The College Football Czar: 2025 Season Preview

The Original College Football Czar

2025 Season Preview

a sports publication from The Shinbone

by Daniel Clark

Description: The College Football Czar

Welcome to the 2025 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 of upcoming college football action posted at this site. To find out more, please consult the Ground Rules.

This issue contains the Czar's rankings for all 136 teams in Division I-A football, as well as conference preview capsules, potential upsets to watch for, postseason projections, and a guide to help you locate head coaches and starting QBs on the move. Most importantly, it includes early nominees for the Lardhead of the Year Award, which the Czar never gets around to actually awarding, but for which he dispenses nominations promiscuously.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

COACHING MOVES

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

Dowell Loggains ..... Appalachian St. ..... off. coord. S. Carolina ..... Shawn Clark

Mike Uremovich ..... Ball St. ..... head coach Butler (I-AA) ..... Mike Neu

Eddie George ... Bowling Green ... head coach Tennessee St. (I-AA) ... Scott Loeffler

Scott Frost ..... Central Florida ..... head coach Nebraska ('22) ..... Gus Malzahn

Matt Drinkall ..... Central Michigan ..... OL coach Army ..... Jim McElwain

Tim Albin ..... Charlotte ..... head coach Ohio ..... Biff Poggi

Zach Kittley ..... Florida Atlantic..... off. coord. Texas Tech ..... Tom Herman

Willie Simmons ..... Florida International ..... RB coach Duke ..... Mike MacIntyre

Matt Entz ..... Fresno St. ..... LB coach USC ..... Tim Skipper (int.)

Charles Kelly ..... Jacksonville St. ..... def. coord. Auburn ..... Rich Rodriguez

Jerry Mack ..... Kennesaw St. ..... RB coach Jax Jaguars ..... Brian Bohannon

Mark Carney (interim) ..... Kent St. ..... off. coordinator Kent St. ..... Kenni Burns

Tony Gibson ..... Marshall ..... def. coord. Nc State ..... Charles Huff

Joe Harasymiak ..... Umass ..... def. coord. Rutgers ..... Don Brown

Jason Eck ..... New Mexico ..... head coach Idaho (I-AA) ..... Bronco Mendenhall

Bill Belichick ..... North Carolina ..... head coach N.E. Patriots ('23) ..... Mack Brown

Brian Smith ..... Ohio ..... off. coord. Ohio ..... Tim Allen

Barry Odom ..... Purdue ..... head coach UNLV ..... Ryan Walters

Scott Abell ..... Rice ..... head coach Davidson (I-AA) ..... Mike Bloomgren

Phil Longo ..... Sam Houston ..... off. coord. Wisconsin ..... K.C. Keeler

Charles Huff ..... Southern Miss ..... head coach Marshall ..... Will Hall

Frank Reich (interim) ... Stanford ... head coach Carolina Panthers ('23) ... Troy Taylor

K.C. Keeler ..... Temple ..... head coach Sam Houston ..... Stan Drayton

Tre Lamb ..... Tulsa ..... head coach E. Tennessee St. (I-AA) ..... Kevin Wilson

Dan Mullen ..... UNLV ..... head coach Florida ('21) ..... Barry Odom

Bronco Mendenhall ..... Utah St. ..... head coach New Mexico ..... Nate Dreiling (int.)

Jake Dickert ..... Wake Forest ..... head coach Washington St. ..... Dave Clawson

Jimmy Rogers ..... Washington St. ..... head coach S. Dakota St. (I-AA) ..... Jake Dickert

Rich Rodriguez ..... West Virginia ..... head coach Jacksonville St. ..... Neal Brown

ROLLING HEAD WATCH

The following coaches will have a difficult time hanging onto their noggins through the 2025 season:

Justin Wilcox, California -- The ninth-year Golden Bear head coach is coming off his fifth consecutive losing season, after pulling up lame in the second half of the L.A. Bowl to finish 6-7. There are reasons for leniency after a challenging inaugural ACC season, during which his team lost four straight games by a total of only nine points. Had his kickers not misfired so consistently, it might have been his best season to date. Facing a weak 2025 schedule, he'll be turning his offense over to the latest hotshot Hawaiian quarterback, Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele, who settled on Cal over Oregon for the opportunity to play right away. With that going for him, another sub-.500 season would be as disappointing as poi.

Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati -- The coach's career has crashed since leaving App State, with a modest 25-24 record through four seasons at Louisville, followed by an 8-16 mark in his first two years at UC. It will be important for him to start the 2025 campaign in the right direction at Arrowhead Stadium, where his Bearcats battle Nebraska in a neutral-site opener. If he doesn't enter conference play with momentum in the parity-plagued Big XII, however, he might soon find himself with a lot of Satterdays off.

Lance Leipold, Kansas -- Will the Great Leip Forward turn out to be anything more than a five-year plan? The Jayhawks regressed last year, leaving Leipold with only one non-losing record in four years, in Big XII play as well as overall. Chances for a breakthrough season in 2025 depend heavily on sixth-year QB Jalon Daniels, who had offseason knee surgery after an uncharacteristic total of 12 INTs a year ago.

Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech -- Conference USA is about as watered down as that USA Wet sports drink that Tony Dorsett used to pitch. Nevertheless, the Bulldogs have only gone 11-26 since Cumbie's arrival three years ago. With games this year against Division I-A debutantes Delaware and Missouri State, he has a reasonable chance at a winning record. Nevertheless, with LTU getting ready to make the jump to the superior Sun Belt Conference, it's all but inevitable that an upgrade is in order.

Mike Locksley, Maryland -- The coach who shares a surname with Robin Hood is a man in a tight spot, after a 2024 season that was as hard to watch as a Mel Brooks movie after he went politically correct. A dramatic one-point, comeback victory over USC was a great highlight, but it turned out to be the Terrapins' only Big Ten win of the season. Even when he had Tua II tossing the ball, his teams never fared any better than 4-5 in conference play. Now he will be relying on either a freshman, or a transfer from UCLA.

Bill Belichick, North Carolina -- Yes, the legendary coach's arrival in the Chapel of Love really is that volatile a situation. If the Tar Heels don't emerge from a weak September schedule with a record of at least 3-1, there will already be questions about whether he's worth it. Belichick has recorded 333 career victories, including a record six Super Bowls. However, his record in Cleveland was only 37-45, and in his last four seasons in New England, without Tom Brady, he went 29-39. In addition to that, college ball has often been a tough transition for former NFL coaches, however brilliant they may have been. All things considered, bringing the 73-year-old skipper to UNC at this stage of his career would be no sure thing, even if he hadn't brought along his own distraction.

Brent Venables, Oklahoma -- Granted, the fourth-year coach was sandbagged last season by the departure of QB Dillon Gabriel to Oregon, and he also had to compete in a far better conference than the year before. Such is the nature of the game today, however, and a coach has got to be prepared to deal with it. An SEC record of 2-6 and a postseason loss to Navy spell out pretty clearly that he wasn't.

Pat Narduzzi, Pitt -- After last year's 7-0 start, Panther fans were concerned that the coach might get hired away by Michigan State. Six consecutive losses later, some of them wished he had been. Narduzzi once infamously referred to Pittsburgh as "Boo City," but the fans have actually given him a lot of leeway, and it's not hard to understand why. After the school's impetuous firing of Dave Wannstedt in 2010, it made a reach by hiring Michael Haywood away from Miami Ohio, and then dropped him three weeks later, when he was charged with domestic battery. Then came "high octane" offensive specialist Todd Graham, who went 6-6 before double-crossing his players by jumping to Arizona State. The Panthers continued to wander around at the .500 mark for three years under the inert leadership of Paul Chryst, before he went home to Wisconsin. By that point, if you told the fans that their next coach would stay for at least eleven years and bring home an ACC championship, they'd have guessed the job would be his for as long as he wanted it. That all changed, however, when his puffed-up 2023 team was punctured for a career-worst record of 3-9, and last year's collapse has compounded the crisis.

Trent Dilfer, UAB -- In 2014, the Blazer program rose from the dead like Lazarus, but after two years under its current coach, it stinketh. When the Super Bowl-winning journeyman NFL quarterback was hired, he remarked to the effect that winning is not important compared to academics and the building of character, which sounded pretty anachronistic at the outset of the NIL-transfer portal era. Was he merely expressing doubts about his ability to produce results? It sure sounded like it at the time, and his 7-17 record through two seasons reinforces that impression.

Lincoln Riley, USC -- the once-highly successful Oklahoma coach, coming off the worst season of his career, might only have hung on this long to spite his media nemesis, ESPN crank Paul Feinbaum. In his first year in the geographically unaccommodating Big Ten, Riley's team went 0-4 whenever it traveled any farther from home than Las Vegas. Still, its most damaging loss came at home, when it failed to derail Penn State in an agonizing overtime letdown. That's the kind of game he was brought to Southern Cal to win, at least some of the time. Even if he avoids the upset this year, he cannot afford to go 0-for-Michigan, Notre Dame and Oregon.

QB TRANSFER TRACKER

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

Jackson Arnold ..... Auburn ..... Oklahoma ..... likely

Ashton Daniels ..... Auburn ..... Stanford ..... unlikely

Dylan Lonergan ..... Boston College ..... Alabama ..... unlikely

Devin Brown ..... California ..... Ohio St. ..... likely

Kaidon Salter ..... Colorado ..... Liberty ..... certain

Darian Mensah ..... Duke ..... Tulane ..... certain

Mike Wright ... East Carolina ... Northwestern ... probable

Thomas Castellanos ..... Florida St. ..... Boston Coll ..... certain

Conner Weigman ..... Houston ..... Texas A&M ..... probable

Fernando Mendoza ..... Indiana .... California ..... certain

Matthew Sluka ..... James Madison ..... UNLV ..... contested

Miller Moss ..... Louisville ..... USC ..... certain

Michael Van Buren ..... LSU ..... Mississippi St. ..... improbable

Carson Beck ..... Miami ..... Georgia ..... certain

DeQuan Finn ..... Miami OH ..... Baylor ..... certain

Mikey Keene ..... Michigan ..... Fresno St. ..... contested

Beau Pribula ..... Missouri ..... Penn St. ..... certain

Gio Lopez ..... North Carolina ..... S. Alabama ..... probable

Preston Stone ..... Northwestern ..... SMU ..... certain

John Mateer ..... Oklahoma ..... Washington St. ..... certain

Maalik Murphy ..... Oregon St. ..... Duke ..... certain

Braylon Braxton ..... Southern Miss ..... Marshall ..... probable

Ben Gulbranson ... Stanford ... Oregon St. ... unlikely

Steve Angeli ..... Syracuse ..... Notre Dame ..... likely

Gevani McCoy ..... Temple ..... Oregon St. ..... contested

Joey Aguilar ... Tennessee ... UCLA ... likely

Nate Yarnell ... Texas St. ... Pitt ... contested

Jake Retzlaff ... Tulane ... Brigham Young ... probable

Nico Iamaleava ..... UCLA ..... Tennessee ..... certain

Devon Dampier ..... Utah ..... New Mexico ..... certain

Anthony Colandrea ..... UNLV ..... Virginia ..... probable

Malachi Nelson ..... UTEP ..... Boise St. ..... contested

Chandler Morris ..... Virginia ..... North Texas ..... certain

Garret Rangel ... Virginia Tech .. Oklahoma St. ... improbable

Billy Edwards ..... Wisconsin ..... Maryland ..... contested

Danny O'Neil ..... Wisconsin ..... San Diego St. ..... contested

WHAT'S NEW IN 2025

* Corso calls it a career -- The longtime College GameDay co-host wraps up his long goodbye after he and the rest of the crew visit the Week 1 game between Texas and Ohio State. It would be a mistake to try to replicate Corso's presence on the show, but it would be nice if everybody else would follow his lead, by just letting the games be about the games, and having fun with them.

* The big boob on Big Noon -- Apparently believing the GameDay audience to be up for grabs in the post-Corso era, Fox Big Noon Kickoff has hired Barstool founder Dave Portnoy to give the show what one might charitably call personality. The obnoxious, gambling-obsessed commentator was in the booth for Barstool's multi-platform broadcasts of the 2022 and 2023 Arizona Bowls, during which he and his partners demonstrated their ignorance of the sport, while repeatedly declaring their own rooting interests, and talking as if the betting line and over/under were more relevant than the outcome of the game. All the while, they displayed a sense of humor that lacked the wit and subtlety of a whoopie cushion. Critics have been quick to point out that unlike ESPN's Pat McAfee, Portnoy never played the college or pro ball (and yes, kickers like McAfee actually are football players). But of course, Howard Cosell famously never played the game, yet his analyses were often superior to those of the "jockocracy" he decried. The College Football Czar himself has never come any closer to organized football than the end zone seats at Pitt Stadium, and he admittedly possesses all the athleticism of a beached sea lion, so it should go without saying that he does not disqualify Portnoy on that basis.

No, what the Czar believes should disqualify Portnoy from this position is that his college football analyses are shallow and uncolorful, and devoid of any attempt at objectivity. He obviously puts no more thought into them than he does into his pizza reviews. (The first pizza shop that starts using pizza sauce again should be the winner, by the way.) The Czar has a low tolerance for McAfee's presentation, but McAfee's insights about football are infinitely more valuable than Portnoy's pointlessly p.o'd opinions. If this is intended to be a battle of personalities, at least McAfee's contrived overzealousness is upbeat. Portnoy, by contrast, is unyieldingly off-putting, a fire hose of invective spewing from a face that looks as if it had just been force-fed a sardine sandwich. He's like a friend's unpleasant brother-in-law whose presence you are compelled to tolerate on a total drag of a road trip. Fox is now asking us to invite this personality into our living rooms. What executive lardheads were present at the meeting where this sounded like a good idea?

* Don't call them "Athletic" -- Those of you who had trouble keeping the ACC and the AAC straight don't have to worry any longer, because the American Athletic Conference will heretofore be known only as the American Conference. There are a lot of words in the titles of conferences that have become problematic, because they refer to geographic designations or numbers of members. The College Football Czar did not expect that "athletic" would be the word that would provoke a change. If the American Conference is no longer athletic, then what is it, a bunch of people getting together to discuss the gross domestic product? Come to think of it, that would be about as exciting as the average Tulsa-Rice game.

* House settles -- The long-awaited terms of the settlement of House v. NCAA have been revealed, and there is a chance it might actually provide some structure and clarity to college sports. If all goes well, which it won't, what would happen is that each school would pay its players, with a cap of 20.5 million for the entire athletic program, as much as 75 percent of which could go toward football. NIL payments would still be allowed in addition to this, but they would have to be for legitimate uses of name, image and likeness (imagine that). The auditing firm Deloitte (formerly the widely spoonerized "Deloitte & Touche") would review all NIL payments in excess of $600 for compliance. Before it is fully enacted, however, it will have to survive a gauntlet of lawsuits, including those by the innately corrupt "NIL collectives" whose existence is threatened, as well as questions about the legitimacy of Deloitte's role in the process.

* Bye to a bad idea -- instead of awarding the four first-round playoff byes to the power conference champions, the CFP will now simply go by the rankings, with seeds 1-4 getting the bye, and 5-12 battling it out in the opening round. A sensible tweak to a stupid transition that should never have been started.

* Get out! -- This year's CFP championship game will be played in a genuine football stadium, outdoors and on a grass surface, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. It will be the first outdoor national title game since it was last played at that same venue to end the 2021 season. It will be another three seasons before it is played outdoors again, in Tampa.

* Knifing the MAC -- The Mid-American Conference (not to be confused with the non-confusingly named American Conference) has until now enjoyed remarkable stability relative to the other group-of-fives. Perhaps no longer, with Northern Illinois jumping to the Mountain West after this season, and Ohio being courted by the Sun Belt. With two perennial contenders gone, the MAC might soon find itself demoted to the HEY BUDDY.

* The Hama comes down -- Because of ongoing renovations to Thomas Robinson Stadium, this year's Bahamas Bowl has been canceled. ESPN is leaving open the possibility of hastily organizing a replacement game, probably dependent on the availability of eligible teams. By the College Football Czar's fancy ciphering, there will be no available participants, and therefore no game.

* Folsom Field blues -- For the first time in over a quarter-century, the Colorado Buffaloes will be playing their home games on an artificial surface. The weenie reason that's been given is that the school wants to use the facility to host concerts and other events, in addition to CU football. Seriously, lots of concerts are held at stadiums with grass fields every year. There's no way they'll be holding enough events on this field to endanger the playing surface. Besides, when Folsom Field previously went artificial from 1971-98, that was the old, flat carpet commonly known as Astroturf. Today's turf is more like a shag rug made of rubber. Have they given any thought to how they're going to clean up after Ralphie on that stuff?

WHAT'S NOT NEW

* Playoff expansion accelerates -- It is not a matter of whether the playoff will expand to 16 teams, but how immediately. The current debate is about whether all berths other than those occupied by conference champions should be at-large, or whether four berths each should be reserved for representatives of the SEC and Big Ten. The College Football Czar finds this to be a distinction without a difference. Each of those two leagues is bound to get four bids out of 16 regardless of whether they are automatic bids or not. The SEC will usually even get a fifth.

After this round of expansion, the Czar expects an immediate push to expand the field to 20, by adding play-in games to include all champions of group-of-five conferences. Then it will quickly grow to 24, because it will seem so unfair to include Liberty, for instance, but not Texas A&M. This is what happens at every other level of college football, as well as every other college sport. The unique and accidental manner in which the major college football postseason had come about had always been one of the charms of the game. Well, we can't have those, now, can we.

* Bowls are being euthanized -- The NCAA continues its slow suffocation of what used to be the greatest postseason in sports by refusing to close the transfer portal until the entire season is over. The resulting loss of so many starting players has already reduced the minor bowl games to little more than early preparation for the following season. The playoff is now preparing to deliver a blow to the major, traditional bowl games as well.

The proposition that the bowls could coexist with a playoff has always been a lie. You can't have two parallel postseason formats and have the lesser of the two survive for very long, and now we're seeing why the major bowls cannot continue to be incorporated into the playoff. For starters, the Rose Bowl isn't really the Rose Bowl anymore if it's only a CFP quarterfinal game. It can't even be selected a semifinal venue, because that would displace it from New Year's Day, meaning that it would no longer be part of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses. The tradition of the game has become an impediment, so it has got to go.

Furthermore, when there are multiple rounds of neutral-site playoff games, attendance becomes a problem. Two years ago, Washington had trouble selling its allotment of CFP championship tickets, because the semifinal, which pretended to be the Sugar Bowl, was played in New Orleans. Those Husky fans who made the trip to that game could not just turn around and make another long road trip to Houston. Expansion has exacerbated the problem by adding a third consecutive round of neutral-site games. Imagine if the fans from Seattle had to first go to a game in Pasadena, and then New Orleans, and then Houston. Traveling fans are not a bottomless resource. Inevitably, the playoffs will have to be played at the home fields of the higher seeds until the championship game, just like in the NFL.

Which teams on the fringe of the Top 20 will be playing in the Rose Bowl then? When the bowls have been bumped from the playoff format, the New Year's games will consist of three CFP quarterfinals, and a game in Pasadena between the #5 team from the Big Ten and the #4 team from the Big XII. This new, bastardized Rose Bowl will be to the traditional Rose Bowl as today's Harlem Globetrotters are to the team that everybody knew back in the 70s. And if the Rose Bowl has the matchup that used to belong to the Sun Bowl, then who is the Sun Bowl going to get? Every bowl game up and down the pecking order will have become a pale imitation of itself, to the point at which the fans, media and sponsors will have little choice but to recognize that it's finally all over.

What we'll be left with is four or more weekends of playoff games, and no weeknight college football throughout the Christmas season. But hey, at least the fifth-best SEC team will have a shot at the national championship, and won't that be grand.

* C-USA expands again -- The most watered-down conference in the history of the game becomes further diluted with the addition of former Division I-AA schools Missouri State and Delaware. Seriously, the I-AA Missouri Valley Conference might be better than this league. Things as lame as Conference USA and Elon Musk's fledgling America Party should not be allowed to name themselves after our country.

* That infernal song -- There's apparently never going to be an end to it. Doesn't anybody know the meaning of overkill? The College Football Czar is beginning to suspect that the lyrics of Sweet Caroline contain an evil, subliminal message. In addition to Neil Diamond lusting for an 11-year-old, that is.

LARDHEAD OF THE YEAR AWARD NOMINEES

* Iowa State and Kansas State -- Granted, it would be tough to turn down an invitation to play in the Emerald Isle Classic, but you don't move a traditional, stadium-packing rivalry like Farmageddon overseas.' There are plenty of games pitting either team against a Big XII opponent that would not otherwise outdraw the 48,000-seat capacity at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. To take the big game away from the locals and move it half a continent and an entire ocean away is a bunch of blarney, to put it politely.

* Colorado University -- The school's process for retiring football players' numbers leaves it up to the subjective determination of a few nameless athletic department administrators, and the head coach. So, Deion Sanders retired his son Shedeur's #2, as well as the #12 that was worn by Travis Hunter. Each of them only played two seasons in Boulder, but Hunter's brief CU career justifies the recognition. The Czar does not believe the same can be said for the coach's son. Granted, the Buffalo QB put up huge numbers, albeit in an offense that threw the ball almost exclusively, resulting in a high volume of safe passes in lieu of a running game. Do two productive seasons, and a record of 13-12, justify having one's number retired? They don't need to. Coach Prime had been given the power to bestow this honor on his son, so why wouldn't he? Besides, by the time the embarrassment sets in on that university, he may be coaching elsewhere.

* Oregon head coach Dan Lanning -- for admitting to having been surprised that Ohio State devised a different game plan in the playoffs than the one they had used in the regular season. Gosh, a football team made adjustments after losing a game? Who saw that coming? It's a lesson that should never have been necessary, but one the third-year coach better have learned by now. The way the game is today, he'll never win a national championship as long as he doesn't understand how to prepare for a rematch. Puddles the Duck is the one who usually has to do the push-ups, but for this, he should make the coach drop and give him twenty.

* North Carolina coach Bill Belichick -- for wearing old sweatshirts that are conspicuously riddled with holes, for the obvious purpose of presenting himself as a stereotypical regular slob. Who does this guy think he is, Adlai Stevenson? Probably everybody has kept certain articles of clothing around longer than he should have, but sweaters just don't wear out in patterns like that, and if they did, nobody would wear them on national TV. Except for a phony, that is. Just because the coach has a net worth of $70 million doesn't mean he has to have expensive tastes, but an honest regular slob with all that money would at least have clothes that don't look like they were used to scrub out cages at the zoo. Which he assuredly does, when the cameras aren't on him.

* Baylor coach Daved Aranda-- who attempted to make a point about NIL-era recruiting by likening it to a scene about dwarf-tossing from The Wolf of Wall Street. As one would expect, lots of people became offended by this for the wrong reasons. What he really seemed to be saying was that the dehumanizing way in which the dwarves were treated in the movie was the same way college football coaches must now treat the players, in that a coach must try to convince a player that he is a valued part of the team, while in reality he is only to be treated as an object. What critics seized upon was his supposedly demeaning use of the word "midgets," even though he was obviously not condoning the act of dwarf-tossing. The coach has since apologized (again, for the wrong thing), but he can only hope that the controversy over his use of the frowned-upon m-word distracts future recruits and transfers from his real message.

* ... and those who protested against him -- As a general rule, the College Football Czar does not value the opinions of people whose job it is to become offended by things. Take, for example, Mascots Matter, a group whose mission, as its name suggests, is to stamp out team mascots that it finds offensive. In a press release about Aranda's remarks, the organization complained that the coach repeatedly referred to "midgets," which it always put in quotes, whereas it did not put quotes around "dwarf-tossing" or "dwarfism." It seems that at some point, an international convention of meddlesome banana-brains issued an official proclamation that the word "midget" is offensive but "dwarf" is not, although the Czar cannot find any rational argument that has been made to back up this distinction.

The people Aranda called midgets are referred to by Mascots Matter as "individuals with dwarfism." In a way, it is right to correct him on this point, because there is a difference between midgets and dwarves, in that a midget is small in stature but proportionally consistent with people of average size, whereas the body parts of a dwarf are disproportionate, owing to a genetic condition. So, Aranda's offense must at least partially be that the people he called midgets are really dwarves. But what about this, exactly, is so objectionable? Do dwarves take offense to being confused with midgets, and if so, is that not an insult to midgets? And why must Mascots Matter become a party to such anti-midget bigotry?

THE CZAR DECREES ...

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

* Clarify catches -- If the ball hits the turf in the same motion that the receiver gathers it in, that's a trap, because he has not had an opportunity to establish possession. The rule needs to make this as plain as possible, so that replay officials can stop picking the video apart with tweezers, in an attempt to make the call subjective when it should not be.

* Emphasize explanations -- Explaining a call is one of the most important things a referee does, but so many of them do it so poorly. Just for starters, when there are offsetting penalties, the ref's first words should be "we have offsetting penalties." He should not mess with the minds of the spectators by first making the call on the home team and then on the visitors. Communication skills may not be the strong suit of a lot of coaches and players, but for referees, they should be mandatory.

* Publicize your product -- In a college town, everybody is aware of when the next home game is being played, but a school in a professional sports town has got to fight for attention, handicapped by the fact that kickoff times are often only determined six days ahead of time. Yet the College Football Czar never sees ads on TV, YouTube or electronic billboards saying things like, "Hey, there's a home game against Syracuse this Saturday at noon." That hardly seems like it would be a cost-prohibitive investment.

* Give a day's work for a day's pay -- Now that college football players are being paid like professionals, the commitment has got to go both ways. Any player who opts out of a postseason game, or presumes to redshirt himself to preserve a year's eligibility at another school, should face a severe financial penalty. This is not the NBA. Guys who are being paid to play don't get to decide whether they feel like doing it or not.

* Out with the "outs" -- No more whiteouts, blackouts, plaidouts, mauveouts, periwinkleouts or beigeouts. Yes, the visual effect can be impressive, but it's coercive! People pay a lot of money to go to football games, and even if they didn't, they deserve to be treated like human beings in a free country, without having their choice of attire dictated by a bunch of Mussolini Mini-Mes. Consider this to be a sort of intervention for all the sillyputtyheads over there in State College.

TEAM RANKINGS, 1-136

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

CONFERENCE CAPSULES

American Conference

Navy Midshipmen -- improving O gives them a push-up to the top of the standings
Tulane Green Wave -- NOLA has no code of conduct for new QB Retzlaff to violate
Memphis Tigers -- Will Big XII rejection lead to a big letdown?
East Carolina Pirates -- "Ahrrrr" stands for rematch, after belligerent bowl win vs. NCSU
UTSA Roadrunners -- poor little pass defense never bothers anyone
Army Black Knights -- tough road slate puts them between a rock and the Hudson
South Florida Bulls -- knockerheads knock heads with Boise St., Fla., Miami for openers
UAB Blazers -- Dilfer's D was ill fer all of his first two seasons
Florida Atlantic Burrowing Owls -- Will the undergrounders fly under the radar this year?
North Texas Mean Green -- can dent the scoreboard in Denton, but not the W-column
Temple Owls -- as lethargic as if late alumnus Bill Cosby had slipped them something
Rice Owls -- "Who" will lead the hooters' more aggressive offense?
Charlotte 49ers -- Did they finally pick a winner in Coach Tim Albin?
Tulsa Golden Hurricane -- wispy defense is blowing in the wind

Outlook: It is very possible that a playoff berth will be at stake when the Naval Academy tangles with the Tigers on Thanksgiving weekend, perhaps with the winner emerging with only one loss on the season. A dearth of quality quarterbacking around the league gives returning starter Blake Horvath and the Middies the upperhand. The Green Wave should be commended for their nonconference scheduling (Northwestern, South Alabama, Duke, Ole Miss), but comparing their outlook to those of this league's other contenders illustrates why quality September matchups are becoming so unusual.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Georgia Tech Yellowjackets -- could bee home free after Week 3 game vs. Clemson
Clemson Tigers -- Whose hands will carry the load in the Paw Boys' backfield?
Miami Hurricanes -- The U invested too much $ in quarterback Carson Beck
SMU Mustangs -- Smoo turned to glue when things got sticky in December
Louisville Cardinals -- may become too ffullll of themselves after nonconference feast
Nc State Wolfpack -- They're Raleigh eager to prove last season was a fluke
Florida State Seminoles -- should've speared a bigger fish than QB Castellanos
Boston College Eagles -- O'Brien continues in-chin his way up the standings
Duke Blue Devils -- pickup of QB Mensah was a stroke of genius
Pitt Panthers -- chance of contending is about as slender as RB Desmond Reid
North Carolina Tar Heels -- Man With Two Brains must use the big one on top
Virginia Cavaliers -- Journeyman QB Morris is on life number nine
Syracuse Orange -- could get beaten to some pulp by four 2024 playoff teams
Virginia Tech Hokies/Gobblers -- D needs more stuffing, or it will get tatered
Wake Forest Demon Deacons -- weakest personnel since teaming up with Larry Storch
California Golden Bears -- fans couldn't bear to watch their kicking game last year
Stanford Cardinal -- could use a few good hands down on The Farm

Outlook: Glaring deficiencies among the traditional powers throws the conference title race wide open, perhaps enough so to include a majority of the teams. Considering the degree of parity this year, berths in the title game will be determined largely by scheduling. Hence, the College Football Czar projects a competent but not dominant GT team to finish first, based in part on the fact that it does not face Miami, SMU or Louisville. The Seminoles don't figure to improve much on an offense that ranked #119 or worse nationally in every category a year ago. Does Dabo Swinney have the game's best-kept secret hidden at Clemson, or has he really left his team without a reliable running back?

Big Ten Conference

Penn State Nittany Lions -- Jonestown, East of Johnstown has something to believe in
Ohio State Buckeyes -- Who will throw to those great WRs? Just Sayin
Michigan Wolverines -- Underwood plays to type at quarterback
Oregon Ducks -- The Big O is not so yuuuge in Eugene this season
Illinois Fighting Illini -- not just hanging around to innois people anymore
Nebraska Cornhuskers -- The Rhule rule says in his third year, he rules
USC Trojans -- Coach Lincoln logs another long year in Los Angeles
Iowa Hawkeyes -- get a jump start from SD State Jackrabbit QB Gronowski
Wisconsin Badgers -- Madison Reds hit the road to Bama, Mich, Ore & Minn
Minnesota Golden Gophers -- must go pherther on the ground than last season
Indiana Hoosiers -- No one is asking "Hoo are those guys" anymore
Northwestern Wildcats -- New QB Preston Stone must be given total protection
UCLA Bruins -- They'll go nuts and berries if expensive QB gamble doesn't pay off
Rutgers Scarlet Knights -- rugged league schedule will make them RU the day
Michigan State Spartans -- little brother has gotten through some growing pains
Washington Huskies -- Coach Jedd says "well doggies," but are they good?
Maryland Terrapins -- slow and steady gets them nowhere fast
Purdue Boilermakers -- little train can't wait for the final whistle to blow

Outlook: The Nittany Lions are in the same position that the Buckeyes were at the beginning of last year, in that their entire regular season is practically irrelevant. PSU will be expected to win its conference opener against Oregon, in which case it will cruise into the playoffs on auto-pilot, but even if they lose to both the quackers and lumpy nuts, and then again in the conference championship game, they will stand a very good chance of making the field of 12 anyway. A mild decline at both OSU and UO opens the door for an experienced Illini team. The wild card in this league is the N-men, who will learn in their conference opener against Michigan whether their sophomore QB is Raiola such a big deal.

Big Twelve Conference

Iowa State Cyclones -- clone of last year's D, which was #1 in the nation against the pass
TCU Horned Frogs -- leaping lizards get the jump on Belichick in season opener
Kansas State Wildcats -- cannot afford for human sunflower Avery Johnson to wilt
Baylor Bears -- At least about football, Aranda is no mental individual with dwarfism
Arizona State Sun Devils -- need a new sparkplug in their backfield
Houston Cougars -- uh ... do you guys mind ever playing somebody?
Texas Tech Red Raiders -- TT is a team of transfers on both sides of the ball
Brigham Young Cougars -- Mormons must settle on a new starting QB in a hurry
Kansas Jayhawks -- try to forget last season in return to Memorial Stadium
Arizona Wildcats -- That bear down must be lying on top of the wildcat
Cincinnati Bearcats -- DT Corleone is a hard man to refuse
Utah Utes -- Salt-licking their wounds after 7-game slump late in 2024
West Virginia Mountaineers -- exploding-headed coach has finally got his Eers back
Colorado Buffaloes -- problems are snowballing on the team from Boulder
Central Florida Knights -- undefeated intergalactic champions until Week 4
Oklahoma State Cowboys -- lost more bodies than the Clantons at the OK Corral

Outlook: The Big XII should be significantly improved this year, with many of the better teams getting back their own starting quarterbacks from last season. One exception is BYU, where Jake Retzlaff had been accused of sexual assault. Although he denied the accusation, and his accuser dropped the charges, his behavior in the matter was found to violate the school's code of honor, leading him to transfer to Tulane. Again, the College Football Czar must ask, why play a rivalry game, and one with playoff implications, in an overseas Week Zero opener? This year's renewal of Farmageddon, if played on-campus, could have been one of the most memorable moments of the season, instead of a passing curiosity. CU coach Deion Sanders' on-field challenges are insignificant compared to his health problems; nevertheless, his Buffaloes will struggle to compete in an improving league with their two star players gone to the NFL. Josh Hoover of Texas Christian is a great horny toad, and probably the most unjustly unheralded quarterback in the nation.

Conference USA

Liberty Flames -- Giving them death has been greatly exaggerated
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers -- They say they're the Tops, and almost are
UTEP Miners -- New QB Malachi Nelson puts the pass back in El Paso
Sam Houston Bearkats -- 8 defenders defect to Denton with former DC
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs -- hardly a well-oiled machine in Ruston
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders -- ball security is a must for MTSU
Jacksonville State Gamecocks -- nobody left on their roster but them chickens
New Mexico State Aggies -- need new QB Fife to drum up some offense
Delaware Fighting Blue Hens -- peckers should pick off a couple I-A opponents
Kennesaw State Owls -- They came, they saw, they didn't do a whole lot else
Missouri State Bears -- will be in a state of misery against USC and SMU
Florida International Golden Panthers -- lucky there are no tariffs on terrible

Outlook: If this league had ever been great in the past, it would be time for some lardhead to start a MCUSAGA movement. The latest additions from Division I-AA, Delaware and Missouri State, should be immediately competitive. Contending is a different story, however, as the College Football Czar does not foresee anybody outside the top three mounting a challenge. SHSU had an outstanding 2024 season, but its Kat kit was swiftly disassembled during the offseason, with coach Keeler going to Temple, and defensive coordinator Skyler Cassidy taking much of the unit with him to UNT.

Independents

Notre Dame Fighting Irish -- can't let down dukes after September slugfests
Uconn Huskies -- Conn Men keep their foot in the postseason door

Outlook: The Irish will have to pass the potato a little more this year, with departed dual-threat QB Riley Leonard being replaced by the more conventional C.J. Carr. This transition could cost them in early contests against Miami and Texas A&M, but if they haven't lost both of those games, they'll be poised for another run to the playoffs. With a schedule half-consisting of American Conference opponents, the Huskies could be celebrating Independent's Day by season's end.

Mid-American Conference

Miami OH RedHawks -- QB Finn is a big fish, back in a small pond
Buffalo Bulls -- Coach Lembo set the bar high in his first season at UB
Toledo Rockets -- shooting for the moon, but being un-Russian, won't crash into it
Ohio Bobcats -- feeline groovy after first MAC championship victory
Bowling Green Falcons -- Pyne finally stops riding the bench all over the country
Northern Illinois Huskies -- Hammock's team can't rest on its laurels after ND game
Akron Zips -- GPA must be zip to have made them academically ineligible for a bowl
Western Michigan Broncos -- horses of different colors after busy transfer season
Central Michigan Chippewas -- time to put on the big boy pants in Kelly/Shorts Stadium
Ball State Cardinals -- biting off more than they can chew in Muncie
Eastern Michigan Eagles -- even lamer than naming an emu Limu
Umass Minutemen -- ready on a minute's notice, often willing, and able any year now
Kent State Golden Flashes -- Coach Carney tries to give them some Va-va-va-vooom!

Outlook: This year's race should remain interesting right to the end, with the Bulls butting heads against both the Hawks and Bobs in late November. Former Rocket QB Dequan Finn lands at Miami U, after spending a year in the big leagues, at Baylor. It sounds like Joe Moorhead's team could have used moor head, because the Zips cannot play in the postseason due to a low Academic Progress Rate. Most years this wouldn't matter, but 2025 figured to be their best season since winning a division title in 2017. Be on the lookout for BG, where college and pro football legend Eddie George arrives as head coach, after successfully building Tennessee State into a Division I-AA contender.

Mountain West Conference

Colorado State Rams -- slammin sheep are looking for the longball
Boise State Broncos -- losing the league's extraordinary Jeanty-man
UNLV Rebels -- turning over almost all their cards from last season
Fresno State Bulldogs -- QB Warner makes his last stop before arena ball
Wyoming Cowboys -- hoping they've ridden all the rough off from last season
Air Force Falcons -- bounced back from bad start last year in Colorado Springs
Nevada Wolf Pack -- They're lucky QB Chubba Purdy didn't get stuck in the portal
San Diego State Aztecs -- Sean Lewis' pyramid scheme has yet to take shape
San Jose State Spartans -- got lots of ex-spear-ience on defense
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors -- Coach Timmy is making some Chang-es on offense
New Mexico Lobos -- need someone to step up and say "Soy cap-i-tan, soy cap-i-tan"
Utah State Aggies -- could use a little magic in Merlin Olson Stadium

Outlook: The regular season title should be decided in a November battle between teams that unfortunately did not meet last year, when the Rams arrive for a blockbuster in Boise. In theory, new UNLV quarterback Alex Orji is a dual threat, but the former Michigan man has yet to demonstrate that he can attack downfield. The BSU offense now relies on running back Malik Sherrod, a transfer from rival FSU, to shake of a slew of injuries that slowed him down last season.

Pac 12 Conference

Oregon State Beavers -- to call them 2024 P12 champs is to dam them with faint praise
Washington State Cougars -- transfer of Mateer matters more than they can imagine

Outlook: Sadly, the College Football Czar does not foresee these two programs returning to power conference status anytime soon, because next year's league will far more closely resemble a rebranded Mountain West than a replenished Pac 12. Wazzu's #6 scoring offense of a year ago is utterly irrelevant now, with OC Ben Arbuckle leaving for Oklahoma and taking QB John Mateer with him. The Beavs surprisingly come out on the plus side of the quarterback swap meet, landing Maalik Murphy, formerly of Texas and Duke, while Gevani McCoy and Ben Gulbranson transfer to Temple and Stanford, respectively.

Southeastern Conference

Texas Longhorns -- Arch tells doubters, "Dummy up, you meathead, you."
LSU Tigers -- keep digging themselves a Cre-hole in season openers
Oklahoma Sooners -- Coach Venables adds some meat to the offensive lineup
Georgia Bulldogs -- better get off the porch and run like big dogs
Alabama Crimson Tide -- Can DeBoer provide more DeXcitement in year two?
Tennessee Volunteers -- new QB will T off, but end some drives in the rough
Florida Gators -- schedule sets them up to get whomped away from The Swamp
South Carolina Gamecocks -- QB Sellers will do the running for the Cocks of the walk
Ole Miss Rebels -- have fewer remaining starters than they did after Gettysburg
Texas A&M Aggies -- better get up and aTm for road games vs. ND, LSU, Texas
Arkansas Razorbacks -- OC Petrino provides the petrol for this machine
Vanderbilt Commodores -- QB Pavia has become an expert in anchor management
Auburn Tigers -- Coach Freeze needs to thaw a putty tat in his backfield
Missouri Tigers -- guys named MO play no good nonconference foe
Kentucky Wildcats -- Stoops' team doesn't offer much curb appeal these days
Mississippi State Bulldogs -- Those four I's have a tough time watching this team lately

Outlook: Louisiana State's nonconference opener at Clemson will cat-apult the winner into the national title hunt, but the Bayou Bengals must still face Bama and OU on the road. The Sooners have arguably done more to address last year's deficiencies than any other team, but they'll have to improve dramatically from a 6-7 finish in order to contend nationally . The Longhorns are in the running regardless of whether or not they win at Ohio State to begin the season, but they have got to find a way to run the ball against nemesis Georgia before they meet again in Week 12.

Sun Belt Conference (east division)

James Madison Dukes -- chances are better than nil with ex-UNLV QB Sluka
Georgia Southern Eagles -- Statesboro Blues are playing a happier tune this year
Appalachian State Mountaineers -- every man for Yosef on this slowly sinking program
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers -- chicken outfit adds quitter quarterback M.J. Morris
Marshall Thundering Herd -- stampeded out in a Huff behind their former coach
Georgia State Panthers -- not going very many yards in old Braves ballpark
Old Dominion Monarchs -- as imposing as King Charles, but less of a royal git

Sun Belt Conference (west division)

Texas State Bobcats* -- won't be a clinker with QB Yarnell running the show
South Alabama Jaguars -- would have liked last year's players to be less Mobile
Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns -- pepper games lack spice, but nothing to sneeze at
Arkansas State Red Wolves -- a lone wolf on D, where only one starter returns
Troy Trojans -- a participation trophy for the Old College Troy
Southern Miss Golden Eagles -- taking a big installment on the Marshall plan
Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks -- U-Lame couldn't finish after 5-1 start last season

* projected conference champion

Outlook: The transfer portal has taken its toll on what had been a very solid conference in recent years, leaving each division basically three-deep. The Bobcats, who finished each of the last two seasons at 8-5, look to take the title in their last year in the league before bolting for the new-look Pac 12. Somebody needs to remind the school that used to be called West Texas State that it isn't even in the western part of Texas, let alone the United States. ULM might not be long for Division I-A. That school has dramatically cut its already minuscule athletic budget, prompting AD John Hartwell to resign. It would be a shame to see the ULL-ULM series end, but if it happens, the effect will be mitigated by the league's addition of Louisiana Tech in 2026.

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. 13

Florida at LSU -- When these teams last met, Gator coach Billy Napier was not expected to survive the season. His defense stuffed the Tiger running game in a 27-16 upset, which he followed with wins over Ole Miss, Florida State and Tulane. Louisiana State is a loaded team that is looking to contend for the national championship, but is it really so different from the group that lost three in a row late last season? The Bayou Bengals have not yet been to a New Year's Six game in three years under coach Brian Kelly, and if they haven't managed to knock off Clemson in Week 1 on the road, there will be outrage in Baton Rouge by Week 3.

Oregon at Northwestern -- This has the makings of one of those awkward, uninspiring matchups that tends to throw UO off its game. New NU quarterback Preston Stone will be out to prove that he should not have been benched at SMU last season, as he leads a Wildcat offense that returns basically intact. Meanwhile, first-year Fighting Duck starter Dante Moore will be without last season's four leading receivers.

Sept. 20

Michigan at Nebraska -- Freshman QB Bryce Underwood is tasked with reviving a moribund maize and blue offense that ranked last in the Big Ten in passing a year ago. He may find out there was more to that problem than quarterback play, when he finds himself being pursued by a blackshirt defense that promises to be more aggressive this season. If the Wolverines fail to protect their young hotshot, they will be pouring cold water on a promising season. Keep in mind that when Cornhusker coach Matt Rhule was at Temple, he improved from 6-6 in his second year to 10-4 in his third. At Baylor, he went 7-6 in season two, and 11-3 in season three. Last year was his second with the N-men, and he went 7-6. Watch out.

UNLV at Miami OH -- Sin City might sound like a fitting landing place for a quarterback named Orji, but the fans in Vegas might not be partying for very long if new coach Dan Mullen can't get more out of the senior stomper than he ever showed at Michigan. The RedHawks, probably having started 0-2 with road games against Big Ten foes Wisconsin and Rutgers, will be in prime position for an ambush in this home opener.

Sept. 27

Notre Dame at Arkansas -- The national runners-up from South Bend did not exactly run a gauntlet last year, as many of their opponents proved not to be as good as advertised. That could prove true again this year, with their biggest games being against mopey Miami, Texas A&M and USC, but this road game against the Razorbacks could run counter to that trend. The Hogs toppled Tennessee at home a year ago, and hung tough in a 20-10 loss to Texas. The Irish are another team that is depending on a highly touted but untested freshman at quarterback. C.J. Carr, son of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, sure looks the part, but he'll need more than pedigree to pass this tough September test.

Oct. 11

Ohio State at Illinois -- In their past nine road games in this series, the Buckeyes went through Champaign like Liz Taylor. The College Football Czar is getting that gag out of the way in his preseason issue, because he does not suspect the Fighting Illini will allow him to use it in reference to this or any other game on their 2025 schedule. The planets no longer need to illin to bring success to Bret Bielema's team, which beat Michigan last year on its way to a 10-win season, culminating with a win over South Carolina in the Citrus Bowl. OSU must replace its entire starting defensive line from last year's national championship team, and that could be costly in a game that may be decided by their ability to get to the quarterback.

Pitt at Florida State -- The Seminoles have pinned their expectations on the acquisition of a benched Boston College QB, who enters his new home with a lot more swagger than substance, a story line with which the Panthers are familiar (see: Jurkovec, Phil). The rebranded "Tommy" Castellanos had better back up his bold talk against Alabama, because a blowout in that home opener could make things a bit uncomfortable for the Seminole scrambler in front of the home crowd by this point in the season. The second half of the schedule sets up Pat Narduzzi's team for another Pitt-fall, which makes this midseason road game all the more important.

Nov. 8

Indiana at Penn State -- Just because this Hoosier team didn't deserve to be in the playoffs last year does not mean they aren't still dangerous. Without Ohio State or Michigan on their schedule, they could still have a lot to play for by game ten, whereas PSU can probably afford to coast for most of the season. Two years ago, the Nittany Lions hosted the Hoosiers a week after playing at Ohio State, and were tied with two minutes left before pulling out a 33-24 victory. The Lions have their duo of 1,000-yard rushers back for another year, but if they have to play catch-up against the IU passing game, they will have to rely on a trio of WR transfers. More significantly, they don't have TE Tyler Warren to rely on anymore.

Nov. 28

Texas A&M at Texas -- Can you believe these teams hadn't played for 13 years until last year's 17-7 Longhorn victory at College Station? Part of the reason the pointy cows prevailed in that defensive slugfest was because A&M running back Le'Veon Moss had suffered a season-ending injury two games earlier, after which point his team finished 1-4. The Horns are among the favorites to win the CFP on the strength of their defense and QB Arch Moore, but their ground game let them down in big games last year, and their receiving corps has been ravaged. If they get themselves into another low-scoring slog against the Conjunction Boys, it could turn into a train wreck.

Nov. 29

Clemson at South Carolina -- The Son of Clem still has SCAR tissue from a 17-14 home loss to this Carolina club a year ago. Being the final game in a treacherous Tiger road schedule, this could determine whether or not the defending ACC champions return to the playoffs, unlike a year ago when they backed in and beat SMU. The College Football Czar finds it baffling that Dabo Swinney didn't land a big running back through the transfer portal, instead relying on little-utilized senior Adam Randall, who has only four carries since being converted from wide receiver, to lead the way. He may need a lot more than that against a Gamecock defense that ranked fourth in the SEC a year ago.

POSTSEASON PROJECTIONS

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

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

LA Bowl ..... Inglewood, CA ..... Dec. 13 ..... North Carolina vs. Boise State

Salute to Veterans Bowl ..... Montgomery, AL ..... Dec. 16 ..... Western Michigan vs. Appalachian State

Cure Bowl ..... Orlando, FL ..... Dec. 17..... Miami Ohio vs. Georgia Southern

68 Ventures Bowl ..... Mobile, AL ..... Dec. 17 ..... James Madison vs. Sam Houston

Myrtle Beach Bowl ..... Myrtle Beach, SC ..... Dec. 19 ..... Central Michigan vs. Coastal Carolina

Gasparilla Bowl ..... Tampa, FL ..... Dec. 19 ..... Louisiana Tech vs.Florida State

CFP First Round ..... Athens, GA ..... Dec. 19 ..... Iowa State at Georgia

CFP First Round ..... Norman, OK ..... Dec. 20 ..... Navy at Oklahoma

CFP First Round ..... Ann Arbor, MI ..... Dec. 20 ..... Georgia Tech at Michigan

CFP First Round ..... Tuscaloosa, AL ..... Dec. 20 ..... Notre Dame at Alabama

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl ..... Boise, ID ..... Dec. 22 ..... Buffalo vs. Fresno State

Boca Raton Bowl ..... Boca Raton, FL ..... Dec. 23..... South Alabama vs. South Florida

New Orleans Bowl ..... New Orleans, LA ..... Dec. 23 ..... Liberty vs. Texas State

Frisco Bowl ..... Frisco, TX ..... Dec. 23 ..... Arkansas State vs. UTSA

Hawaii Bowl ..... Honolulu, HI ..... Dec. 24 ..... Tulane vs. Colorado State

GameAbove Sports Bowl ..... Detroit, MI ..... Dec. 26 ..... Northwestern vs. Bowling Green

Rate Bowl ..... Phoenix, AZ ..... Dec. 26 ..... UCLA vs. Arizona

First Responder Bowl ..... Dallas, TX ..... Dec. 26 ..... Pitt vs. Brigham Young

Military Bowl ..... Annapolis, MD ..... Dec. 27 ..... Memphis vs. Nc State

Pinstripe Bowl ..... Bronx, NY ..... Dec. 27 ..... Louisville vs. Rutgers

Fenway Bowl ..... Boston, MA ..... Dec. 27 ..... East Carolina vs. Boston College

Pop Tarts Bowl ..... Orlando, FL ..... Dec. 27 ..... Kansas State vs. Clemson

Arizona Bowl ..... Tucson, AZ ..... Dec. 27 ..... Toledo vs. UNLV

New Mexico Bowl ..... Albuquerque, NM ..... Dec. 27 ..... Northern Illinois vs. Wyoming

Gator Bowl ..... Jacksonville, FL ..... Dec. 27 ..... Miami vs. Florida

Texas Bowl ..... Houston, TX ..... Dec 27 ..... Baylor vs. Texas A&M

Birmingham Bowl ..... Birmingham, AL ..... Dec. 29 ..... Arkansas vs. Duke

Independence Bowl ..... Shreveport, LA ..... Dec. 30 ..... Western Kentucky vs. Kansas

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

Alamo Bowl ... San Antonio, TX ... Dec. 30 ... Oregon State vs. TCU

ReliaQuest Bowl ..... Tampa, FL ..... Dec 31 ..... Illinois vs. South Carolina

Sun Bowl ..... El Paso, TX ..... Dec. 31 ..... SMU vs. UTEP

Citrus Bowl ..... Orlando, FL ..... Dec. 31 ..... Oregon vs. Tennessee

Las Vegas Bowl ..... Las Vegas, NV ..... Dec 27 ..... Air Force vs. USC

Cotton Bowl (CFP QF) ..... Arlington, TX ..... Dec. 31 ..... Notre Dame vs. Texas

Orange Bowl (CFP QF) ..... Miami Gardens, FL ..... Jan. 1 ..... Michigan vs. Penn State

Rose Bowl (CFP QF) ..... Pasadena, CA ..... Jan. 1 ..... Oklahoma vs. Ohio State

Sugar Bowl (CFP QF) ..... New Orleans, LA ..... Jan. 1 ..... Georgia vs. LSU

Armed Forces Bowl ..... Fort Worth, TX ..... Jan. 2 ..... Army vs. Texas Tech

Liberty Bowl ..... Memphis, TN ..... Jan. 2 ..... Houston vs. Auburn

Duke's Mayo Bowl ..... Charlotte, NC ..... Jan. 2 ..... SMU vs. Ole Miss

Holiday Bowl ..... San Diego, CA ..... Jan. 2 ..... Uconn vs. Louisville

Fiesta Bowl (CFP SF) ..... Glendale, AZ ..... Jan. 8 ..... Ohio State vs. Texas

Peach Bowl (CFP SF) ..... Atlanta, GA ..... Jan. 9 ..... LSU vs. Penn State

CFP Championship ..... Atlanta, GA ..... Jan. 19 .... Penn State vs. Texas

The College Football Czar