COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
The 2025 College Football Playoff bracket is set, and fans are ready for the 2nd season with the 12-team bracket. There was much controversy around the selection process this year, with teams like Notre Dame, BYU, and Vanderbilt not getting in. This year, the SEC has 5 teams, led by the conference champion Georgia Bulldogs, and then the Alabama Crimson Tide, Ole Miss Rebels, Texas A&M Aggies, and the Oklahoma Sooners. The Big Ten follows with 3 teams, starting with the conference champion Indiana Hoosiers, along with the Ohio State Buckeyes, and the Oregon Ducks. The Texas Tech Red Raiders (Big 12), Miami Hurricanes (ACC), Tulane Green Wave (AAC), and the James Madison Dukes (Sun Belt) are the lone representatives for their respective conferences.
This year features 4 returnees to the CFP playoffs in Indiana, Ohio St, Georgia, and Oregon, with the first three earning a first round bye. As Alabama looks to return to the dynasty people were familiar with just a few years ago, it is important to note that they are the first 3-loss team in the CFP, which means that the selection committee gave them little to no penalty for losing the conference championship game to Georgia.
A big headline for this playoff is coaching change, as next season Tulane, JMU, and Ole Miss won’t be coached by the coaches who led them through most of this season. The most bizarre one is Ole Miss, as coach Lane Kiffin took the job at LSU, and the school denied him from trying to finish the best season in school history in the playoffs. The team will now be led by defensive coordinator Pete Golding, who will try and lead the Rebels to a national championship. Bob Chesney of JMU and Jon Sumrall of Tulane will both get to coach their teams in the playoffs before heading to UCLA and Florida, respectively. In the playoffs, each will get a taste of next year as JMU will take on Oregon in round 1 and Tulane will battle Ole Miss.
Some other observations and key storylines heading into the playoffs for each team:
- Indiana is thriving under 2nd year coach Curt Cignetti – who, interestingly enough, was the JMU coach just two years ago – and is led by Heisman favorite quarterback Fernando Mendoza. They secured the first seed as the only undefeated team in the CFP with key wins over Illinois (ranked #9 at the time), as well as Oregon and Ohio St (1) in the Big Ten championship game.
- Ohio St is the defending National Champions and enters as the two seed after holding the number one ranking since week two of this year. After a 13-10 loss in the Big Ten championship, they are looking for redemption. They are led by superstar receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs, and had success due to great seasons from redshirt freshman quarterback Julian Saying and true freshman running back Bo Jackson.
- Georgia is led by quarterback Gunner Stockton, who helped them earn the three seed. They had big wins against Tennessee (15), Ole Miss(5), Texas(10), Georgia Tech(23), and Alabama in the championship game (9).
- Texas Tech is looking to show that the Big 12 can compete with the SEC and Big 10 and are led by linebacker and defensive anchor Jacob Rodriguez, who is having a Heisman level season (though he was not named a finalist) as the Red Raiders defeated Utah(16) and beat BYU(7,11) twice, including in the championship game, to earn the fourth seed.
- Oregon is led by quarterback Dante Moore and secured wins over Penn State, which was ranked #3 at the time, Iowa(20), and USC(15).
- Ole Miss is led by D2 quarterback transfer Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy. This year, the Rebels had key wins over LSU, which was ranked #4 at the time, and Oklahoma(13).
- Texas A&M is led by star quarterback Marcel Reed and has wins over Notre Dame(8), LSU(20), and Missouri(22).
- Oklahoma is led by quarterback John Mateer and has had good wins over Michigan(15), Auburn(22), three top 25 wins in a row against Tennessee(14), Alabama(4), and Missouri(22).
- Alabama is led by quarterback Ty Simpson and has won four top-20 games in a row this season against Georgia(5), Vanderbilt(16), Missouri(14), and Tennessee(11).
- Miami is led by quarterback Carson Beck, who had big assistance from true freshman receiver Malachi Toney in big wins over Notre Dame, which ultimately kept the Irish out of the CFP – USF(18), FSU(18), and Pitt(22).
- Tulane is led by transfer quarterback Jake Retzlaff, who does it i the air and on the ground, leading the Green Wave in both categories as they secured the 11 seed with a conference championship win over North Texas(24).
- JMU is led by its backfield of quarterback Alonza Barnett and running back Wayne Knight. The Dukes received an at-large bid after winning the Sun Belt Conference and Duke upsetting UVA in the ACC championship.
