ..... Arlington, TX ..... Jan. 1 ..... Oregon vs. Georgia

Peach Bowl (CFP QF) ..... Atlanta, GA ..... Jan. 1 ..... LSU vs. Texas

Rose Bowl (CFP QF) ..... Pasadena, CA ..... Jan. 1 ..... Notre Dame vs. Indiana

Citrus Bowl ..... Orlando, FL ..... Jam. 2 ..... Oklahoma vs. USC

First Responder Bowl ..... Dallas, TX ..... Jan. 2 ..... Pitt vs. UTSA

Liberty Bowl ..... Memphis, TN ..... Jan. 2 ..... Utah vs. Mississippi Stae

Orange Bowl (CFP SF) ..... Miami Gardens, FL ..... Jan. 14 ..... Texas vs. Ohio State

Sugar Bowl (CFP SF) ..... New Orleans, LA ..... Jan. 15 ..... Indiana vs. Georgia

CFP Championship ..... Atlanta, GA ..... Jan. 25 .... Georgia vs. Ohio State

The College Football Czar