College Football RealFuture #2 (2024 - ) and Purdue

[palmer006]

See 'College Football RealFuture' Fanfic thread for realignment background

2024 National

Week 0
A ho-hum week 0 is highlighted by #12 Florida State’s 24-13 win over Georgia Tech despite a competent performance from GT QB Haynes King

Week 1
QB Mikey Keane becomes a household name as Fresno State shocks #3 Michigan in the Big House
#22 SMU loses a heartbreaker at home to open their ACC membership at home against Pitt despite QB Maier tossing a solid game
#8 Notre Dame survives a wild comeback from QB Polanco and Mike Elko’s #22 Aggies in Dallas in a 26-24 tight one
#10 LSU outscores #16 USC 50-33 in Vegas
#6 Penn State squashes West Virginia 20-7 in Morgantown on the back of 113 rush yards from Alenn
UNLV and its new coach upset Houston
Matt Rhule has an unhappy season opening loss at home to UTEP
Western Michigan shocks Luke Fickell and Wisconsin
Old Dominion upsets South Florida
Dave Aranda is nearly fired after his first game after a home loss to Tarleton State
Temple shocks Oklahoma on the road
FIU beats Indiana to start the Cignetti era with a bitter loss
Akron stuns Kentucky

Week 2
Auburn survives Cal 23-16 at home as QB Hopson is better running than throwing
Florida State pounds now 1-2 Clemson at home
A week after being upset by Akron, Kentucky stuns #1 Georgia 16-10 at home
#4 Texas embarrasses Michigan who drops to 0-2
Nebraska QB Ruiz looks like a star as Nebraska avenges a loss the week before and pounds Colorado 35-3
QB Huffman leads a furious 4th quarter comeback and Texas Tech stuns #11 Oregon in Autzen
North Dakota State beats Minnesota by two TDs
Washington State stuns old conference foe Utah in Pullman
Wofford upsets South Carolina continuing a slide as many call for the Head coach’s job
Stanford falls to FCS power Sacramento State
Northern Illinois stuns Notre Dame
NC State gets a huge win over Tennessee in Charlotte
Charlotte upsets UNC in Chapel Hill
Buffalo beats promising Missouri

Week 3
#17 Pitt keeps up the momentum behind QB McDuffie in a 28-21 home win for the Backyard Brawl
#23 Oklahoma State QB Russell toasts Tulsa with palyaction in a 31-7 road win for OSU voer the unbeaten Golden Hurricane
#22 UCLA’s first B1G game is nearly ruined by Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers in a 26-23 OT win
SMU downed Vanderbilt on the road
#24 Virginia’s balanced squad crushed rebuilding Maryland 48-10 at home
Dave Clawson’s crew got a stunning 27-24 home win over #10 Ole Miss on a last minute filed goal as QB Matthew Hirsch got a deep pass to tie it up in a back and forth battle
#9 Washington handled WSU 45-23 in Seattle as new QB Schmid tossed 6 TDs
#4 Alabama throttled now 1-2 Wisconsin 45-10 on the road though the game was 10-10 late in the third
Texas State stuns Arizona State
Wyoming beats BYU at home
Connecticut takes down a reeling Duke Blue Devils program at home

Week 4
Boston College takes down Michigan State in a battle of under heralded unbeatens in Boston
#2 LSU blows out #16 UCLA despite 2 picks from reserve QB Castellano
Nebraska smacks #20 Illinois 37-0
#25 Wake Forest ia an undergog but beats North Carolina 35-21 on the road
#18 Miss State and Jeff Lebby hold off a furious comeback from Michad with a 30-27 win as RB Contreas and WR Coble lead the road win at Rocky Top
Rutgers and RB Parker grit out a 23-20 win with a late 57 yard TD wining run from Parker as the Knights go to 3-0
Unbeaten #9 Washington outscores #24 Northwestern 64-34 in Seattle
Akron scores a second big upset beating South Carolina
South Florida stuns Miami at home
Coastal Carolina upsets #21 Virginia on the road

Week 5
RB Jacobson and #22 Iowa State throttle #23 Texas Tech 34-3 at home
McCord is an efficient game manager as #3 Ohio State hands 3-2 Michigan State their second straight loss 24-7 at home WR Prater emerges as a star scoring all 3 TDs on grabs for Ohio State
Unbeaten #11 Florida pounds unbeaten #5 Miss State 31-6 as Grham Mertz and WR Burrow look great
#9 Auburn’s Petyon Thorne throws a 4th quarter comeback dropping Mizzou to 0-5 at home
#14 OU opens up SEC play with a 20-3 stunner over #2 Alabama, picking off Jalen Milroe twice with one in the 4th as WR Romo’s 7 catches pace the Sooners
Utah drops to 2-2 on the road to OSU
Virginia ruins #15 Pitt’s perfect season 32-27 on the road
#10 Rutgers beats #8 Washington 66-41 in a game that fees like Greg Schiano’s old Big East squads to get to 4-0
San Jose State and QB Burroughs outshoot QB Mikey Keane and #20 Fresno State
#4 Texas opens SEC play with a 26-17 home win over #13 Georgia
#25 Texas A&M drops Arkansas to 3-2 with a 20-9 win at Jerry World
#16 Oregon throttles UCLA in the rose bowl in the two’s first meeting as B1G foes
#19 Wake drops Klubnik and Clemson to 2-3 with a 35-21 win
Western Kentucky bests recently ranked BC

Week 6
The early season Heisman race has NC State QB Jose Cooney and Oklahoma State’s RB as frontrunners
#1 LSU, Florida, Auburn, Rutgers, Wake Forest, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, and Purdue are notable teams still unbeaten while Ohio State, Texas, Penn State, and Florida State are as well in a season that feels like a changing of the guard
Two rebuilding programs collided as #17 and 4-1 A&M invaded #8 and 4-0 Auburn. A late 3 yard TD pass on an end around from WR Ludwig to Amari Daniels gave A&M the stunning road win
#5 Florida got a steady win over UCF to go to 5-0 21-10
#16 Iowa State sayed unbeatedn with a testy 21-14 road win over 2-3 Kansas
#1 LSU was in control in a night edition of the Magnolia Bowl over #22 and now 3-2 Ole Miss as QB Castellano came into his own and WR Thomas was 6-128-1
#9 Rutgers’ berbirth behind QB Ponder and RB Parker continued in a 35-28 road win over now 3-3 Nebraska
#24 Northwestern held off Cassidy and Indiana as RB Stone and WR Wells provided a balanced offense in a 35-28 home Cat win
#2 Ohio State punished 3-1 Iowa 37-7 in the shoe
#3 Texas and #10 OU collided at Red River with Texas taking back hold of the series 40-7
Jonathan Smith went to a familiar place at #12 Oregon, leading 7-0 at the break before Oregon’s Lewandowski came back in the second and RB Estbrook had 116 yards rushing
#4 Penn State dropped CULA to 2-3 in Happy Valley
A late TD pass lifted #4 Florida State to a 27-26 road win in Dallas over now 2-4 SMU in a wild one. QB Libby was unsteady but FSU stayed unbeaten
#18 TCU got to 5-0 and announced itself as a Big XII frontrunner in a 41-28 win over #15 OK St despite a ridiculous 352 yards receiving and 4 TDs from OK St’s McNair
#7 Alabama was solid but unspectacular in a 31-14 road win over 3-1 Vanderbilt
Cal scored a huge welcome to the ACC win at #13 Wake Forest as RB Roderick helped them to a 41-27 road win
#14 Washington got back on track in Seattle with Schmid throwing for nearly 500 yards in a 42-35 shootout win over now 2-4 Michigan, collapsing post-Harbaugh

Week 7
#19 Georgia beats #7 Alabama 19-17 in Tuscaloosa behind clutch plays from Beck
#14 OU travles to #20 Auburn in an early season CFP with palyoff implications. Payton Thorne leads a 4th quarter comeback to fans delight in a 28-21 comeback win from 21-14 down, scoring with :17 seconds to go on a rollout to Gary Hunter
Deion’s Colorado toeam is flying more under the radar but Shaedur emerges as a Heisman candidate with a 25-32-303-4-0 performance at home against #25 Texas Tech
#10 A&M (5-1) travels to #4 Florida (5-0) in a game between the two most improved teams in the SEC. UF WR Carman’s big catches lead to a UF blowout
#8 Washington hangs on, using a bomb and a pick-6 to beat Iowa at their own game 21-18 on the road, dropping the Hawks to 3-3
UCF and RB Gonzalez stun #11 Iowa State 31-7 on the road, ISU’s first loss.
Ollie Gordon rushes for a solid 90 and McNair catches 8 for 235 as #22 Oklahoma State gets K-State 38-13 on the road, dropping the Cats to 3-3
#18 Northwestern continues an upward trend under its new coach with a 42-20 road win over now 2-4 Maryland led by QB Kimball
Miami gets to 4-2 scoring a 24-21 road win as WR George is the hero over #6 Florida State
#21 Miss State rebounds with a 52-21 crushing of now 3-3 Arkansas, with calls for Pittman’s job growing louder
Dave Dorene’s reniisance continues as #15 NC State gets to 6-0 with a late TD to beat 4-1 Syracuse 16-13
#3 Ohio State throttles #12 Oregon 44-18 in Autzen as Kyle McCord goes off and WR Prater emerges
Wisconsin beats unbaten #8 Rutgers 17-16 in a ground and pound contest
USC gets back on track to 4-2 thrashing #5 Penn State 35-10 as QB Bowers shows out
#13 TCU and QB Mead gets to 6-0 with a 20-13 road win over now 2-4 Utah
UMass upsets Missouri in rough year for Eli Drinkowicz

Week 8
Despite 2 non-con losses #23 Wisconsin controlled its own destiny 1/3 of the way through the B1G season as only they and Ohio State remained unbeaten with 8 of 18 B1G teams ranked.
In the Big XII ranked TCU and Colorado as well as UCF were the three unbeatens with ranked OSU and Iowa State also in the race. Dave Aranda was off to a job saving 4-2 start at Baylor.
In the SEC surprising Florida, LSU, and newcomer Texas were outfront with surprising Texas A&M and Miss State also ranked along with Auburn, Alabama, and Georgia. Oklahoma was off to a rough 3-3 start.
Arizona whipped #25 Colorado as Fiftia threw 6 TDs in a 48-15 win that got AZ to 4-3
Cal upended #14 NC State’s perfect season 17-13 at home
#4 Florida toppled #1 LSU 21-13 in the Swamp in a massive SEC Clash with WR Carman catching 6 balls for 199 yards
#11 Georgia dismantled #10 Miss State 65-7 at home as they seeked to boslter their CFP case at 5-2
Stoops and Kentucky behind QB Brown stunned #12 Auburn 24-17 with a 4th quarter comeback at home
Miami climbs to 5-2 beating #21 Florida State at home behind new QB Oates
#15 Wisconsin gives #23 Wisconsin its first conference loss behind RB Stone and WR Wells heroics 40-27
#13 Rutgers stays in the thick of the CFP race and puts Chip Kelly on the hot seat at 3-4 wit ha 34-7 blowout win
#8 TCU keeps unbeaten with a 21-17 win over 2-4 Houston with a huge day from WR Allen
#7 Alabama drops Tennesee to 2-5 with a 27-10 win in Knoxville
West Virginia gets to 3-4 wit ha 44-20 drubbing of #24 Iowa State at home, their second big win of the season
Virginia beats Clemson as the program continues to fall downward

Week 9
Washing QB Manuel Schmid, OK St WR Kenneth McNair, and Washington WR Ja’Lynn Polk lead the Heisman race
Colorado stays in the Big XII race, bottles up OK State’s McNair and Gordon, and win 21-14 on the back of a strong running game to get to 6-2
#7 Georgia gladly ends #1 Florida’s unbeaten season in a wild Florida-Georgia game 17-10
#8 Washington squeaks by Indiana 42-39 on the road to get to 7-1, droping the Hooisers to 3-5 with Odunze catching for 175-2
#12 Northwestern’s conference title hopes stayed alive with a 28-14 road win over Iowa with the triple threat of QB Kimball, RB Stone, and WR Wells continuing
#15 Texas A&M travelled to #16 Miss State in a 5-2 CFP elimination game. Mike Elko’s team held on, leading 28-3 at the break for a 38-31 lead despite a wild comeback led by Miss State QB Robert Trout
NC State wins a second in a row over #25 Wake Forest 41-28 behind RB Hobbs’s big day to get to 7-1 and back in the ACC race
#11 Oregon smashes #20 Illinois 49-14 in Autzen to stay firmly in the CFP race at 7-2
#21 Pitt holds off now 3-5 Clemson 31-28 to keep their dream CFP hopes alive at 7-1
UCF stuns unbeaten #10 TCU 38-28 on the road casuing turnovers in a 38-28 win to get to 6-2
DJU and #13 USC go back and forth with #9 Rutgers in the Coliseum, with a late drive falling short as USC wins 27-24
Wisconsin gets to 5-3 and stays in the B1G race with a 28-7 boat race of #6 Penn State who drops to 5-2

Week 10
The first CFP ranks feature the last 2 remaining power teams, Ohio State and Texas, at 1 and 2. Unbeaten Buffalo at 7-0 is the G5 team of choice at 323. 1-loss Florida and Georgia are 3 and 4. While Florida, Alabama, and Oregon interlope as 2-loss teams before 1-loss Washington and Northwestern slide in at 8 and 9. SC rounds out the 10 top. #11 FSU at 6-1 is the first non power 2 team, with 7-1 #16 Pitt next and #18 TCU the highest ranked Big XII team followed by #21 UCF. Each team in the top 25 except probably 4-3 #25 Oklahoma is still alive for the CFP with 5 weeks and 4 games to go for most teams.
#3 Florida blew out #17 Ole Miss with Grahma Mertz entering the Heisman race
#11 FSU virtually wraps up the ACC title with a win over now 4-4 UNC
#6 Alabama and backup QB Neal win 17-10 with a last minute road drive over #4 LSU. Both teams exit at 7-2
Michigan gets to 4-5 in a disaster season with a walkoff field goal in a 24-21 win over #7 Oregon who drops to 7-3 and in CFP peril.
#12 Penn State storms the field, finally excercising the demon of #1 Ohio Stat 24-10 as Drew Allar plays near perfect at 27-35-265-2
#21 UCF stays on track for the CFP and Big XII title with a 31-20 home win over Fiftia and Arizona, who drops to 5-4
#8 Washington dominates #10 USC 48-29 to get to 8-1 and likely eliminate the 6-3 Trojans from the playoff
UMass stuns Missisippi State in letdown game for the Bulldogs after showdown loss weak before

Week 11
#1 Texas: Replaced Ohio State at the top of the CFP
#2 Florida: moved up with a big win over Ole Miss
#3 OSU: Stayed in the top 3 thanks to 7-1 record
#4 Bama: Huge win over #4 LSU put the Tide as the best 2-loss team
#5 Wash: Moved up 3 spots thanks to big win over USC
#6 LSU: Slid down from loss
#7 GA: A winning streak has them in the thick of the CFP race
#8 PSU: Playoff hopes revived with the big OSU win
#9 FSU: Slowly worked their way into the top 10 after an early loss
#10 A&M: Elko has them realizing their potential at 2 losses
#11 Auburn: IN the mix in year 2 for Hugh Freeze
#12 Northwestern: Surprising Cats only drop 3 spots after loss at respected Purdue
#22 Buffalo: Controlling their destiny at 8-0. Still no other G5 teams ranked
Other notable: #14 Oregon, #24 USC in top 25 with 3 losses. Notre Dame slides in at #25 with 6-2 record
#23 OK St kept its CFP hopes alive winning the turnover battle to prevail 27-24 at 5-3 BYU
#7 Georgia won its rivalry game over #11 Auburn despite a rough dday for Carson Beck
#9 FSU scores huge road win over #25 Notre Dame, dropping the Irish’s 3rd loss despite an uneven day
#5 Washington shredded #8 Penn State 45-17 in Happy Valley, continuing its momentum with Schmid for Heisman
#15 Pitt kept its CFP hopes alive with a 20-7 win over regional rival Syracuse
#6 LSU stomped #10 A&M 38-7 in a likely elimination game for the CFP between two loss teams. RB Cavanaugh took over late.
Wake Forest upended #17 Virginia, picking off QB Baker 3 times in a 35-32 win in Winston-Salem

Week 12:
1 Texas
2 Florida
3 LSU on the heels of win over #10 A&M
4 Bama
5 Washington at 9-1 on heels of big win at PSU
6 Georgia slides up 1
7 Ohio State down 4 after home loss to Purdue
8 FSU still 1-loss
9 Rutgers at 7-2
10 Oregon shockingly at 8-3
11 PSU 6-3
12 NW 7-2
13 OU still in hunt at 6-3
14 Pitt despite 8-1
15 TCU despite 8-1
16 Miami 8-2
17 Tech 7-2
18 OSU 7-2
20 NC St
24 Buf 9-0
25 Colo 7-2
Manuel Schmid of Washington and his ridiculous 49 TDs to 3 INTs leads the Heisman race. David Russel of OK State and Wash WR Ja’Lynn Poik are also in it
Miami is in poll position in the ACC with FSU, Virginia, NC State, and Pitt all still in the mix.
In the SEC Texas is 5-0 in conf play, Florida is 5-1, and Georgia, Bama, A&M, and LSU all have two losses
In the Big XII UCF leads at 6-0 followed by 5-1 TCU, Colorado and Houston (5-4 overlal, 5-1 Big XII)
With down years elsewhere #24 Buffalo is the big leader for non-CFP playoff spot. Even 7-2 Western Michigan, slated to meet the Bulls in the MAC title game, is arguably the second best.
Arizona spoils #17 Texas Tech’s fleeting Big XII and CFP hopes with a 27-0 beat down and great performance by QB Fiftia to get to 6-4.
Jalen Daniels returns from injury and 2-7 Kansas stuns #15 TCU 24-21 with a last minute drive
#3 LSU stomps #13 Oklahoma with many turnovers in a 43-7 romp
Maryland gets to 4-6 and stays alive with a bowl as QB Richey despite #9 Rutgers RB Hardwick’s 116 yards in a 24-21 Maryland win
North Carolina gets to 5-5 and deals a decisive blow to #15 Pitt’s CFP and ACC hopes with a 28-0 win
#7 Ohio State recovers from a two-game losing streak by smacking #12 Northwestern 37-10 under the lights in Evanston led by McCords 25-30-402-4
#10 Oregon gets to 9-3 with a tough win at Wisconsin, putting them in prime CFP position

Week 13
1 TX
2 FL
3 LSU
4 WA
5 AL
6 GA
7 OSU
8 FSU
9 Oregon moves up at 803
10 Purdue stunningly
12 NC State (9-1)
13 A&M 3 loss
14 Miami 2-loss
15 UCF 2-loss
16 Auburn 3-loss
Miami is in poll position in the ACC with FSU, Virginia, NC State all still in after Pitt dropped off the pace
In the SEC Texas is 5-0 in conf play, Florida is 5-1, and Georgia, Bama, A&M, and LSU all have two losses (Same as lw)
In the Big XII UCF leads at 6-0 followed by 6-1 Colorado who both control their desinty. TCU and Houston fell off the pace joining Baylor and OK state.
Buffalo-WMU MAC
Baylor completes an Aranda saving season as QB Headley leads a game winning drive in a 23-20 home win over #17 Oklahoma State in an elimination game in the Big XII race
Georgia Tech stuns ACC leading #14 Miami 17-13
Kansas grabs a second straight stunning upset 23-7 at home over #20 Colorado opening up the Big XII title race
Louisville stuns #22 Pitt to get bowl eligible at 6-4
#3 Florida goes into Austin and stuns #1 Texas
#19 USC stays alive for the CFP with a 21-7 win at rival UCLA
3-7 West Virginia stuns league leading #15 UCF with a 32-18 home win

Week 14
1 Florida takes over top spot after win over #1 Tesxas
2 Texas drops just 1 spot
3 LSU same
4 Wash
5 OSU
6 GA
7 Bama moves down with uneven showing
8 FSU
9 Oregon
10 Purdue
11 NC State
Next: NW, OU, USC, Rutgers, Auburn, A&M
Probably Out: Tech, PSU, ISU, ND, IL, OK St, Pitt
A rough year for the ACC has a ridiculous amount of possibilities between FSU, NC State, Miami, and Virginia to make the title game with only FSU and possibly NC St alive for an at large
The SEC has 8 of its 16 teams ranked with even 7-4 #13 OU still alive for a playoff spot
The B1G has Washington in the lead with USC, OSU, and Oregon all with 2 losses, making the Oregon- Washington game a likely play-in with SC hoping to get in on the right tiebreak. #10 Purdue, #12 NW, and #15 Rutgers are all hoping things fall their way
In the Big XII UCF and Colorado control their desinty while Baylor is in with a win and UCF or Colorado loss. The Big XII has cannibalized so heavily that no team is likely to make the CFP. The top 7 teams are all 8-3.
#18 Buffalo remains the lone unbeaten team at 11-0 with Western Michigan one of 4 9-2 teams and likely to get the bid should they win and also beat Buffalo in the MAC Championship game.
#7 Bama denied #16 Auburn’s playoff hopes 38-0
#8 FSU toppled #1 Florida in a classic state battle with a heartrenching OT where FSU’s extra point was blocked only for Florida to fail to move the ball.
#5 Georgia punched its CFP ticket with a 21-9 home win over 4-8 Georgia Tech led by WR Blair
#15 Rutgers took care of business at 4-8 Michigan State despite a slow day from Parker
#11 NC State staked their ACC claim as WR Conception was dominant in a 38-31 road win that denied 5-7 North Carolina a bowl bid
#12 Northwestern hoped they’d donw enough to cash a CFP ticket in a 35-31 wild home win over #23 Illinois, the biggest game in the rivalry in decades
#4 Ohio State finally dominated the game as Michigan finished 5-7
#6 Washington continued its dominance of #9 Oregon, punching its B1G Championship and likely CFP ticket with a 42-10 road win in Autzen led by Schmid
#2 Texas and #17 A&M collided as A&M sought to make the playoff with a 24-21 Texas win in another wild game. RB Daniels ground 127 yards for Elko’s Aggies who finished 8-4. Texas led 24-0 at the break only for A&M to nearly come back
#14 USC avoided an upset from #22 Notre Dame to finish 9-3 and await their CFP fate

Championship Week
Wash-OSU, TCU-UCF, FSU-Mia, Buf-WMU, TX-FL
1 Texas takes over the top spot after Florida’s loss
2 LSU bumps up a spot
3 Wash bumps up a spot
4 FSU jumps to top of 1-loss teams after win over #1 UF
5 Ohio St stands pat
6 Bama jumps GA with win over Aub
7 GA moves down 1
8 Florida moves down from #1 with big loss to FSU
9 Norhtwestern at 9-3 seems to be in
10 USC seems to be in as well
11 Oregon at 9-4 (Hawaii game) likely out
12 NC State is 11-1 but did not make the ACC title game and so is likely out
13 OU 8-4 is probably out
#15 Buffalo and Western Michigan winner will be in
#4 Florida State might bump out USC with a loss to Miami in the ACC Champ
#8 Florida at 10-2 expects to still be in even with a loss to #1 Texas
Washington and Ohio State are similarly fighting for seeding in the B1G Championship
Finally #21 UCF and #22 TCU ramble for an auto-bid
#15 Buffalo keeps it simple by cashing its bid as a likely 11-seed in the tournament with a 35-21 win over 9-3 Western Michigan in the MAC title
QB Hoover leads a 4th quarter explosing as #22 TCU starts the day topping #21 UCF 28-17 to book a CFP bid
#7 Florida beats #1 Texas on a last minute field goal 27-24, shaking up the final rankings
#4 Washington QB Schmid seals the Heisman in a game winning 60 yard toss to Ja’Quinn Polk beating #3 Ohio State 35-28
#8 Florida State ices things late in a 38-21 second win of the season over Miami, who finishes 9-4
Final CFP
Washington moves into the #1 seed
Florida as SEC champ moves all the way to #2 at 11-2
LSU stays at #3 at 10-2
Florida State grabs the final bye as the 12-1 ACC Champ
#5 Alabama slides up a spot after Ohio State’s loss, finishing 10-2
#6 seed Georgia also earns a home game, sliding up a spot
#7 Texas falls out of the bye and tumbles from 1 the 1 spot but still claims a home game at 11-2
The final home game goes to #8 Ohio State, which tumbles to the 8-seed after the loss to Washington
#9 USC inexplicably jumps Northwestern for the spot in an all-B1G first round game
The #10 cats must visit Texas
#13 Buffalo as expected slides in as the 11-seed
#16 TCU at 10-3 preps to visit #5 Bama as the 12-seed
#11 NC State, boxed out of the ACC title game feels slighted at 11-1

Awards
Freshman QB Manuel Schmid of Washington wins the Heisman trphy with nearly 5,000 yards passing and 65 TDs counting playoffs
Texas DE Hendon McKeon wins the Nagurski with 7 sacks and 15 TFL
Doak Walker: A&M RB Amari Daniels benefits from being coached up
Biletnikoff: Heisman runner-up Wash WR Ja’Lynn Polk
Butkus: Texas State LB Jeyvon Gilbert is rewarded for a productive year
Thopre: LSU Sr CB Mike Farmer

Bowls
#18 Auburn bested #22 Oklahoma State in a well-played Alamo Bowl
#25 JMU edges 6-6 Clemson in the First Resonder Bowl despite 385 years (and 3 picks) from Clemon’s QB Beal
#20 7-5 Pen State is relegated to the Music City wehre they beat 6-6 Kentucky
Arizona caps a 9-4 solid season with a win over #22 Nevada in the Vegas Bowl
#11 NC State beat #16 OU in the Gator Bowl 31-30 in OT adding luster to their compaints about missing the CFP
#14 Oregon beat Miami 28-16 in the ReliaQUest Bowl in a solid almost-CFP season for Oregon and a rebound to the ACC title game despite the 9-5 record for the U
#17 A&M edges #15 Rutgers 20-19 with a fourth quarter comeback in the Citrus Bowl creating much hype for Elko’s second season after a Jimbo-like 9-4 campaign
#24 Virginia clips #25 Iowa State in the Holiday Bowl

CFP

First Round
The opening night of the new CFP was on a Friday in Augusta, with UGA keeing it vanilla and besting Buffalo 21-0.
The next day at noon was Alabama hosting upstart TCU, a similar game as Bama didn’t seek to give things away in a 34-7 ground and pound win over TCU.
The afternoon pitted Texas and Northwestern in Austin. Texas blew open a tight 17-13 game for a 38-13 win behind Jonathan Brooks with Northwestern QB Kimball having an impressive day
The nightcap was the B1G showdown with Ohio State eviscerating USC

Quarterfinals
Fiesta: Florida State and Bama went out west in a big test for Florida State on New Year’s Eve. Milroe and the offense were never slowed in a 46-14 beatdown
Peach: The Peach Bowl pitted #2 Florida and #7 Texas in an SEC Championship game rematch. Florida got the other hand this time with WR Carman helping dominate 30-14
Rose: The Rose Bowl had a classic Pac-10/Big-10 feel with #8 Ohio State and #1 Washington. Kyle McCord ripped 7 TDs as Ohio State went up 28-7 and never looked back winning 49-27 and avenging their B1G championship loss.
Sugar: LSU’s superior regular season performance led to a Sugar Bowl home against Georgia, riding the home crowd to a 27-3 big win

Semis
Orange: #3 seed LSU hoped to avenge its regular season loss to #2 Florida and did so in a major way, embarrassing the Gators 48-8.
Cotton: Ohio State-Alabama’s semi-final in Dallas was an all-time classic. The Bucks led 17-14 at the break as Kyle McCord played flawless football and then sent them up 24-14 with a great early drive. Despite Jalen Milroe getting them within 31-27, Bama couldn’t advance the ball past midfield the rest of the way in a tense OSU win

NCG: Brian Kelly and Ryan Day were both finally on the precipice of the promised land playing each other for the elusive national championship with the 3-seed LSU and 8-seed OSU providing great justification for the 12-team playoff. LSU was slightly outgained but perfect in the red zone as Ohio State missed two field goals and McCord threw a pick in the red one that were keys in LSU’s 30-20 win, giving Brian Kelly a national title at 13-2 and denying Day

[palmer006]

Lol I forgot how key of a role Kyle McCord randomly played in this one. This alternate history is officially not happening with news he is transferring!

[palmer006]

2024 Purdue Football

Camp:
Date Time TV Record Rank Cnf Rk Opp Cnf Opponent Result Description
8/31 12:00p BTN 1-0 NR N/A N/A INDIANA STATE W 30-16 ISU's Hibbard tossed the ball all over the place and ISU led 10-3 midway through the second before Deion Burks' PR-TD and 93 yuard bomb to end the 1st and start the second helped Purdue pull away in a shaky start
9/7 7:30p NBC 2-0 NR N/A N/A NOTRE DAME (1-1) W 41-20 Coming off a home upset to NIU, the Irish were mad but Hudson Card came out swinging, and except for an early Riley Leonard bomb to Dana Baird, Purdue dominated, announcing themselves
9/14 10:30p ESPN 3-0 22 N/A N/A @Oregon State (1-1) W 17-13 A run oriented game sees Purdue go conservative after leading 17-6 at half for a gritty 17-13 road win after dark. Bedard and Mockobee bot haverage 4ypc
9/21 3:30p CBS 4-0,1-0 17 N/A 1t #24 NEBRASKA (2-1,1-0) W 40-28 Freshman CB Frederick Spruill's 25 yard pick 6 helped Purdue to close the gap. A Hudson Card 70 yard run got them up 27-14 as the offfense showed its quality and but for a couple late scores blew Nebraska out as fan interest built. Spurrill would win B1G Defensive player and freshman of the week
9/28 7:30p BTN 4-1,1-1 11 1t 1t @Wisconsin (2-2,1-0) L 7-20 A G5 upset and beating to Alabama had Wisconsin down, but a season opening B1G win had them eager to put #11 Purdue back in their place. It was the Boilermakers' highest rating since the 2004 Kyle Orton season. Fittingly despite an earlly stout effort Wisconsin wore Purdue down and ended dreams yet again in a 20-7 win as the Herell offense ran aground into some familair trouble
10/5 7:30p BTN 4-2,1-2 17 8t 16t @Illinois (3-2,0-2) L 6-23 Bert was determined to score one on his former assistant as the polls were forgiving to Purdue's road loss. The Boilers continued to struggle to move the ball as Illinois's Sringer played a hyper-efficient game and the Illini rolled
10/12 7:30p NBC 4-3,1-3 NR 10t 5t #18 OREGON (5-2,2-1) L 19-28 Purdue was still viewed dangerously and led 16-14 at hte break when Card hit Mark Hogan on a 50 yard TD just before half. Oregon kept things just out of reach
10/26 7:30p BTN 5-3,2-3 NR 14 3t #9 NORTHWESTERN (7-1,4-1) W 18-13 Fresh off the bye week Purdue saw a very winnable game against a top 10 opponent. Purdue bottled up the run game and kept WR Wells from kiling them, trailing 7-6 at half but grinding out scoring drives and holding off Northwestern after a late TD in a classic win
11/2 7:30p NBC 6-3,3-3 NR 12 3 @#2 Ohio State (8-0,5-0) W 31-28 Purdue picked a bad time to surpise the Bucks in Columbus coming off their dissapointing loss to Penn State. However, Purdue stunned the nation with a 31-28 win with a missed 55-yard field goal ending OSU's day. OSU led 14-10 at half but Hudson Card moved the ball all throught the second half, wit ha 38 yard Trevion Henderson run tying it and Purdue winning on a field goal
11/9 3:30p CBS 7-3,4-3 19 10t 10t #11 PENN STATE (6-3,3-3) W 24-21 Penn State was reeling on a two game losing streak but unlike Purdue still held out CFP aspirations. QB Alan Sturgis continued Purdue's wild ride filling in for an injured Hudson Card finding Deion Burks for two first half scores and then hitting Mark Hogan early in the 4th as the Boilers held off the cratering Lions
11/16 7:30p BTN 8-3,5-3 10 5t 13t @Michigan State (4=6,2-5) W 19-7 MSU would be fighting for their playoff lives as Purdue looked ot make an unlikely run to the CFP. Purdue echoed Michigan State's run oriented offense and stuffed it in a snowy win
11/23 3:30p BTN 8-4,5-4 10 5t 15t @Indiana (4-7,2-6) L 31-34 Curt Cignetti's first season at Indiana ended in his first losing season in 14 years as a head coach, but the win over Purdue force Hudson Card in a 16-41 day was a badge of honor for the Hoosiers
1/1 4:00p CBS 9-4,5-4 17 7 N/A "Sun Bowl
El Paso, TX
#25 Wake Forst (8-4)" W 43-27 Having finished 7th Purdue got a great matchup with Wake Forest in the bowl. It was a big day on the ground as Ryan Walters tied the Purdue record for wins in year 2 as Mockobee and William Bedard almost both had 100 yards rushing for n unstoppable offense

[palmer006]

2025 Purdue Football

Recruiting: Walters lands #19 class, among the best in Purdue history with two blue chip WRs. Deion Burks leaves a year early


Date | Time | TV | Record | Rank | Cnf Rk | Opp Cnf | Opponent | Result Description
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8/30 | 12p | BTN+ | 1-0 | 19 | N/A | N/A | BALL STATE | W 42-10
Purdue's CFP hopes were sky high and despite an uneven day from Card the defense was dominant and David Cabrera emerged as a star RB with 132 yards rushing
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9/13 | 12p | Pea | 2-0 | 18 | N/A | N/A | CONNECTICUT (0-2) | W 27-0
Garcia rushed for 154 yards and Cabrera 74 as Purdue kept it on the ground and dominated T.O.P.
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9/20 | 2p | NBC | 3-0 | 14 | N/A | N/A | @ Notre Dame (0-4) | W 13-10
An 0-4 start had former Boiler coach Marcus Freeman coaching for his life. An early bomb by Leonard helped ND to the lead which they would hold until the fourth quarter. Purdue squeaked it out in OT and Freeman was fired
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9/27 | 7:30p | BTN | 4-0,1-0 | 7 | N/A | N/A | #16 MINNESOTA (3-0) | W 31-7
It was the first time in the history of the matchup since the 1930s that both teams were ranked in the top 20 in PJ Fleck's best season in 5 years. Just as in the UConn game the Boilers turned to the ground, Punishing the Gophers with a dominating run game as Hudson Card tested them with play action and scored TDs in the red zone as Purdue was beginning to garner dark horse national title talk
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10/4 | 3:30p | Pea | 5-0,2-0 | 6 | 1t | 9 | IOWA (2-2,1-1) | W 20-17
Iowa owned a big win in the Coliseum but had lost to Iowa State and Oregon. Iowa's Dyason is hyper efficient but Purdue keeps Iowa's offense contained, patiently coming back from 17-14 down with two late field goal drives, draining the clock to win on a chip shot in a tight onw
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10/11 | 3:30p | CBS | | 4 | 1t | 1t | @ #25 Maryland (4-1,2-0) |
Maryland was young but with a group of talented freshmen and transfers from Locksley's top 10 class in welcoming the Boilermakers who had their highest ranking since 1980 as just two of 4 unexpected unbeaten B1G teams (Northwestern, Indiana) in a CBS showdown
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[palmer006]

2025 National

Week 7
[2]Georgia (5-0) { 31 } vs { 17 } Florida (4-2)
Carson Beck threw for 458 yards and UGA stayed in control in a bounceback season with Florida now back to struggling after a blip up in '24
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[18]Arizona (5-1) { 34 } @ { 37 } Houston (3-2)
Houston jumped to a 27-7 lead with a huge 2nd quarter having a pick 6 from LB John Reeder sandwitching two QB Nicholas Stinson TD drives. Arizona QB Luke Brockman battled them back to within 30-27 late in the 4th, but Stinson led an icing drive despite another late one from Zona
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[15]Indiana (4-1) { 30 } @ { 17 } Miami (4-2)
Surprising Indiana kept up their run with a dominant running performance. Later the same week Cignetti is given a raise and extension just 17 games into his Hoosier tenure after a 5-7 debut
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[14]Oregon (4-1) { 7 } @ { 35 } Minnesota (3-2)
Minnesota's Tinsley and WR Bolden were a perfect balanced offense as the Gophers pounded the Ducks at home
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Rutgers (3-2) { 31 } @ { 28 } [3]Northwestern (4-1)
Northwestern tied their Rose Bowl teams' highest ranking and led 21-13 at the break, imploding as Rutgers Heisman candidate RB Don Parker's dominant running and a long PA as Kimball and the offense floundered in a huge home loss
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LSU (3-2) { 40 } @ { 10 } [5]Oklahoma (5-1)
LSU's QB Nussmeier used his log and OU turned the ball over a ton to keep the defending champs CFP hopes alive after a rough start and bring OU down to earth after the win over Texas
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Kansas State (4-2) { 24 } @ { 10 } [13]Oklahoma State (5-1)
K-State shut down OSU's Heisman candidate WR and dominated the second half on the ground with RB Kruger in another parity type loss for the Big XII
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Vanderbilt (3-3) { 48 } @ { 12 } [11]South Carolina (4-1)
Vandy dominated the second half to stun SC at home getting a pick 6, KR-TD, PR-TD all in the same stunning game despite an otherwise solid game from SC QB Dennison
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[24]Iowa State (5-1) { 16 } @ { 10 } TCU (4-1)
TCU led most of the way in a scrappy one before a late drive from ISU QB Agree sealed it in the last minute
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[1]Alabama (6-0) { 23 } @ { 21 } [7]Texas (4-1)
An early scoop and score by LB Clyde Lopez was not a harbringer of good things to come as Arch Manning went down with an injury and Texas failed to move the ball. Ferguson for Bama was efficient but needed a FS Franklin Stephens pck-6 to take the lead which they held 20-7 midway throug hthe third when Texas figured it out for two TD scores led by backup Martino to take a 21-20 lead. Ferguson and the Bama offense finally broke through on the final drive to score the winning FG with 0:10 to play
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[6]Ohio State (4-1) { 34 } "@
(OT)" { 28 } [17]UCLA (3-1)
OSU returned to the sight of their triumph in the Quarterfinal rematch against Washington last year. RB William Shanks was all over the field for a dominant looking UCLA offense early scoring a 1-yard run and passing TD to put the Bruins up 14-0. Zimmerman and the Bucks offense answered but UCLA kept i going wit ha 68 yard strike from QB Roper to WR Pedro Deloach to up 21-7, then 28-7 at the break. Zimmerman hit some long TDs of his own in the second half as Jim Knowles adjustments causes UCLA to sputter, including a 94 yard strike to Robert Avocedo to tie the game. UCLA's inept offense continued only gaming 3 yards in the OT frame before K Devlin missed the FG. on a third and inches from the 15 OSU went playaction and Zimmer hit WR Prater for the winning score over the middle
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[12]Louisville (5-0) { 27 } @ { 28 } Wake Forest (2-3)
Wake Forest turned their season around behind QB Hirsch in a tight home game with unbeaten Louisville as the ACC and Big XII continued to cannibalize and experience difficulty having a team seperate themselves
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0-6 Arizona State stunned #8 Colorado 59-55 in Boulder as new Buffs QB Price tossed 2 INts in addition to 430 yards passing

Week 8
[15]Tennessee (6-1) { 13 } @ { 26 } [1]Alabama (7-0)
UT's '22 breakthrough was becoming a distant memory after 3 straight Saban strangleholds
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[16]Texas A&M (5-1) { 25 } @ { 35 } Arkansas (3-3)
The Razorbacks' Packard was superb with a 20-25-175-3-0 performance despite being outgained by A&M
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[9]Florida State (5-1) { 13 } @ { 16 } Clemson (3-3)
QB Grant was quiet all day but led old ACC nemesis Clemson back against FSU in their first meeting as SEC protected rivals
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[8]Indiana (5-1) { 13 } @ { 37 } Illinois (3-2)
IU's highest rank since 1987 was ruined by Illinois's balanced offense and their explosion from a 13 all tie in the 4th
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[3]Ohio State (5-1) { 29 } @ { 22 } [25]Minnesota (4-2)
A 60 yard field goal with 2:32 to go on the back of a game-opening pick 6 had Minnesota thinking it was their day up 22-21 but Zimmerman led his second game winning drive of the season for the blessed Bucks
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[12]Maryland (5-1) { 17 } @ { 38 } Nebraska (4-2)
QB Dempsey and WR Curry unleashed the potential of Matt Rhule's offense, stymying the young Terps' hopes at the CFP and cracking the door open for a Huskers run
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[19]Rutgers (4-2) { 23 } @ { 17 } [18]Oregon (4-2)
WIth RBs Parker and Hardwick keyed on Rutgers turned to QB Thurman to lead a ball control short passing game and led 23-0 early in the 4th. Oregon backup Danny Hall got aggressive and led the Ducks one possession short of a comeback as Schiano's turnaround story entered solidly into its second year while Oregon continued to be plagued by dissapointing upsets in its B1G tenure
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[13]NC State (5-0) { 7 } @ { 38 } Oregon State (4-2)
Unbeaten and still reeling from a CFP snub at 11-1 the previous year, NC State had its worst game of the season as QB Towns threw three picks in a rough jet lag type game that NC State was never in despite Kevin Conception's 9-133-1 catching performance, a dissapointing performance for a program hoping to have finally turned the corner into becoming an elite program in the new ACC
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[21]South Carolina (4-2) { 22 } @ { 28 } [10]Texas (4-2)
It was a pick 6 and big plays from Arch Manning and the UT offense doing just enough and forcing Carolina to win out to have a chance at the playoff with their third loss
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[17]Kansas State (5-3) { 16 } @ { 21 } Utah (1-4)
Whispers of Whittingham stepping down were beginning to emerge as a scrappy effort helped Utah start to trun their season around in an ugly one
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UMass upsets a reeling Mizzou who fire Eli Drinkowicz sitting at 4-4

Week 9
Arkansa (4-3) { 23 } @ { 24 } [1]Alabama (8-0)
A kickoff return TD from David Liddell answered the Tide's Rodrick Packard's 80 yard bomb to Daniel Matthews early in the 4th to cut the lead to 24-17. The Hogs would drive down the field for the tying TD only to see the tying extra point blocked by Tide LB Jalani McKinney
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[7]Oklahoma (5-2) { 13 } @ { 30 } [15]Florida State (5-2)
Two new SEC teams hanging in in the new SEC faced a key game. 3 losses seems to define bubble so a loss wouldn't be defining but a win would for sure keep them alive. Defense reigned as FSU relied on a pick 6 and two deep TDs to Gary Reed (both over 70 yards) to pull out a home win as OU faced its playoff hopes on the brink for a second straight SEC year
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[16]Colorado (5-1) { 24 } @ { 19 } Houston (5-2)
An anemic run game couldn't move the ball much in the second half but Colorado hung on
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Arizona (5-3) { 34 } @ { 41 } [10]Iowa State (7-1)
A dream season continued for Matt Campbell's bunch as Arizona's WR Cooper had a riduclous 196-3 game to keep Zona in it but fumbled it in OT to give ISU the home win
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[4]Michigan (5-1) { 14 } @ { 23 } [14]Nebraska (5-2)
Matt Rhule's high water mark with QB Dempsey and WR Curry just got higher. Michigan kept pounding and Nebraska wore down in the third quarter as they took a 14-9 lead into the 4th, but it was Dempsey and Nebraska who controlled the ball most of the quarter, gtting a stop, and scoring twice in a high water mark for the program under his leadership after they broke through for a bowl in a 7-5 season the year before. For Michigan at 5-2 the CFP was still alive and improving on last year's 7-6 campaign was almost assured as they adjusted to the new era in post-Harbaugh year 2
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Penn State (3-4) { 23 } @ { 10 } [6]Northwestern
David Braun was looking to cement himself as a top 10 CFB coach with a second straight CFP appearance and possible B1G champ game appearance, but with speculation swigling around James Franklin's job PSU was dominant on defense and efficient and balanced on offense with Drew Allar playing mistake-free in Evanston
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Memphis (4-3) { 21 } @ { 20 } [23]Rice (6-1)
A defensive struggle opened up in the 4th when the G6 autobid hopeful Owls thought they'd salted it away with a a long drive midway through the 4th to go up 20-7. A memphis offense that had had one big play TD but otherwise had been shut out ame up huge with two drives led by QB John Harris who flipped the ball to WR Otto Stone for the game winning score
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[24]Washington State (5-2) { 0 } @ { 33 } Wake Forest (3-4)
Dave Clawson's Wake team was back to earth after a one-every 4 years type season the one before, but RB Dorsey and a balanced offense dominated the Cougars who were in the hunt for a conference crown in their first year
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[12]Indiana (5-2) { 31 } @ { 34 } Wisconsin (3-4)
It was a game that mirrored the Northwestern-PSU game in that a formerly second tier but now arguably third tier B1G power after the arrival of Washington, Oregon, and perhaps even UCLA faced a rising program in a bit of tailspin. The 4th quarter was an intense flurry o 4 bakc to back TDs as Wiscy's Kemp seemed to have finally unlocked the full potential of a run-oriented but diverse Wisconsin offense in year 3 under Fickell though Victor Guinn's 71 yard run was Wiscy's last score inthe win
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Week 10
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Initial CFP Rankings
1 | Alabama | 9-0 | - | Tide and Dawgs still ruling the roost atop nation and only unbeaten SEC team
2 | Georgia | 7-0 | |
3 | Ohio State | 7-1 | | OSU the only power 2 team with 1-loss and the only remaining
4 | Texas | 5-2 | |
5 | Nebraska | 5-2 | | 1 of 3 teams with 1 loss in B1G behind OSU
6 | UCLA | 5-2 | | 1 of 3 teams with 1 loss in B1G behind OSU
7 | Iowa State | 8-1 | | "ISU and the Next 2 (ACC, Big XII) upset being rnaked behind 2-loss B1G/SEc teams but a new normal is etablished after NC State's 1-loss snub in '24
3-way tie Big XII"
8 | Michigan | 6-2 | |
9 | Northwestern | 5-2 | |
10 | Florida State | 6-2 | | FSU's move to the SEC was already paying dividends despite the rough schedule
11 | Kentucky | 6-2 | | 1 conf loss
12 | Rutgers | 5-2 | |
13 | Colorado | 6-1 | | 3-way tie Big XII with ISU & OSU
14 | Oklahoma | 5-3 | | OU's third loss still ahd them in the thick of the race and with only 1 conf loss still in play for the SEC title
15 | North Texas | 7-1 | | Just as with Buffalo last year North Texas emerged as the clear frontrunner for the G6 bid
16 | Vanderbilt | 6-3 | | 1 conf loss
17 | Baylor | 6-1 | | Tied atop Big XII
18 | NC State | 6-1 | | Atop the ACC at 4-0 and
19 | LSU | 5-2 | | 1 conf loss
20 | Oklahoma State | 6-2 | | "The lone Next 2 2-loss team to make the top 25
4-way tie atop Big XII"
21 | Maryland | 5-2 | | 1 of 3 teams with 1 loss in B1G behind OSU
22 | Purdue | 5-3 | |
23 | Tennessee | 6-2 | |
24 | Iowa | 4-3 | |
25 | South Carolina | 5-3 | |
N Louisville 6-1 Only 1-loss team in ACC thus on track for matchup with NC State
Dropped Out/Eliminated: None, 1st week

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Heisman Watch
1 Travis Agee, QB, ISU
2 Corey Street, WR, OK St
3 Chad Cooper, WR, Arizona
4 Steven Boudreaux, QB, UTRGV
5 Matthew Lemon, CB, Florida

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[4]Texas (5-2) { 7 } @ { 12 } [19]LSU (5-2)
Tiger Stadium was rocking as the defending champions kept in the thick of SEC and CFP races in a defnsive showdown. RB Quick was a star
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[11]Kentucky (6-3) { 7 } @ { 10 } Missouri (4-4)
Mizzou was fired up in the post-Drinkwicz era and claimed an upset win
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[9]Northwestern (5-2) { 10 } @ { 14 } [8]Nebraska (6-2)
Nebraska could score one of its bigger wins in recent history against a Wildcat team on a two game losing streak but QB Kimball continued a slump with 4 picks and Nebraska hung on
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Charlotte (4-4) { 39 } @ { 21 } [15]North Texas (7-1)
UNT's QB Lee threw 3 picks and fring Heisman candidat Jackson ran for 149 but Charlotte stunningly dominated the second half to likely knock the only G6 team in the top 25 off the pace
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[19]NC State (6-1) { 21 } @ { 39 } Notre Dame (4-5)
Notre Dame won its 5th in a row after an 0-5 start that got Marcus Freeman fired and dealt a decisive blow to the Pack's CFP at large hopes after they failed to make it the year before at 11-1. Still, NC State and QB Towns are the only unbeaten ACC team in conference play
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[21]Maryland (5-2) { 15 } @ { 49 } [3]Ohio State (7-1)
Maryalnd was a heavy underdog but would be a shoe-in to make the championship game with a win becoming yet another B1G beatdown victim of old East foe Ohio State
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[13]Colorado (6-1) { 27 } @ { 34 } West Virginia (5-3)
The Buffs fun ride came to an end as they led 27-14 with another big game from Robert Price, but a key INT on the heels of WVU's next pick helped West Virginia score 3 TDs in 5:45 of game time for a stunning come back in the always crazy Big XII
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[5]Michigan (5-2) { 45 } @ { 14 } [6]UCLA (5-2)
The B1G was looking good on UCLA as the Bruins hosted Michigan on NBC but were carved up by JJ McCarthy and crew
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Week 11
Rk | Team | Record | Chg | Cnf | Desc
1 | Alabama | 9-0 | - | SEC-coL |
2 | Georgia | 8-0 | - | SEC-coL |
3 | Ohio State | 8-1 | - | B1G L |
4 | Michigan | 6-2 | 1 | |
5 | Nebraska | 7-2 | 3 | B1G -1 | Nebraska stood all alone behind Ohio State controlling its own champ game destiny
6 | Rutgers | 6-2 | 6 | |
7 | Iowa State | 8-1 | - | XII-coL |
8 | Florida State | 6-2 | 2 | |
9 | LSU | 6-2 | 10 | SEC -1 | LSU big win over Texas vaulted them forwarded
10 | Baylor | 7-1 | 7 | XII-coL | A top 10 appearance for a next 2 school that Dave Aranda has gotten turned around after being left for dead
11 | Texas | 5-3 | -7 | | Things still are falling perfectly for Texas to make the playoff as the highest ranked 3-loss team
12 | Oklahoma State | 7-2 | 8 | XII-coL |
13 | Oklahoma | 5-3 | 1 | SEC -1 |
14 | UCLA | 5-3 | -8 | |
15 | Iowa | 5-3 | 9 | |
16 | Vanderbilt | 6-3 | - | SEC -1 |
17 | Northwestern | 5-3 | -8 | |
18 | Colorado | 6-2 | -5 | |
19 | Kentucky | 6-3 | -8 | |
20 | Texas A&M | 6-2 | NR | SEC -1 |
21 | Purdue | 5-3 | 1 | |
22 | USC | 5-3 | NR | | The Trojans hope their brand can elevate them to the playoff if they win out
23 | South Carolina | 5-3 | NR | |
24 | UTEP | 7-1 | NR | G6-L | UTEP steps in for North Texas as the leader in the G5 clubhosue
25 | Oregon State | 6-2 | NR | |
N | NC State | 6-2 | n/A | ACC-coL |
N | Virginia Tech | 5-3 | n/A | ACC-coL |
N | Wake Forest | 4-4 | n/A | ACC -1 |
N | West Virginia | 6-3 | n/A | XII -1 |

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Heisman Watch
1 >1 Corey Street, WR, OK St Street's 4 TDs put him to the top of the Heisman conversation
2 - Travis Agee, QB, ISU
3 >9 Jorge Zimmeran, QB, OSU ZImmerman burst onto the scene with his huge day against Maryland
4 >2 Eloy Roberts, DE, GA
5 - Matthew Lemon, CB, Florida

[22]USC (5-3) { 14 } @ { 17 } [21]Purdue (5-3)
The Boilers played ball control after taking a 14-7 halftime lead, playing keep away after SC scored late in the 4th in a defensive struggle as SC may have struggled with cold temps
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[9]LSU (6-2) { 14 } @ { 17 } [1]Alabama (9-0)
QB Ferguson led a balanced attack and completely shut down Garrett Nussmeier in the second half, storming back from 14-0 down in the 4th to take a late win with Ferguson himself running in the winner
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Utah (2-6) { 34 } @ { 3 } [10]Baylor (7-1)
The Big XII didn't have any teams go this late in the season in the top 10 the seaon before but Baylor pulled a '23 OK St vs UCF and was crushed by a Ute team fighting for bowl eligibility as Utah RB Vasquez exploded to ice the game in the 4th quarter with 157 yards and 3 TDs
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[20]Texas A&M (6-2) { 6 } @ { 21 } [2]Georgia (8-0)
The Aggies were hopeful of a playoff bid in year 2 of the Elko era and had a big road opportunity. A&M couldn't move the ball until garbage time in a classic UGA win
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[11]Texas (5-3) { 28 } @ { 35 } Missouri (5-4)
A 19 yard pick 6 helped spur the interim coached Tigers to a big win with WR George Albert grabbing 6-165-4TD in a raucous win that has Texas looking like another dissapointing season
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[14]UCLA (5-3) { 7 } @ { 26 } [17]Northwestern (5-3)
Northwestern kept its hopes for a second straight CFP appearance alive despite 103 yards rushing from UCLA's East the Bruins broke down in the red zone as Northwestern broke a three game losing streak
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Penn State (4-4) { 27 } @ { 14 } [6]Rutgers (6-2)
PSU got a big win against an old Eastern foe with a suffocating defense as speculation around James Franklin continued to swirl
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[13]Oklahoma (5-3) { 17 } @ { 23 } Tennessee (6-3)
QB Chucky Rose was brilliant on Rocky Top as UT held off a late OU surge after shutting them down most of the way
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[19]Kentucky (6-3) { 24 } @ { 17 } [16]Vanderbilt (6-3)
A punt return was the difference in this SEC rivalry
Connecticut upsets Duke; Mississippi State upsets Auburn
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Week 12

Rk | Team | Record | Chg | Cnf | Desc
1 | Alabama | 10-0 | - | SEC-coL | The top 5 was unchanged
2 | Georgia | 9-0 | - | SEC-coL |
3 | Ohio State | 8-1 | - | B1G L |
4 | Michigan | 7-2 | - | B1G -2 |
5 | Nebraska | 7-2 | - | B1G -1 |
6 | Florida State | 7-2 | 2 | |
7 | Iowa State | 8-1 | - | XII-coL |
8 | Oklahoma State | 8- | 4 | XII-coL | OSU climbed to within 1 game of their conference rival
9 | Northwestern | 6-3 | 8 | | The Wildcats' elimination win over UCLA vaulted them
10 | Iowa | 6-3 | 5 | B1G -2 |
11 | Purdue | 6-3 | 10 | | The Boilermakers vaulted with a win over USC but face a second straight CFP elimination game against Rutgers
12 | South Carolina | 6-3 | 11 | | !
13 | Colorado | 7-2 | 5 | XII -1 | Colorado rode a wave of optimism as Big XII leaders won
14 | Kentucky | 7-3 | 5 | |
15 | Rutgers | 6-3 | -9 | |
16 | Texas | 5-4 | -5 | | Despite the stunning loss to Missouri UT seems to still be in the CFP hunt at 5-4
17 | Oklahoma | 5-4 | -4 | | Like their Red River brethren the Sooners are lurking with 4 losses
18 | UCLA | 5-4 | -4 | |
19 | Tennessee | 7-3 | NR | |
20 | Baylor | 7-2 | -10 | XII -1 | Despite it only being their second loss the Bears rightly tanked
21 | Penn State | 5-4 | NR | | The Lions now had a pucnhers chance at the CFP after a big road win over Rutgers
22 | UTEP | 8-1 | 2 | | Still the only ranked G6 team
23 | LSU | 6-3 | -14 | | Having no big wins LSU was surprisingly punished for the Alabama loss
24 | Vanderbilt | 6-4 | -8 | |
25 | Missouri | 6-4 | NR | | The Tigers now could at least hope for chaos after thier upset over Texas
N | Oregon State | | w25 | |
N | NC State | 6-3 | | ACC -1 | NC State fell off the pace in the ACC with their second straight loss after a loss to Notre Dame the week before
N | Virginia Tech | 6-3 | | ACC-L |
N | Wake Forest | 5-4 | | ACC -1 |
N | West Virginia | | | XII -1 |
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Heisman Watch
1 - Corey Street, WR, OK St
2 - Travis Agee, QB, ISU
3 - Jorge Zimmeran, QB, OSU
4 - Eloy Roberts, DE, GA
5 - Matthew Lemon, CB, Florida
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Houston (5-4) { 56 } @ { 52 } [20]Baylor (7-2)
Baylor fell out of the CFP race and conferene race with a disastrous home loss as Houston RB Rice and Willie Fritz got bowl eligible
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[19]Tennessee (7-3) { 10 } @ { 40 } [23]LSU (6-3)
LSU kept its championship defense hopes alive with a demolition of Tennessee, who likely saw its CFP hopes end yet again in Baton Rouge
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[5]Nebraska (7-2) { 28 } @ OT { 35 } Miami (5-5)
Mario Cristobal may have saved his job with the momentum producing OT win, pouring cold water on the Nebraska is 'back' discussion that was overblown in the first place. QB Oates passed for 25-38-295-4-1
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[25]Missouri (6-4) { 17 } @ { 23 } [17]Oklahoma (5-4)
Missouri QB Michael Shorter led a furious comeback in this classic old Big 8 matchup. OU's Scott slade iced the game with a touchdown after Mizzou missed a field goal in OT
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[9]Northwestern (6-3) { 21 } @ { 22 } Oregon (4-5)
RB Medley rushed for 151 yards and Kimall played mistake free but Northwestern struggled to move the ball in stages, taking a late lead that Oregon answered. Lewandowski, a Heisman canddiate at season's start, redeemed himself with the late drive
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[4]Michigan (7-2) { 31 } @ { 7 } [21]Penn State (5-4)
PSU had a chance to climb firmly back into the CFP mix with a win coming on the heels of a win over Rutgers. Michigan themselves wanted to ice their own CFP chances. Michigan crushed those chances with ground and pound with McCarthy going 18-24-140 in a run-oriented day
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Washington (5-4) { 42 } @ { 37 } [18]UCLA (5-4)
Chip Kely's job is now on the line as Heisman returner Schmid of Washington carves them up in an exciting shootout
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[13]Colorado (7-2) { 13 } @ { 14 } Utah (3-6)
Utah's D clamped down on yet another top Big XII contender, eliminating Colorado's Big XII and CFP hopes in one fell swoop and staying bowl eligible in a down year
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Iowa State extends Matt Campbell

Week 13

Rk | Team | Record | Chg | Cnf | Desc
1 | Alabama | 11-0 | - | SEC-coL | The top 4 was the sports 4 biggest blue bloods of the past 5 years for the third straight week
2 | Georgia | 10-0 | - | SEC-coL |
3 | Ohio State | 9-1 | - | B1G-L |
4 | Michigan | 8-2 | - | B1G -2 |
5 | Iowa State | 9-1 | 2 | XII-coL | ISU was helping restore the Big XII after a disastrous '24
6 | Florida State | 8-2 | - | |
7 | Purdue | 7-3 | 4 | | Purdue jumped in league Iowa with their big win over Rutgers
8 | Iowa | 7-3 | 2 | B1G -2 |
9 | Oklahoma State | 8-2 | -1 | XII-coL |
10 | South Carolina | 7-3 | 2 | |
11 | Oklahoma | 6-4 | 6 | |
12 | Texas | 6-4 | 4 | |
13 | Kentucky | 8-3 | 1 | |
14 | LSU | 7-3 | 9 | |
15 | Nebraska | 7-3 | -10 | B1G -2 | Despite the tough loss to Miami Nebraska was still in the B1G title race if Ohio State beat Michigan
16 | Northwestern | 6-4 | -7 | | The Cats tough schedule still had them in the mix with 4 losses, the highest ranked 4-loss team outside of OU and Texas
17 | North Texas | 8-2 | NR | | UNT got themselves back in with a tougher American schedule than UTEP's C-USA
18 | Rutgers | 6-4 | -3 | | The loss to Purdue put the Knights playoff hopes short
19 | USC | 6-4 | 13 | | SC hoped their brand recognition could bring their CFP hopes back from the dead
20 | UTEP | 9-1 | 2 | | UTEP was stunned by being leaped suddenly by North Texas
21 | Washington | 6-4 | NR | B1G -2 |
22 | Louisville | 8-2 | NR | ACC -1 | The ACC gets a team ranked but the Cards are off the pace for the conference title
23 | Indiana | 6-4 | NR | |
24 | Maryland | 6-4 | NR | |
25 | Texas A&M | 7-3 | NR | | A&M fans were irate that their soft SEC and ooc schedule was landing them in a spor where they'd need to win out to have a chance of getting in
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Dropped Out:
13 | Colorado It was a chaotic week with the committee dropping out an enormous 7 teams to make way for hotter teams down the stretch with a chance to win the league
18 | UCLA
19 | Tennessee
20 | Baylor
21 | Penn State
24 | Vanderbilt
25 | Missouri

N | NC State | 7-3 | | ACC-coL |
N | Virginia Tech | 6-4 | | ACC-coL |
N | West Virginia | 7-3 | | XII -1 |
N | | | | |
N | | | | |
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Heisman Watch
1 - Corey Street, WR, OK St
2 - Travis Agee, QB, ISU Agee and Zimmerman figure to have a chance to break into the frontrunner status if either have a Heisman moment late
3 - Jorge Zimmeran, QB, OSU
4 - Eloy Roberts, DE, GA
5 NR Schmid, QB, Wash Schmid garners token representation after the big upset at UCLA as the returning Heisman champ, but doesn't have the mind boggling stats of last year or the team success at 6-4
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Oregon (5-5) { 35 } @ (3OT) { 43 } [23]Indiana (6-4)
IU kept on track to have a CFP bid could they get a monumental upset against Purdue the following week. An epic OT saw both teams score easily until Oregon's Lewandwski threw a pick over the middle
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[20]UTEP (9-1) { 27 } @ { 31 } Louisiana Tech (5-5)
LA Tech stormed the field as they limited UTEP QB Farmer
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[4]Michigan (8-2) { 14 } @ { 24 } Michigan State (3-7)
MSU took advantage of a +2 turnover margin to stun their rivals and open up the B1G title race obtaining a lot of good will for coach Jonathan Smith in a second straight non-bowl season
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Notre Dame (6-5) { 28 } @ { 20 } [16]Northwestern (6-4)
ND completed a stunning run of winning 7 in a row under their interim coach and ended Northwestern's postseason hopes
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[21]Washington (6-4) { 21 } @ { 23 } [3]Ohio State (9-1)
OSU's Paul Prater took two punts for a TD and Melvin Roberts got a pick-6 as the D largely shut down Manuel Schmid and OSU eeked one out to eliminate Washington's feint CFP hopes
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Baylor (7-3) { 37 } @ { 42 } [9]Oklahoma State (8-2)
Baylor had plenty to play of chasing OSU for the XII lead, and it was a wild 4th quarter as OSU's QB Russell passed for 516 yards while street catcht 4 TDs for 223 yards to keep ahold of the Heisman
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[17]North Texas (8-2) { 7 } @ { 14 } Rice (7-3)
For the second time, North Texas went down as the G6 frontrunner as Rice grinded one out and opened up question as to who the G6 rep would be
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[24]Maryland (6-4) { 15 } @ { 34 } [18]Rutgers (6-4)
It was Vera dominating on the ground this time for Rutgers as they pulled away in the 4th quarter
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UCLA (5-5) { 34 } @ { 7 } [19]USC (6-4)
Chip Kelly saved his job with yet another stunner over USC, who put Lincoln Riley firmly on the hot seat
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[8]Iowa (7-3) { 20 } @ { 23 } Wisconsin (4-6)
Wisconsin got a classic rivalry win led by RB Guinn, a pick 6 and punching it in after a nother pick was Iowa's only scoring as Wisconsin kept its bowl hopes alive
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North Dakota State upsets Arkansas; Weber State takes down Utah and ruins the Utes' bowl hopes;
Week 14
Rk | Team | Record | Chg | Cnf | Desc
1 | Georgia | 11-0 | 1 | SEC-Cl | Alabama's struggles in its buy game gave Georgia #1
2 | Alabama | 11-0 | -1 | SEC-Cl |
3 | Ohio State | 10-1 | - | B1G-Cl |
4 | Iowa State | 10-1 | 1 | XII-Cl |
5 | Michigan | 8-3 | -1 | | Michigan dropped only 1 spot with the loss
6 | Florida State | 9-2 | - | |
7 | Purdue | 8-3 | - | |
8 | Oklahoma State | 9-2 | 1 | XII-Cl | OSU moved up again anticipating the showdown with ISU but on much less sure footing for an at large than the Cyclones
9 | South Carolina | 8-3 | 1 | |
10 | Oklahoma | 7-4 | 1 | |
11 | Nebraska | 8-3 | 4 | B1G-Cl | Nebraska sat firmly on the bubble meaning a win over OSU in the B1G championship is likely their only way to the playoff
12 | Texas | 7-4 | - | |
13 | LSU | 8-3 | 1 | | As a blue blood with only 3 losses, LSU is the most curious case going into the final week of the season for the CFP
14 | Rutgers | 7-4 | 4 | | Rutgers is making a hard charge with the iwn after Maryland but is likely out
15 | Iowa | 7-4 | -7 | | The loss to rival Wisconsin likely ended Iowa's playoff hopes
16 | Kentucky | 8-3 | -3 | | The Louisville-Kentucky game could valut the winner to the CFP
17 | Indiana | 7-4 | 6 | |
18 | Louisville | 9-2 | 4 | ACC-Cl1 |
19 | Texas A&M | 8-3 | 6 | |
20 | UCLA | 6-5 | NR | |
21 | Colorado | 8-3 | NR | | Deion was publicly campaigning but a 3-loss Big XII team simply wasn't getting an at large spot
22 | Northern Illinois | 9-2 | NR | | NIU emerged as the commitee's new favored team after it ranked UTEP and North Texas the previous week who proceeded to lose
23 | NC State | 8-3 | NR | ACC-Cl2 | The Wolfpack will have their opportunity after being denied an at large bid at 11-1 last year
24 | Arizona | 7-4 | NR | |
25 | Tennessee | 7-4 | NR | |
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Dropped Out:
16 | Northwestern Stunning losses by 6 teams dropped them out of the playoffs
17 | North Texas
19 | USC
20 | UTEP
21 | Washington
24 | Maryland
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Heisman Watch
1 - Corey Street, WR, OK St
2 - Travis Agee, QB, ISU Agee and Zimmerman figure to have a chance to break into the frontrunner status if either have a Heisman moment late
3 - Jorge Zimmeran, QB, OSU Zimmerman has his chances to put his stamp on the Heisman with games against Michigan and the B1G champ against Nebraska coming soon
4 - Eloy Roberts, DE, GA
5 NR David Russell, QB, OK St Russell is overshadowed by his teammate but consideration is coming
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[4]Iowa State (10-1) { 16 } @ { 10 } [21]Colorado (8-3)
ISU bolstered its case for an at large should they lose the Big XII title to Oklahoma State in shutting down Price and the CU pasing game in a windy Boulder with RB Jacbson running for 121 yards
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[6]Florida State (9-2) { 27 } @ { 37 } Florida (7-4)
Billy Napier's squad came back down to earth in '25 after a '24 title contending run and could now spoil FSU's run which they did despite 3 picks from QB Clifton
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[14]Rutgers (7-4) { 17 } @ { 24 } [15]Iowa (7-4)
It was a true elimination game in the B1G
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[16]Kentucky (8-3) { 30 } @ { 27 } [18]Louisville (9-2)
Mark Stoops got to 3-0 over Jeff rohm in another wild rivalry affair. Mack Seibert and co had to drive the legnth of the field with 1:45 after Louisville's go-ahead, with a statue of liberty run to Antoion Callaghan giving UK the win and they hope a bowl bid
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Penn State (6-5) { 35 } @ { 17 } [11]Nebraska (8-3)
Facing a situaton where they already probably needed to win to get into the CFP against Ohio State, Nebraska seemed to lack fight as PSU jumped out on them early and got a second big pelt after they were eliminated from CFP contention earlier in the season and after losing in this position the year before Iowa got ahead early and played ball control with a brilliant 17-29-101 game managing performance from QB Dyson
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Arkansas (5-6) { 29 } @ { 23 } [10]Oklahoma (7-4)
The committee had 4-loss OU in line to make the CFP, a result that likely would have saved Venables job. Venables was fired the next day as QB Brubaker threw several picks. The survivor Sam Pittman lived to fight anotehr day getting to bowl eligibility with such a marquee win, down 16-6 at half but then exploding in the second half with Marcellus Mays and the running game
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[19]Texas A&M (8-3) { 31 } @ { 38 } [12]Texas (7-4)
Two old rivals renewed their rivalry for a second time with a CFP trip likely on the line. A&M and Elko held onto the lead early on but Arch Manning caught fire on two mid 4th quarter drives before Dennis Rodriguez and A&M tied it with just :30 to play. Sark deciding to go for the win at his own 39 and tass up a bomb to George Albert from Jay Booth would be the stuff of legends
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[3]Ohio State (10-1) { 21 } @ { 10 } [5]Michigan (8-3)
Michigan was likely in the CFP no matter what but this game is everything. Zimmmerman made no mistakes and put OSU ahead and then sealed the game with bombs to Ross Treadwell and Jamie O'Brien after struggling all day, having his Heisman moment
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Champ Week
Rk | Team | Record | Chg | Cnf | Desc
1 | Alabama | 12-0 | 1 | SECCG | Alabama's struggles in its buy game gave Georgia #1
2 | Georgia | 12-0 | -1 | SECCG |
3 | Ohio State | 11-1 | - | B1G-CG | OSU hoped to improve its seeding with a champ game win
4 | Iowa State | 11-1 | - | XIICG |
5 | Purdue | 9-3 | 2 | B1G-CG |
6 | Oklahoma State | 10-2 | 2 | XIICG | OSU hoped they would still get in with a loss but couldn't be sure
7 | South Carolina | 9-3 | 2 | | Carolina stuck with Shane Beamer and were now to be rewarded with a CFP appearance after beating Clemson in their first matchup as a conference mate
8 | Michigan | 8-4 | -3 | | OSU moved up again anticipating the showdown with ISU but on much less sure footing for an at large than the Cyclones
9 | Texas | 8-4 | 3 | | Texas and LSU appear to be on track to be the last two teams in unless OK St were to lose and be dropped out of the top 11
10 | LSU | 9-3 | 3 | |
11 | Iowa | 8-4 | 4 | | Iowa slid up with their big conference win and even found thsmeves ranked above a 3-loss SEC team in Kentucky but had to pray for an Oklahoma State blowout loss to have a chance
12 | Kentucky | 9-3 | 4 | | UK's win over Louisville yielded them 4 spots but likely not enough with two auto-bids coming outside the top 12
13 | Florida State | 9-3 | -7 | | FSU's stunning loss to Florida indeed knocked them out of the playoff in their first SEC season
14 | UCLA | 7-5 | 6 | |
15 | Nebraska | 8-4 | -4 | |
16 | NC State | 9-3 | 7 | ACC-CG |
17 | Tennessee | 8-4 | 8 | |
18 | Florida State | 8-4 | NR | | The rivalry win got some momentum back for Norvell's program
19 | Penn State | 7-5 | NR | |
20 | Arizona | 8-4 | 4 | |
21 | Northwestern | 7-5 | NR | |
22 | Northern Illinois | 10-2 | - | |
23 | Oklahoma | 7-5 | -13 | |
24 | Rutgers | 7-5 | -10 | |
25 | USC | 7-5 | NR | |

Dropped Out:
10 | Oklahoma OU's upset to Arkansas knocked them all teh way out of the top 25
14 | Rutgers Rivalry loss
17 | Indiana Rivalry loss
18 | Louisville ACC-CG The rivalry loss to Kentucky stung but Louisville still found themselves in the ACC title game
19 | Texas A&M Rivalry loss
21 | Colorado Last week loss
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Heisman Watch
1 2 Jorge Zimmeran, QB, OSU Zimmerman's late explosion against Michigan shot him to the top of the narrative
2 -1 Corey Street, WR, OK St The three players 2-4 will all get a chance to seperate themselves against each other
3 -1 Travis Agee, QB, ISU
4 1 David Russell, QB, OK St
5 -1 Eloy Roberts, DE, GA Fire Venables if OU does not make CFP

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[22]Northern Illinois (10-2) { 10 } vs { 27 } Miami (OH) (8-4)
Miami's stunning win catipulted them all the way to the CFP
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[4]Iowa State (11-1) { 54 } "vs
(5OT)" { 60 } [6]Oklahoma State (10-2)
It was a wildly entertaining Big XII championship to open championship Saturday, with back and forth play and a late Iowa State score leading to OT. Both teams missed the 2pc in OT3, then traded field goals before ISU missed a field goal and Mark Chang's run . ISU now waited to see if they'd be snubbed
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[2]Georgia (12-0) { 6 } vs { 34 } [1]Alabama (12-0)
A 5-year title drought for Bama looked like it could soon be coming to an end as they broke open a 17-6 halftime lead in the fourth
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Louisville (9-3) { 16 } vs { 28 } [16]NC State (9-3)
Louisville celebrated a 2nd title game appearance in 3 years but NC State completed its quest to make the field that they started the season before being left out at 11-1
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[5]Purdue (9-3) { 23 } vs { 38 } [3]Ohio State (11-1)
"Purdue hung in there all game, taking a 20-17 lead early in the 4th on a 6 yard Cabrera run, but Zimmerman's deep ball to Paul Prater put OSU back up and then a long scoring drive put them up 31-20 midway through the quarter. Purdue's long drive ended in 3 to put them within a score, but OSU put it away "
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Final CFP Rankings
Rk | Team | Record | Chg | Cnf | Desc
1 | Alabama | 13-0 | - | SEC-Chp | Bama rolled into the playoffs as the heavy title favorite
2 | Ohio State | 12-1 | 1 | B1G-Chp | OSU as hoped slid past Georgia with a solid win over Purdue
3 | Georgia | 12-1 | -1 | AtL #1 |
4 | Oklahoma State | 11-2 | 2 | XII-Chp | OSU and ISU's top seeds proved the Big XII's downturn was temporary
5 | Iowa State | 11-2 | -1 | AtL #2 | ISU's resume built enough goodwill to secure a 5-seed and matchup against a MAC squad even after losing an epic Big XII title game
6 | Michigan | 8-4 | 2 | AtL #3 | Michigan would welcome warmer weather NC State in an excellent 1st round draw
7 | South Carolina | 9-3 | - | AtL #4 | Carolina would play conference mate LSU in a game they were favored to lose at home
8 | Purdue | 9-4 | -3 | AtL #5 | Purdue held onto a coveted home game despite the loss, their first game ever against Texas
9 | Texas | 8-4 | -- | AtL #6 |
10 | LSU | 9-3 | -- | Last AtL |
11 | NC State | 10-3 | 5 | ACC-Chp | In the tournament at the same rank (#11) that left them out at 11-1 the year before
12 | Iowa | 8-4 | -1 | |
13 | Kentucky | 9-3 | -1 | |
14 | Florida State | 9-3 | -1 | |
15 | UCLA | 7-5 | -1 | |
16 | Nebraska | 8-4 | -1 | |
17 | Tennessee | 8-4 | - | |
18 | Miami (OH) | 9-4 | NR | MAC-Chp | The Redhawks got the nod after beating ranked Northern Illinois
19 | Florida | 8-4 | -1 | |
20 | Penn State | 7-5 | -1 | |
21 | Northwestern | 7-5 | - | |
22 | Arizona | 8-4 | -2 | |
23 | Washington State | 8-4 | NR | |
24 | Oklahoma | 7-5 | -1 | |
25 | Rutgers | 7-5 | -1 | |
Dropped Out:
22 Northern Illinois
25 USC

Heisman Final Voting
1 Jorge Zimmeran, QB, Ohio State | Zimmerman held off Street for the Heisman as both had enormous seasons
2 Corey Street, WR, OK St | Street had an enormous game against Iowa State but it wasn't enough as Zimmerman had a big day too
3 1 David Russell, QB, OK St
4 -1 Travis Agee, QB, ISU

Wasn't Invited:
Eloy Roberts, DE, GA

Eloy Roberts, DE, GA | Nagurski and Lombardi winner
Raymond London, RB, So, Texas State | Doak Walker
David Russell, QB, Sr, OK St Johnny U
Corey Street, WR, Sr, OK St Biletnikoff
LB Steve Wisniewski, So, GA Butkus
CB Jeremiah Cooper, So, Iowa St Thorpe


Bowl Season
Not making a bowl:
Clemson | 5-7 | The program has cratered and in an awkward spot under Dabo
SMU | 3-9 | A dissapointing ending after a 6-6 year 1 in the ACC
North Carolina | 3-9 | Tough SEC adjustments for UNC and UVA
Virginia | 3-9 |
Ole Miss | 5-7 | It was Lane's first losing season at Ole Miss but perhaps his loyalty is paying offi n job security

Auburn | 5-7 | Hugh Freeze couldn't get it off the ground as hoped and was fired
Wisconsin | 5-7 |
Illinois | 5-7 |
Michigan State | 4-8 |
Utah | 5-7 | An 0-3 out of conference kept Utah out of bowling despite finishing in the top half or quarter of the conference
BYU | 5-7 |
Texas Tech | 4-8 |
K-State | 5-7 |
TCU | 4-8 |

[16]Nebraska (8-4) { 27 } "Citrus
(OT)" { 24 } [19]Florida (8-4)
Rhule celebrated a season solidifying his hold on the Husker job while Napier was glad to be there after last year's CFP appearance
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Duke (8-4) { 25 } Sun { 28 } [21]Northwestern (7-5)
Duke's program was staying afloat in the post-Elko era
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Colorado (8-4) { 29 } Alamo { 37 } [17]Tennessee (8-4)
Deion's first bowl game was an event
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CFP
[18]Miami(OH) (9-4) { 20 } @ { 21 } [5]Iowa State (11-2)
Miami kept Iowa State on the ropes all game, trainling 9-6 at halftime in the snow and leading 13-12 to start the 4th. A Jeremiah Cooper PR-TD could potentially ahve tied it, but ISU's Agee was sacked on the 2PC. Agee would then help lead the game winning drivet to Save ISU
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[11]NC State (10-3) { 14 } @ { 41 } [6]Michigan (8-4)
Michigan opened up Saturday by containing Towns and Conception in a beatdown of the ACC Champion
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[9]Texas (8-4) { 24 } @ { 20 } [8]Purdue (9-4)
Card's final game at Purdue was a raucous atmosphere in Ross-Ade. Texas went up 14-0 but Purdue dug in and forced turnovers in the second quarter to get within 17-10. William Wilkerson's pick 6 early in the 4th put it at 24-17 and gave the Boilers life, but they couldn't quite get over the hump, settling for a chip shot field goal instead of a TD and never getting the ball back
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[10]LSU (9-3) { 26 } @ { 0 } [7]South Carolina (9-3)
With all eyes on Colmbia, the defending champs embarrassd their conference mates
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[5]Iowa State (12-2) { 42 } Cotton { 52 } [4]Oklahoma State (11-2)
A title game rematch was again wild as OK Ste's Russell and Street did not dissapoint, keeping an initial 14-0 lead the rest of the way and outdueling ISU's Agee
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[9]Texas (9-4) { 13 } Orange { 16 } [1]Alabama (13-0)
It was a raucous atmosphere in Miami as Texas struggled to move the ball
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[10]LSU (10-3) { 17 } "Rose
(OT)" { 24 } [2]Ohio State (12-1)
It was a rematch of last year's title game in Pasadena. Trailing 17-13 at halftime and after 3, then 20-13 after an LSU FG, OSU revved up the offense with Zimmerman to tie the score early in the 4th. Nussmeier led LSU to a TD drive but Zimmerman responded with Terrance Mead running it in. OSU handled business with a TD drive before Kelly and co. elected to go for it three straight times for a run and were stuffed, delivering Ryan Day back to the semifinals
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[6]Michigan (9-4) { 6 } Sugar { 17 } [3]Georgia (12-1)

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[4]Oklahoma State (12-2) { 21 } Peach { 33 } [1]Alabama (14-0)
OSU's two big stars held their own in the first half and Russel's big pass to Street helped OK St to a 21-20 halftime lead. Bama came out motivated and stuffed Oklahoma State o no points in the second half
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[3]Georgia (13-1) { 26 } Fiesta { 30 } [2]Ohio State (13-1)
It was an epic battle in the desert as OSU persevered despite an injury to QB Zimmerman, tying the score early in the 4th, matching Georgia's field goal only to see Christian Toney score an apparant 57-yard game winning field goal with just :16 to play. Backup Roger Leung's hail mary was cuaght by Ross Tredwell in one of the most epic hail maries in CFB history
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[2]Ohio State (14-1) { 14 } Miami { 10 } [1]Alabama (15-0)
The nation's clear two best were meeting as OSU made their second straight title game under day and Bama had a vintage D and the chance to become the first team to go 16-0. OSU was down to their third string QB Floyd Hyatt, who found Ross Treadwell and Paul Prater for third quarter TDS in a game where all the scoring happened in the fourth quarter. Ryan Day's redemption was sweet in a season where he beat Michigan for the second time in a row and won a long coveted national title, with Buckeye fans saying they'd believed him all along. Nick Saban mentioned that really having gone through an SEC and CFP season 15-0 means he could almost see the case for a shared national title, with many national SEC and ESPN pundits agreeing earnestly
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National Champs
Ohio State

[palmer006]

2026 Purdue Football
Purdue lands two 5 star QBs in Charles Bentley and Paul Ethredge Walters hires Marcus Freeman back to Purdue as DC

Date | Time | TV | Record | Rank | Cnf Rk | Opp Cnf | Opponent | Result

9/5 | 3:30p | Pea | 1-0 | #10 | N/A | N/A | BALL STATE | W 24-10
True freshman Bentley struggled in his first start at 8-21 but RBs Cabera and Wallace were dominant
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9/12 | 12p | BTN+ | 2-0 | #11 | N/A | N/A | INDIANA STATE (1-0) | W 30-17
The Boilermakers dropped a spot in the polls after an underwhelming performance against Ball State. Walters stuck with Bentley who again struggled, giving way to fellow rookie Paul Ethdridge
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9/19 | 7:30p | NBC | 2-1 | #16 | N/A | N/A | NOTRE DAME (1-2) | L 3-24
Purdue had dropped twice in the polls from poor performance and went with a new true freshman in Paul Ethridge instead of teh struggling Bentley. Ethredge struggled as well as ND iced the game with a 60-yard pick 6 by Ricardo Irvine
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9/26 | 7:30p | BTN | 2-2,0-1 | NR | N/A | N/A | #19 MICHIGAN (2-1) | L 13-27
The Boilers' fourth home game in a row boded to be a pivotal team for both as Paul Ethridge started again and put a secure foothold on the starting role but Mchigan was hyper efficient and dominant
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10/3 | 12p | BTN | 2-3,0-2 | NR | 10t | 1t | @#5 Penn State (3-0,1-0) | L 17-45
Purdue led 17-14 late in the third but it all fell apart as Drew Allar looked like a Heisman candidate for the Lions
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10/10 | 12p | Pea | 3-3,1-2 | NR | 16t | 6t | @Nebraska (3-2,1-1) | W 12-7
Even as the offense struggled the defense stepped up
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10/17 | 7:30p | BTN | 3-4,1-3 | NR | 11t | 1 | #1 OHIO STATE (6-0,3-0) | L 22-27
Purdue was inspired with Romar Hurt scoring 3 TFL including a safety but couldn't get over the hump despite keeping Floyd Hyatt contained
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10/24 | 12p | BTN+ | 4-4,2-3 | NR | 16 | 18 | MIAMI (2-5) | W 27-21
The Boilers leaned on the ground attack but Ethdridge was efficient with his attempt as they withstood a late blistering Miami effort from QB Oates

11/7 | 7:30p | BTN | 5-4,3-3 | NR | 12t | 10t | @#22 Washington (5-3,3-3) | W 30-14
The Boilers came in to a game with a peer team having lost a close one in Seattle the previous year. Wallace and Garcia pound the Huskies and Purdue keeps its CFP hopes alive
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11/8 | 7:30p | NBC | 6-4,4-3 | 22 | 8t | 1t | #9 MICHIGAN STATE (7-2,5-1) | W 38-17
Jonathan Smith brought a classic MSU team into West Lafayette for a showdown. In a turonover prone game Purdue used a pick 6 from Lawrence Clements and a 73 yard strike from Ethridge to Paul Grant to dominatae
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11/15 | 3:30p | CBS | 6-5,4-4 | 16 | 6t | 11t | @#21 Illinois (6-4,3-4) | L 14-38
Stackhouse and Stephens ran wild on Purdue as Bert got his revenge
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11/22 | 3:30p | FS1 | 6-6,4-5 | 19 | 7t | 1t | @#5 Indiana (10-1,7-1) | L 13-23
The seeds of IU's Heisman run for Kahleb Roman, B1G co-leadership and CFP run were planted in denying Purdue a CFB bid with a home win in '24, with Purdue now in that position in '26 after Purdue got their shot at OSU and the CFP in '25. Roman iced it with a 77 yard bomb to Neal Ahrens to complete the greatest season in Indiana history and wrest control of the Bucket back
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12/28 | 8p | ESPN | 6-7,4-5 | NR | 9t | 3t | "Alamo Bowl
#24 TCU (9-3)" | L 22-36

[palmer006]

2026 National

Coaching Changes
Brian Newberry | Arizona State (Navy) |
Bryan Harsin | Arkansas (Unemployed) | Harsin leaps back to the SEC after just two seasons back in Boise, stunningly to all involved
Trent Bray | Auburn (Oregon State) | Bray leaving Oregon State repeated Jonathan Smith's exit 2 years prior despite the Beavers' solid seasons and the Beavers move to the ACC
Mike Shanahan III | Boston College (James Madison) | Two years keeping James Madison going led to a big job
Bobby Huack | California (Montana) |
Dan Lanning | Miss State (Oregon) | Lanning lands back on his feet with a coach who believes in him
Pat Narduzzi | Missouri (Pittsburgh) | Having struck out 'old' with Drinkowicz after a disastrous '24 and dissapointing '25, Mizzou went established
Matt Entz | Navy (North Dakota St) |
Jeff Lebby | Notre Dame (Miss State) | Two solid SEC seasons at 7-5 but more importantly dominant offenses left Lebby able to get the Notre Dame job after several players turned it down
Eric Morris | Oklahoma (North Texas) | Morris's CFP trip in '24 helps him grab the OU job
Ken Wilson | Oregon (Nevada) | Dan Lanning's fall was surprising and sudden and he landed as the DC at Miss State
Jim Leonard | Oregon State (DC Ark) |
Sam PIttman | Pittsburgh (Arkansas) | Constantly under pressure at Arkansas, Pittman looked for the escape hatch
Paul French | Stanford (Yale) |
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Recruiting
| 1 USC | | | | | | | SC's big recruiting class helped keep Lincoln Riley in the fold
2 Ohio State | Returning champs
3 Texas |
4 Purdue | Purdue is being called on the verge of becoming the next Clemson with their breakthrough
5 Tennessee | Josh Heupel has continued to grind. He didn't take the open Oklahoma job staying locked in at UT
6 Texas A&M |
7 Miami | Miami's B1G change was already paying recrutigng dividends
8 Nebraska | Nebraska dominated Texas in recruting as Rhule's machine got going
9 Georgia | It was a down year for SEC powers
10 LSU |
11 Alabama |
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Preseason
Bounceback seasons are expected from #6 Penn State (James Franklin on big hot seat), #7 LSU, #8 OU (new coach Eric Morris), #9 Notre Dame (new coach Jeff Lebby), #13 USC (Lincoln Riley on huge hot seat), and #15 Florida who's '24 CFP season saved Billy Napier's job

Last year's breakthroughs from UCLA, Purdue, South Carolina, and Iowa State are expected to conintue in this year's poll
Stalwarts Iowa, Florida State, Auburn, Maryland, Oregon, Colorado, Washington, and Nebraska fill in much of the rest of the top 25
Cincinnatti's momentum is growing and its a put up or shut up season for Scott Satterfield and the seasoned Bearcats.
North Texas slots in as again the most talented G6 team after stumbling down the stretch last year and allowing the MAC to claim their second CFP bid in two tries of the 12-team field
National semi-finalists Oklahoma State, having lost WR Corey Street and their QB who were both Heisman finalists, loses a lot of homegrown talent and does not appear in the preseason top 25
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Pre-SeasonHeisman Watch
- Drew Allar, QB, PSU, Sr
- Ray Martino, QB, Texas, Sr
- Kevin Concepcion, WR, NC State, Sr QB Allar, PSU
- Floyd Hyatt, QB, Ohio State, So QB Kimball, NW
- Paul Prater, WR, Ohio State, Sr QB Earl Martinez Baylor
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Week 0
[23]Iowa Sate { 42 } @ { 45 } BYU
QB Olivares led a last minute drive to set ISU on the wrong foot
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[9]Notre Dame { 24 } @ { 17 } [21]Colorado
A top 10 preseason ranking and matchup in Denver with Colorado against Prime was a huge load for new coach Jeff Lebby to carry. Miss State transfer QB Jeffrey Guy led the winning drive down 17-16, hitting WR Ryan Rice to unleash a new era of Irish football
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Miami { 7 } @ { 13 } [11]Florida State
Florida State's defense was loaded as ever under Norvell
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[18]Maryland { 17 } @ { 28 } [4]Ohio State
Heisman candidate Hyatt otssed a couple 1st quarter picks that helped Maryland race out to a 17-0 lead on a Saturday night but Hyatt was dominant the rest of the game
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Illinois { 24 } @ { 20 } [22]Washington
Bert and co. took a season opening Thursday night win in Seattle as new Washington QB Thigpen was great but Illinois road a balanced offense piloted by QB Samuel Scales to a win
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Week 1
Baylor { 33 } "@
(OT)" { 30 } [18]Auburn
New Baylor QB Earl Martinez looked sharp and hit TE Blake Kieth on a 24 yard corner ruote to win it in Bryant-Denney
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[12]UCLA { 0 } @ { 40 } [3]Georgia
In a game reminiscent of past early season marquees, Georgia trounced UCLA with many backups playing
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[23]Colorado (0-1) { 10 } @ { 14 } Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech gritted out the win with running and toughness
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Washington State { 9 } @ { 14 } [21]Washington (0-1)
A late interception by WSU's QB White sealed the win for the Huskies
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[1]Alabama { 33 } @ { 27 } West Virginia (1-0)
All eyes were in Morgantown as electric Terrance James hit two bombs early to put WVU up 14-0. Bama scored 23 straight to lead 23-14 midway through the 4th, but WVU kept battling and found a way to grind out 3 straight scoring drives to take a 27-23 lead. Bama QB Lionel Robibson, replacing last year's starter Packard, got the team moving again hitting Tim Buck for a 42 yard strike then helping ice the game on a field goal late
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[11]Notre Dame (1-0) { 16 } @ { 23 } Wisconsin (1-0)
Emmett Kuykendall's playatiction TD late sealed a huge win in a put up or shut up third year for Luke Fickell
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Abilene Christian upsets Texas Tech as Red Raider program continues to struggle
Ohio upsets Nebraska who was a B1G and CFP contender last season
Charlotte upsets Ole Miss as grumbling begins in Oxford
Rice upsets LSU as rumors begin that Brian Kelly may be washed up after the '24 title
UMass beats Rutgers who contended for the CFP last year
Brian Newberry drops a game to Bowling Green in his Arizona State debut
Likewise Mike Shanahan III is also dissapointed in a loss to Eastern Mich at home for Boston College
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Week 2
Iowa State (0-1) { 34 } @ { 35 } [15]Iowa (1-0)
Heisman finalest Travis Agee was back at Quarterback for ISU and it was another classic back and forth rivalry ended with Randle Dayson's late TD to Jams Segura on a 4th-and-goal from the 5 pass
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[10]Oklahoma (1-0) { 24 } @ { 10 } [7]Michigan (1-0)
OU with their new coach avenged a home loss to the Wolverines in '25 with a long drive and a pick 6 in the 4th as Eric Morris got to 2-0
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[3]Ohio State (2-0) { 42 } @ { 14 } [2]Texas (1-0)
Hyatt established himself as the clear #1 Heisman leader with a 28-44-437-6-1 evisceration of the Honrs
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Davidson stuns #18 South Carolina
Ohio makes inroads on a third straight MAC CFP bid with their second straight power 5 win at Syracuse
Duke takes down struggling Notre Dame
Delaware bursts onto the scene in their second transition year beating Temple
Southern Miss upsets Auburn, who fires Hugh Freeze
Wyoming upsets Kansas State as the program continues to stagnate after the loss of OC Colin Klien two years previous
Ole Miss upsets #15 USC
E Tennessee State takes down North Carolina. Mac Brown announces he will retire at season's end
Week 3
[12]Texas A&M (2-0) { 14 } @ { 52 } [23]Baylor (2-0)
QB Earl Martinez proved the Big XII wasn't dead in a dominating performance in JerryWorld, stunning Mike Elko's squad and putting Baylor as an early Big XII favorite
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[18]Missouri (2-0) { 7 } @ { 40 } [9]Illinois (3-0)
Experienced RB Stackhouse continued a day of doldrums for Mizzou as Bert's team got off to its best start in since '22
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Miami, OH (0-2) { 42 } @ { 25 } [17]Cincinnati (1-0)
In one of the more stunning upsets in the rivalries history, 0-2 Miami began to look like a CFP contender again (they made the field the year before) as QB Rogers was 16-26-295-4-0
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Buffalo (0-2) { 26 } @ { 27 } [8]Penn State (1-0)
Drew Allar hadd to rally a last minute drive to lead PSU to a tense home win sure to cost them in the polls
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Georgia Southern upsets Houston
In a barely upset, Connecticut takes down North Carolina
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Week 4


[17]Maryland (2-1) { 23 } @ { 48 } [13]Northwestern (3-0)
QB Kimball, having brought Northwestern back into national prominence under David Bruan, kicked his dark horse Heisman campaign into high gear with a 26-34-405-6-0 performance
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[6]Illinois (4-0) { 27 } @ { 21 } [18]UCLA (2-1)
QB Shaun Scales and an efficient Illini short passing attack had the Illini rolling like Bielema's Badger teams of old leading 27-7 late
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[1]Ohio State (4-0) { 20 } @ { 10 } USC (1-1)
Mark Sanchez's son Sean was benched at QB at halftime as OSU survived a rough performance from QB Hyatt
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[10]Penn State (2-0) { 34 } @ { 17 } [11]Iowa (3-0)
PSU RB McDonaugh rushed for a solid 111 as James Franklin's crew looked ready to reclaim the #3 B1G mantle
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West Virginia (3-1) { 41 } "@
(2OT)" { 38 } [24]]Utah (3-0)
Kyle Whittingham seemed to be losing his grip at Utah and an early season home loss to WVU despite a steady performance from QB James continued that trend
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Rutgers (2-1) { 30 } @ { 27 } [8]Wisconsin (3-0)
Fickell's put up or shut up tour hit a road block in the form of Rutgers RB Chad Hardwick. A playacton throw from longtime QB Daniel Thurman to WR David Adkins put Rutgers up 30-20 midway through the 4th and they held on from there
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Houston stuns Notre Dame in NRG week after their own loss to Georgia Southern
James Madison beats Virginia Tech at home
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Week 5
[6]Clemson (3-0) { 27 } @ { 10 } [9]Florida (3-0)
Clemson QB Grant burst them back into the scene in a showdown between two coaches under much scrutiny. Florida made the CFP in '24; Dabo is testing the limits of his national title goodwill after two straight .500 seasons
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[24]LSU (3-1) { 13 } @ { 8 } [12]Kentucky (4-0)
LSU's DE Garray got the safety to seal the win in Lexington
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[15]Texas (2-1) { 17 } @ { 14 } [8]Oklahoma (4-0)
Two bombs over the top by QB Ray Martino were enough to win a game with two of the most talented defenses in CFB
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[18]Wisconsin (3-1) { 37 } @ { 17 } [17]Oregon (3-1)
Two coaches on the hot seat collided in a raucous late afternoon in Autzen. Despite Oregon playing liek the Wisconsin of old and Coburn rushing for 144 yards, drives stalled at midfield and Wisconsin was hyper efficient in a big win Fickell win
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[11]Baylor (4-0) { 10 } @ { 55 } [19]UCF (3-0)
Fox took the opportunity to put Big Noon in Orlando for an unbeatens Big XII bash. Three players rushed for at least 60 yards in a Bonanza
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Nebraska (2-2) { 20 } @ { 16 } [13]Michigan (3-1)
Nebraska took advantage of great return play to stun Michigan with 13 unanswered points as Matt Rhule looked to stave off the grumbling in year 3 with many in the fanbase not wanting to exercise as much patience as the had with Scott Frost
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[22]Louisville (3-0) { 20 } @ { 39 } Washington State (2-2)
QB White performed admirably in an excited Palouse as Jeff Brohm's best squad since '23 went dwon
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East Carolina bests a struggling UNC program; Mack Brown agrees to retire at season' end at 0-4
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Week 6
[19]Floridaa (4-1) { 17 } vs { 12 } [3]Georgia (4-0)
Napier's bounceback seemed on track, picking off QB Gunderson twice and hanging on in the 4th
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[1]Ohio State (5-0) { 17 } @ { 9 } [16]Maryland (3-2)
Hyatt was quiet as Ohio State played ball control against and overmatched D
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[4]Penn State (4-0) { 0 } @ { 26 } [23]Michigan (3-2)
Yet another promising September met a brutal October reality as Michigan's offense played mistake free and Drew Allar couldn't move the ball all the sudden
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[7]Florida State (4-0) { 22 } @ { 8 } [25]Missisippi State (3-2)

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[14]Washington (3-1) { 3 } @ { 21 } [10]Northwestern (4-0)
Kimball struggled in the rain throwing 2 picks but WR Vu's 6-142-2 carried th Cats
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[20]Tennessee (4-1) { 14 } @ { 34 } Auburn (2-2)
Trent Bray got a signature early win behind WR Morales's 6-109 performance
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Oregon (3-2) { 18 } @ { 7 } [6]Illinois (5-0)
Lanning's defense put on a vintage perofrmance and Oregon's offense played ball control with WR Neal coming up with key catches to end the early momentum for Bilema's crew
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Kansas (3-2) { 23 } @ { 14 } [22]West Virginia (5-1)
The hype on Lance Leipold has quieted similar to Matt Campell but many took notice of his defense picking off Damien James 6 times in a big road win
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Tulsa fires Tom Herman
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Week 7
Unbeatens | | | #1 Ohio State, #2 Alabama, bounceback for #3 Clemson, Curt Cignetti the national story for #4 Indiana, #5 Northwestern with second straight season in limelight, bounceback for #6 Florida State, #8 UCF rewarded for sticking with coach, #22 TCU
1-loss | | | #7 Texas, #9 Wisconsin in do or die CFP year for FIckell, #10 Georgia, #11 Penn State in crucial year for Franklin, #12 Illinois, #13 Florida in a CFP-or-bust year for Napier, #16 Baylor, #17 Oklahoma, #18 Oregon State with new coach, #19 Oregon
2-loss | | | #14 Michigan, #15 UCLA, #21 Oregon coming off big wins
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Heisman Contenders
- Ray Martino, QB, Texas, Sr
- Floyd Hyatt, QB, Ohio State, So
- Kevin Concepcion, WR, NC State, Sr | Kimball, QB, Northwestern
| NR WR Johnny Vu, Northwestern
NR Earl Martinez, QB, Baylor
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[5]Northwestern (5-0) { 21 } @ { 40 } [4]Indiana (5-0)
Two underheraled programs with coaches coming into their own collided as Big Noon came to Bloomington for the first time. IU QB Roman and WR Cross eviscerated Northwestern and led them to the first 6-0 start in nearly 100 years
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[9]Wisconsin (5-1) { 20 } @ { 17 } [11]Penn State (4-1)
Veteran QBs Kuykendall and Allar battled it out with Allar coming to late life but unable to move the ball enough to win as a hundry Badger team under a warming seat with Fickell grabbed a key win
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[6]Florida State (5-0) { 28 } @ { 47 } [7]Texas (4-1)
Martino seized control of the Heisman race by carving up Norvell's defense
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[13]Florida (5-1) { 17 } @ { 24 } Arkansas (2-3)
Theodore Longira's late pick 6 led Arkansas and Bryan Harsin a stunning win
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[12]Illinois (5-1) { 10 } @ { 31 } Michigan State (4-2)
RB Ahmad Williford took over in the fourth with two TDs as MSU pulled away to hand the Illini a second straight loss
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Boston College (2-4) { 34 } @ { 27 } [18]Oregon State (6-1)
Eusebio Spencer led the late game winning drive in a stunner for BC in Corvallis

[14]Michigan (4-2) { 17 } @ { 24 } USC (2-3)
USC's Ellis made just enough plays as a season on the brink for Lincoln Riley continues
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[19]LSU (5-1) { 14 } @ { 37 } Virginia (2-3)
UVA QB McCoy scored a huge win for the program with a Brett Favre like 3TD 2 INT day
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[15]UCLA (4-2) { 0 } @ { 27 } Washington (3-2)
Schmid, who won the Heisman as a rookie, didn't put up big numbers but looked solid in a win
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Week 8
[10]Baylor (5-1) { 44 } @ { 38 } [20]BYU (5-2)
Earl Martinez and co stayed one step ahead in a big win for the Bears
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[2]Alabama (6-0) { 24 } @ { 16 } [4]Clemson (6-0)
Clemson was hopping for a gameday and seemed to be 'back' but Roderick Packard's 71 yard deep strike to Tandre Buck helped Bama get a solid win
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[6]Wisconsin (6-1) { 26 } @ { 24 } [11]Illinois (5-2)
Illinois trailed throughout only to put together two dominant drives from QB Lynn Blackburn with TE Jerry Torres getting two TD drives only for a charmed season to continue for the Badgers as Kukyendall and Wiscy's charmed season continued with a 1 minute drive to a 30 yard game winner from K Robert Moody
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[17]Oregon (5-2) { 31 } @ { 41 } [16]Michigan State (5-2)
Hall scored a couple garbage time TDs but QB Sander and RB Williford led a very balanced offense for Jonathan smith's crew
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[14]TCU (5-0) { 10 } @ { 27 } [8]UCF (6-0)
The talent all over the field shone in the biggest unbeaten showdown in the post OU-TX era for the Big XII for UCF as a true national spotlight team for Malzhan and co
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UCLA (4-3) { 23 } @ { 20 } [1]Ohio State (7-0)
QB Roper led UCLA on an epic fourth quarter comeback out of nowhere in the Horseshoe, hitting Maynard Andrade for the game winning strike. After the game Chip Kelly was given an extension
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Sacramento State upsets Cal
Incarnate Word beats SMU
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Week 9
[17] Ole Miss (5-2) { 20 } @ (OT) { 23 } [10]Clemson (6-1)
John Beasley and Demarcus Beaver unleashed a powerful running attack as Clemson's revival topped Ole Miss's potential one (the Rebels had struggled thus far in the expanded SEC)
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[8]Oklahoma (6-1)' { 7 } @ { 39 } [16]Florida (6-2)
The Swamp was not kind to Eric Morris's crew as successful as they'd been to date
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[22]Auburn (5-2) { 13 } @ { 14 } [14]Florida State (6-1)

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[15]Washington (5-2) { 7 } @ { 27 } [13]Michigan State (6-2)
MSU's streak of solid Williford running games and defense continued in another gritty B1G win
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[23]Maryland (4-4) { 10 } @ { 14 } [18]UCLA (5-3)
The extension for Kelly paid off
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[7]UCF (7-0) { 37 } "@
(OT)" { 38 } Colorado (4-3)
Gill performed admirably but Price and Colorado kept up...a missed XP in OT made the difference as the Big XII lost its best hope at an at large bid
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[5]Wisconsin (7-1) { 21 } @ { 42 } Miami (2-6)
With perhaps his job on the line Mario Cristoball delivered a massive win against a coach under similar pressure up to this point having that bounceback season, with QB Oates rifling three TD drives in the fourth to ice it
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[2]Indiana (7-0) { 21 } @ { 41 } [9]Penn State (5-2)
Drew Allar carved up a Hoosier offense that seemed overmatched in a white out crowd with IU's highest ranking ever
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Week 10
Initial CFP Rankings |
1 Alabama Crimson Tide (8-0) | SEC co-L | Georgia already has a loss but the Tide and Dawgs appear to be on a collision course once again
2 Ohio State Buckeyes (7-1) | B1G co-L |
3 Georgia Bulldogs (7-1) | SEC -1 |
4 Texas Longhorns (6-1) | SEC co-L |
5 Penn State Nittany Lions (6-2) | |
6 Clemson Tigers (7-1) | SEC -1 |
7 Indiana Hoosiers (7-1) | B1G co-L |
8 Wisconsin Badgers (7-2) | |
9 Florida State Seminoles (7-1) | SEC -1 |
10 Michigan State Spartans (7-2) | B1G co-L |
11 Florida Gators (7-2) | SEC -1 |
12 Baylor Bears (7-1) | XII co-L | The Bears loss has significantly weakened the Big XII's at large chances after may hoped they'd be better
13 Northwestern Wildcats (7-1) | B1G co-L |
14 Oklahoma Sooners (6-2) | |
15 UCLA Bruins (6-3) | |
16 UCF Knights (7-1) | XII co-L |
17 Illinois Fighting Illini (6-3) | |
18 Arizona Wildcats (7-1) | XII co-L |
19 Michigan Wolverines (5-4) | |
20 Duke Blue Devils (6-2) | ACC co-L |
21 Ole Miss Rebels (5-3) | |
22 Washington Huskies (5-3) | |
24 North Carolina State Wolfpack (7-2) | ACC co-L |
25 Colorado Buffaloes (5-3) | XII co-L |
Virginia Tech (5-3) | ACC -1 |
Auburn (5-3) SEC -1 | The Tigers have looked shaky but still control their own SECCG destiny
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Heisman Race heading into stretch
1 Ray Martino, QB, Texas, Sr | Martino's heroics and poise have him in the drivers' seat
2 Floyd Hyatt, QB, Ohio State, So | It's a two-man race between Hyatt and Martino down the stretch
3 Kimball, QB, Northwestern |
4 QB Packard, Bama | Packard's steady play has him as a fallback option especially if Bama goes unbeaten
5 Earl Martinez, QB, Baylor | The embarrsing loss hurts Martinez greatly
Dropped Out:
WR Johnny Vu, Northwestern
Kevin Concepcion, WR, NC State, Sr
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[11]Florida (7-2) { 10 } @ { 16 } [1]Alabama (8-0)
Packard had an efficient but low scoring day in a rainy afternoon at Bryant-Denny
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[6]Clemson (7-1) { 10 } @ { 23 } [9]Florida State (7-1)
FSU's defense got a big old ACC rivalry win to leave them in the thick of the SEC race
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[2]Ohio State (7-1) { 24 } @ { 10 } [8]Wisconsin (7-2)
Wisconsin struggled to move the ball against Jim Knowles and OSU pulled away late with a Hyatt deep ball to Paul Prater
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[12]Baylor (7-1) { 24 } @ { 31 } Arizona State (3-5)
Two late TD drives stunned Kimble and Martinez having a great day to stun Baylor
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[14]Oklahoma (6-2) { 3 } @ { 26 } LSU (5-3)
LSU's defense was epic which helped the Tigers back into the CFP race
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[18]Arizona (7-1) { 3 } @ { 28 } Texas Tech (1-7)
Tech stunned Arizona in a shocking result
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Nebraska (4-4) { 29 } @ { 19 } [15]UCLA (6-3)
QB Latimer led two late drives for an embattled Nebraska program to beat embattled coach Kelly
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Week 11
1 - Alabama Crimson Tide (9-0) | SEC co-L |
2 - Ohio State Buckeyes (8-1) | B1G co-L |
3 - Georgia Bulldogs (8-1) | SEC -1 |
4 - Texas Longhorns (7-1) | SEC co-L |
5 - Indiana Hoosiers (8-1) | B1G co-L |
6 2 Penn State Nittany Lions (7-2) | |
7 -1 Florida State Seminoles (8-1) | SEC -1 |
8 2 Northwestern Wildcats (8-1) | B1G co-L |
9 5 Michigan State Spartans (7-2) | B1G co-L |
10 1 Clemson Tigers (7-2) | |
11 -4 Baylor Bears (7-2) | |
12 1 UCF Knights (7-1) | XII co-L |
13 4 Wisconsin Badgers (7-3) | |
14 -5 Illinois Fighting Illini (6-3) | |
15 3 UCLA Bruins (6-4) | |
16 - Florida Gators (7-3) | |
17 -5 Duke Blue Devils (7-2) | ACC co-L | Duke stays atop the conference despite dropping in the ranks
18 3 Oklahoma Sooners (6-3) | |
19 -4 Michigan Wolverines (5-4) | |
20 - Arizona Wildcats (7-2) | |
21 -2 Colorado Buffaloes (6-3) | XII co-L | Despite the loss the Buffs still were a co-leader in the Big XII
22 NR Purdue Boilermakers (5-4) | |
23 NR Army Black Knights (8-2) | | Army emerged as the leader in the G6 clubhouse
24 NR Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-4) | |
Virginia Tech (6-3) | ACC co-L | Still with no CFP top 25 love the Hokies and Wolfpack are on track for a title
NC State (7-2) | ACC co-L |
Auburn (6-3) | SEC co-L |
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Heisman Race heading into stretch
1 - Ray Martino, QB, Texas, Sr |
2 - Floyd Hyatt, QB, Ohio State, So |
3 - Gino Kimball, QB, Northwestern |
4 - QB Packard, Bama |
5 NR WR Johnny Vu, Northwestern |
Dropped Out:
Earl Martinez, QB, Baylor

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[10]Clemson (7-2) { 0 } @ { 50 } [3]Georgia (8-1)
UGA's dominant win put Clemson back in their place
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[8]Northwestern (8-1) { 14 } @ { 29 } [2]Ohio State (8-1)
It would be an elimination game for the B1G championship in Columbus. Kimball put up a good fight but Hyatt was patient, relying on his running game and grinding out a win
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Iowa State (4-4) { 35 } @ { 32 } [11]Baylor (7-2)
Baylor lost any hope of the CFP or Big XII title with a devestating home loss. Mitchell Hicks hit Greg Bedford on a 30 yard TD in the waning moments
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[17]Duke (7-2) { 6 } @ { 26 } Louisville (7-2)
QB Scarbrough did just enough and Louisville's D was dominant to make the ACC race wide open
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[14]Illinois (6-3) { 14 } @ { 28 } Minnesota (2-7)
WR Guy's two fourth quarter TDS helped the Gophers stunn Bert and his best CFP chance yet
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[7]Florida State (8-1) { 10 } @ { 13 } South Carolina (6-3)
Shane Beamer's team came back from the dead on a last minute drive by QB Crosby
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Week 12
1 - Alabama Crimson Tide (10-0) | W10 | SEC co-L |
2 - Ohio State Buckeyes (9-1) | W2 | B1G co-L |
3 - Georgia Bulldogs (9-1) | W5 | SEC -1 | Georgia remained 1 off the pace in an SECCG shaping up to be Texas-Alabama but positioned for a bye
4 - Texas Longhorns (8-1) | W7 | SEC co-L |
5 1 Penn State Nittany Lions (8-2) | W4 | B1G -1 |
6 -1 Indiana Hoosiers (9-1) | W2 | B1G co-L | IU needed only to win out to assure a CFP bid and get to its first B1G title game
7 1 Northwestern Wildcats (8-2) | L1 | B1G -1 |
8 -1 Florida State Seminoles (8-2) | L1 | | FSU's loss to South Carolina dropped them surprisingly little
9 3 UCF Knights (8-1) | W1 | XII co-L | The Knights hope to win out, make the Big XII championship, and then possibly afford a loss. A loss now could allow BYU to jump them and cost an at large bid
10 6 Florida Gators (8-3) | W1 | | The Gators are fending offa hornets nest: Michigan, OU, Clemson, and Wisconsin for the final spot at the moment
11 8 Michigan Wolverines (6-4) | W2 | |
12 6 Oklahoma Sooners (7-3) | W1 | |
13 -3 Clemson Tigers (7-3) | L2 | |
14 -1 Wisconsin Badgers (7-3) | L2 | |
15 - UCLA Bruins (6-4) | L1 | |
16 6 Purdue Boilermakers (6-4) | W3 | | With #21 Illinois and #6 Indiana on the schedule Purdue is primed for an at large bid run
17 -8 Michigan State Spartans (7-3) | L1 | B1G -1 | Purdue knocked the Spartans off the B1G pace and left them needing to win out and hope to make the CFP
18 3 Colorado Buffaloes (7-3) | W6 | Clinched | It doesn't seem like the Buffs have an at large chance so arguably they should rest starters ahead of the XII championship
19 -8 Baylor Bears (7-3) | L2 | |
20 7 Louisville Cardinals (8-2) | W4 | ACC co-L |
21 -7 Illinois Fighting Illini (6-4) | L1 | |
22 NR BYU Cougars (7-3) | W2 | XII -1 |
23 NR Ole Miss Rebels (6-4) | W1 | |
24 NR Iowa Hawkeyes (6-4) | W2 | |
25 NR South Carolina Gamecocks (7-3) | W3 | |
Dropped Out: | | |
Duke Blue Devils (7-3) | | ACC co-L |
Arizona Wildcats (7-3) | | |
Army Black Knights (8-3) | | | Army fell off the pace as the G5 of choice
Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-5) | | |
Other:
Oregon State Beavers | 8 3 | ACC co-L | The ACC has turned into a complete logjam of 2-loss teams
Boston College Eagles | 6 4 | ACC co-L |
North Carolina State Wolfpack | 7 3 | ACC co-L |
Virginia Tech Hokies | 6 4 | ACC co-L |
Washington State Cougars | 7 3 | ACC co-L |
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Heisman Race
1 - Ray Martino, QB, Texas, Sr | As long as the 4 teams of the top players keep winning and no one stands out, the order remains the same. Army's Franklin Roberts at QB had some whisperings but the Knights loss paralyzed his hops
2 - Floyd Hyatt, QB, Ohio State, So |
3 - Gino Kimball, QB, Northwestern |
4 - QB Packard, Bama |
5 - WR Johnny Vu, Northwestern |
Dropped Out:
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[9]UCF (8-1) { 17 } @ { 21 } Kansas (4-6)
A brilliant 4th quarter kept KU in the bowl hunt and destroyed the Big XII's at large hopes
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[19]Baylor (7-3) { 30 } @ { 37 } Houston (5-5)
Baylor's season crash continued with a key loss to Houston
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[1]Alabama (10-0) { 17 } @ { 27 } LSU (6-4)
Nicholas Knox hit Freddie Ogle on a 51 yard bomb to put LSU up 13-10, then two Packard picks crippled the Tide including a Robert Garay 26 yard pick 6 as LSU hopes they can climb back into the CFP
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[6]Indiana (9-1) { 24 } @ { 23 } Nebraska (6-4)
IU QB Khaleb Roman had his Heisman moment, leading IU back from 23-3 down with two 80 yard bombs to WR Kirk Cross and then a game winning TD drive
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[20]Louisville (8-2) { 10 } @ { 21 } NC State (7-3)
It was a whirlwind week in the ACC race with last year's particpant NC State facing off with a '23 title game participant. The Cards' offense was shut down for a second straight week as the ACC race slipped out of their hands
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Tennessee (5-5) { 47 } @ (3OT) { 44 } [12]Oklahoma (7-3)
The Sooners were in prime position to get in by winning out, but lost a wild 3 OT game as QB Donald Starling and Tennessee got bowl eligible
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USC (4-6) { 17 } @ { 14 } [15]UCLA (6-4)
A win that would go a long way toward's Lincoln Riley's surprising stay for one more year also was a death knoll for Chip Kelly who was fired after the loss spelled doom for UCLA's hopes at a first CFP appearance
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[14]Wisconsin (7-3) { 3 } @ { 37 } [24]Iowa (6-4)
Wisconsin had a great chance to get in by winning out while rival Iowa would largely play spoiler. Iowa's ground game knocked Fickell out of the CFP and nearly cost him his job though the Badgers ended up showing patience
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[17]Michigan State (7-3) { 19 } @ { 43 } [11]Michigan (6-4)
MSU-Michigan was a CFP play-in game making for a raucous atmosphere. Michigan instead pounded little brother right out of the playoff and put themselves in good position coming up on The Game
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[13]Clemson (7-3) { 13 } @ { 41 } [4]Texas (9-1)
This was Clemson's chance to get into the CFP on the road after two straight losses, playing against UT's Heisman frontrunning QB. Instead Martino put some polish on the award and Clemson sunk back closer to where they've been
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Pitt stuns Boston College at home to knock Eagles out of ACC running
Georgia Tech's Fitzsimmons helps them roll over Virginia Tech to eliminate Hokies from ACC title race
Wake Forest gets bowl eligible as Diaz and Duke lose another one and end their ACC hopes
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Week 13
1 Ohio State Buckeyes (10-1) 1 L1 | B1G co-L |
2 Georgia Bulldogs (10-1) 1 W3 | SEC -1 | The SEC is a three horse race between shoe-ins
3 Texas Longhorns (9-1) 1 W6 | SEC-Ldr |
4 Alabama Crimson Tide (10-1) -3 W8 | SEC -1 |
5 Indiana Hoosiers (10-1) - W5 | B1G co-L |
6 Penn State Nittany Lions (9-2) - W3 | B1G -1 | Northwestern and PSU both look for a win + an OSU or IU loss to get into the B1G title
7 Northwestern Wildcats (9-2) 1 W1 | B1G -1 | Northwestern and PSU both look for a win + an OSU or IU loss to get into the B1G title
8 Florida State Seminoles (9-2) -1 W1 | | FSU-Florida may be a play-in game
9 Florida Gators (8-3) 7 L1 | |
10 UCF Knights (8-2) -1 W1 | XII co-L | The chaos in the Big XII left UCF still alive in the race with their ranking surprisingly holding up
11 Michigan Wolverines (7-4) - W3 | | Michigan probably will drop with a loss and faces a msut-win vs OSU to get in
12 Illinois Fighting Illini (7-4) 9 W1 | | An Illini win over Northwestern offers no gurantees but a chance
13 Ole Miss Rebels (7-4) 10 W2 | | Ole Miss needs chaos and a big win
14 Iowa Hawkeyes (7-4) 10 W3 | | Iowa is likely locked just outside the field yet again
15 Oklahoma Sooners (7-4) -3 L | | OU is hoping brand recognition and a dominant closing win can sneak them in but appears to have no good argument to get in the field
16 Clemson Tigers (7-4) -3 L | |
17 Wisconsin Badgers (7-4) -3 L | |
18 UCLA Bruins (6-5) -3 L2 | |
19 Purdue Boilermakers (6-5) -3 L1 | |
20 Michigan State Spartans (7-4) -3 L2 | |
21 Colorado Buffaloes (7-4) -3 L1 | XII co-L |
22 BYU Cougars (8-3) - W3 | XII co-L |
23 Baylor Bears (7-4) -4 L3 | |
24 Louisville Cardinals (8-3) -4 L1 | |
25 South Carolina Gamecocks (8-3) - W4 | |
Dropped Out: | |
None | |



Conference Races: | |
Oregon State Beavers | ACC co-L |
North Carolina State Wolfpack | ACC co-L | NC State is in with a win to play Oregon State or Washington State while a loss throws it open to the loser of that game, State, Duke, and Louisville depending on results
Washington State Cougars | ACC co-L |
Dropped out of Conference Races: | |
Boston College Eagles | |
Virginia Tech Hokies

8-2 Army, 9-2 Temple, 9-2 Utah State, and 9-2 San Jose State lead the way as the MWC and American jostle for positioning with none ranked, leading to much mystery but an assumption the American will get the nod
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Heisman Race
1 - Ray Martino, QB, Texas, Sr |
2 - Floyd Hyatt, QB, Ohio State, So |
3 NR Kahleb Roman, QB, Indiana, Sr | With awards going to end of season, Roman, who saved the day for IU in week 12, will have plenty of opportunity to play his way to the Heisman
4 -1 Gino Kimball, QB, Northwestern |
5 - WR Johnny Vu, Northwestern |

Dropped Out:
QB Packard, Bama An abysmal performance of 4 INTs in the
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[24]Iowa (7-4) { 16 } @ { 17 } Nebraka (6-5)
The win kept some momentum going for Ruhl's program as Latimer led the Huskers on a game winning drive
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[4]Texas (10-1) { 45 } @ { 38 } Texas A&M (6-5)
Martino put his stamp on the Heisman and in keeping Texas's bye hopes alive with three straight scoring drives to end the game, hitting Karl Harr and Francis Berry on strikes before Berunde Escalante's 50 yard game winnind TD run in a raucous atmosphere
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[25]South Carolina (8-3) { 29 } @ { 24 } [13]Clemson (7-4)
Clemson played keep away late and now awaited their CFP fate
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Texas Tech (2-9) { 28 } @ { 41 } [18]Colorado (7-4)
Colorado WR Eldgridge's 7-153-2 took car of what Colorado could take care of as they awaited results from UCF and BYU to see if they'd make the XII title game
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[10]Florida (8-3) { 7 } @ { 37 } [8]Florida State (9-2)
FSU enjoyed waxing UF with a huge blowout. Napier's ranked season and '24 CFP appearance helped him hang on for one more year
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[9]UCF (9-2) { 27 } @ { 21 } Houston (6-5)
QB Gill and UCF withstood a late rally from Houston to stay alive for the title game
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[5]Penn State (9-2) { 24 } @ { 3 } [17]Michigan State (7-4)
Indiana's win kept them out of the title game, but a solid win gave PSU a claim for a bye while it eliminated the feint CFP hopes of Smith's MSU
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[12]Oklahoma (7-4) { 27 } @ { 14 } Missouri (7-4)
Reynolds had a solid day and kept OU in the mix for the CFP
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[24]Illinois (7-4) { 16 } @ { 31 } [7]Northwestern (9-2)
It was RB Burkholder, not fringe Heisman candidates Kimball and Vu, who was dominant against a solid Illinois team giving David Braun two CFP bids in 3 12-team seasons
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[11]Michigan (7-4) { 20 } @ { 28 } [2]Ohio State (10-1)
Hyatt turned it on late as Ohio State punched its ticket to the CFP and had the added satisfaction of eliminating Michigan
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[22]BYU (8-3) { 18 } @ { 15 } Utah (6-5)
BYU saved a late rally in the snow to put things down to the tiebreak in the Big XII
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NC State (8-3) { 10 } @ { 34 } Duke (7-4)
Kevin Conception tried to carry State but couldn't, with Duke capturing the victory and a chance at the ACC title game
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Oregon State (8-3) { 17 } @ { 27 } Washington State (8-3)
The Palouse home advantage was key in a 27-17 win with WSU's White with a game for the ages as RB Spalding continued the running tradition at OSU with 107 yards
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Rival San Diego State upsets San JOse State while Utah State beats Boise, giving SOS advantage to AAC teams
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Champ Week
1 - Ohio State Buckeyes (11-1) W4 | B1G CG |
2 1 Texas Longhorns (11-1) W9 | SEC CG |
3 -1 Georgia Bulldogs (11-1) W7 | Atl-1 |
4 - Alabama Crimson Tide (11-1) W1 | SEC CG |
5 1 Penn State Nittany Lions (10-2) W6 | Atl-3 |
6 -1 Indiana Hoosiers (11-1) W4 | B1G CG | The two big title games are just for seeding with the 9 Power 2 playoff participants already known, or so IU hopes
7 1 Florida State Seminoles (10-2) W2 | Atl-5 |
8 -1 Northwestern Wildcats (10-2) W2 | Atl-6 |
9 7 Clemson Tigers (8-4) W1 | Atl-7 |
10 1 Oklahoma Sooners (8-4) W1 | Bubble | OU has to hope Indiana somehow sinks past it with a loss which is unlikely
11 11 BYU Cougars (9-3) W4 | XII CG |
12 5 Wisconsin Badgers (8-4) W1 | |
13 - Ole Miss Rebels (8-4) W3 | |
14 -5 Florida Gators (8-4) L1 | |
15 NR LSU Tigers (8-4) W2 | |
16 -5 Michigan Wolverines (7-5) L1 | |
17 -7 UCF Knights (9-3) L1 | |
18 NR Iowa State Cyclones (8-4) W5 | |
19 NR Washington State Cougars (9-3) W6 | ACC CG |
20 NR Arizona Wildcats (9-3) W2 | |
21 NR Army Black Knights (10-2) W6 | A CG |
22 NR Temple Owls (10-2) W9 | A CG |
23 -2 Colorado Buffaloes (8-4) W1 | XII CG |
24 NR Utah State Aggies (10-2) W5 | MWC CG | USU seems locked out of the title as San Jose State's earlier loss ensured the American finalists passed both of them up in the pecking order
25 NR TCU Horned Frogs (9-3) W4 | |
NR Duke (8-4) | ACC CG |
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Heisman Race | It was the first season in which the awards would happen after the postseason
1 - Ray Martino, QB, Texas, Sr | Martino had a lockhold on the Heisman heading down the stretch
2 - Floyd Hyatt, QB, Ohio State, So |
3 - Kahleb Roman, QB, Indiana, Sr |
4 - Gino Kimball, QB, Northwestern |
5 - WR Johnny Vu, Northwestern |
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[23]Colorado (8-4) { 33 } @ { 27 } [11]BYU (9-3)
Colorado's Robert Price put some space between his team and BYU with a 71 yard strike to Jose Garrison giving Prime his first Big XII title
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[4]Alabama (11-1) { 28 } @ { 21 } [2]Texas (11-1)
Despite a great game from Ray Martino it was Rockrick Packard hitting up two TDs in the last 3 minutes to lead Bama back for a stunning win
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[22]Temple (10-2) { 28 } @ { 13 } [21]Army (9-2)
Temple RB Paul Rhodes iced the Owls greatest ever football moment by punching in the icing TD
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Duke (8-4) { 7 } @ { 36 } [19]Washington State (9-3)
WSU left no doubt about an ACC CHampion (if it was Duke) getting jumped by Utah State with a dominant performance
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[1]Ohio State (11-1) { 7 } @ { 20 } [6]Indiana (11-1)
Hyatt threw two late picks as IU's wunderkind DC led them to their first ever outright B1G title and first of any kind since 1968 in a court storming moment for the squad
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Final CFP
1 3 Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1) | SEC Champ | #1 Seed, Bye
2 4 Indiana Hoosiers (12-1) | B1G Champ | #2 Seed, Bye
3 - Georgia Bulldogs (11-1) | At Large 1 | #3 Seed, Bye
4 -3 Ohio State Buckeyes (11-2) | At Large 2 | #4 Seed, Bye | OSU hangs onto a bye despite loss
5 - Penn State Nittany Lions (10-2) | At Large 3 | 5-seed vs 12-seed Colorado
6 -4 Texas Longhorns (10-2) | At Large 4 | 6-seed vs 11-seed Temple | Texas's punishment for losing to Bama is to fall to hosting a dangerous Temple team in round 1
7 - Florida State Seminoles (10-2) | At Large 5 | 7-seed vs 10-seed Clemson | Hosting old conference foe
8 - Northwestern Wildcats (10-2) | At Large 6 | 8-seed vs 9-seed WSU | Two underheralded programs to square off
9 10 Washington State Cougars (10-3) | ACC Champ | 9-seed @ 8-seed NW
10 -1 Clemson Tigers (8-4) | Last Team In | 10-seed @ 7-seed FSU
11 -1 Oklahoma Sooners (8-4) | First Team Out | Sugar vs #18 Utah State | Left out of playoff as expected in dissapointing end to promising season for Eric Morris's team
12 10 Temple Owls (11-2) | AAC Champ | 11-seed '@ 6-seed Temple
13 - Ole Miss Rebels (8-4) | | Orange vs Nebraska (7-5)
14 -2 Wisconsin Badgers (8-4) | | Rose vs #22 BYU is a good selling point for the season for Fickell
15 8 Colorado Buffaloes (9-4) | XII Champ | 12-seed @ 5-seed PSU | Deion gets his shot against beatable PSU team
16 -2 Florida Gators (8-4) | | Cotton vs #19 Michigan
17 -2 LSU Tigers (8-4) | | Fiesta vs Louisville (8-4)
18 6 Utah State Aggies (11-2) | | Sugar vs #11 Oklahoma was a nice consolation prize for missing the CFP
19 -3 Michigan Wolverines (7-5) | | Cotton vs #16 Florida
20 -3 UCF Knights (9-3) | | Holiday vs Duke (8-5)
21 -3 Iowa State Cyclones (8-4) | | Pinstripe vs Georgia Tech (7-5)
22 -11 BYU Cougars (9-4) | | Rose vs #14 Wisconsin
23 -3 Arizona Wildcats (9-3) | | Peach vs #25 Illinois
24 1 TCU Horned Frogs (9-3) | | Alamo vs Purdue (6-6)
25 NR Illinois Fighting Illini (7-5) | | Peach vs #23 Arizona
Dropped Out:
Army Black Knights (10-2) Gasparilla vs Pitt (6-6)
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[palmer006]

1st Round
[12]Temple (11-2) { 34 } "@
(OT)" { 37 } [6]Texas (11-2)
The CFP kicked off the post-bowl era in Austin . Vastly outgained, Temple used guile, a pick-6 and a KR-TD to stay in the game and force Texas to comeback from 31-20 down with 4 minutes to play to force OT, where UT made quick work of them in 5 plays - a 3-oand-out field goal and then Martino hitting Francis Berry on a 25 yard post corner that caused the stadium to erupt
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[9]Washington State (10-3) { 38 } @ { 28 } [8]Northwestern (10-2)
Northwestern's playoff heartache continued on an early 11am local kick as WSU's QB White was 25-36-353-3-0 near flawless in taking over late scoring a big win for the ACC
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[15]Colorado (9-4) { 41 } @ { 27 } [5]Penn State (10-2)
PSU seemed in control up 20-13 on a Ryan Furr run midway through the 3rd when QB Price and RB Fidler took over with 3 TD drives sandwiching a 43 yard pick 6 by do-everything corner WIllie Hale as Prime strutted into the second round on the second straight "Next 2" takedown of a B1G program on the road
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[10]Clemson (8-4) { 16 } @ { 29 } [7]Florida State (10-2)
It was a similar result to game 1 with FSU RB Hildreth grinding out results in front of the home crowd
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2nd Round
[9]Washington State (11-3) { 0 } @ { 37 } [1]Alabama (12-1)
Bama took care of business looking to get Saban his first title in 7 years
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[7]Florida State (11-2) { 23 } @ { 16 } [2]Indiana (12-1)
Despite IU's best year in school history and win over OSU FSU was favored by 2 on the road. IU barely led most of the way but the tension was palpalbe as Will Beckman led FSU to the game tying score and IU imploded, losing two fumbles and a pick down the stretch as Beckman hit Rodrigo Sloan on 3rd and goal from the 1 to deliver FSU their expected TD and break Hoosier hearts despite the best season in program history
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[15]Colorado (10-4) { 3 } @ { 31 } [4]Ohio State (11-2)
Gameday was in Columbus with an OSU team looking vulnerable in its two losses hosting the latest iteration of the Colorado train with CB Willie Hale, QB Price, and co. An upset was not to be as Hyatt got OSU up 17-0 on three scoring drives and the Bucks sat on the ball with RB Kelly from there
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[6]Texas (12-2) { 29 } @ { 22 } [3]Georgia (11-1)
Georgia seemingly got a home playoff game out of not having to play Alabama with Heisman frontrunner Ray Martino coming to town. Texas proved themselves the better team and Martino seemed a Heisman shoe-in with yeat another 4th quarter comeback from down 22-14, hitting favorite target Francis Berry and then leading the team all the way down the field for the winning score in hostile territory
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Semi-Finals
[4]Ohio State (12-2) { 13 } @ { 34 } [1]Alabama (13-1)
Doubted all year, Ohio State came to Tuscaloosa on a Friday night seeking a second straight national title for Ryan Day in a rematch of last year's national championship game against a determined Tide team seeking to end Saban's longest title drought at Alabama. Hyatt threw three picks and lost any hope at the Heisman and while Bama's Robinson was only serviceable at QB it was Bama's night at Bryant-Denny
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[7]Florida State (12-2) { 19 } @ { 24 } [6]Texas (13-2)
Texas got a somewhat unexpected second home game against a plucky FSU team that was a TD underdog. Beckman and Florida State put up a fight, answering UT's opening TD drive with two field goal drives before going down 17-6 at half. Mark Duffy's 55 yard PR-TD got FSU within 17-12 which was followed by Javier Groce's 101yd KR-TD. FSU answered later in the third with a TD drive to pull within 24-19 but a pick and difficulty moving the ball helped Texas hold on
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National Championship
[6]Texas (14-2) { 10 } vs { 30 } [1]Alabama (14-1)
Texas proved the doubters wrong beating Georgia on the road then FSU at home to earn a rematch against Bama for all the marbles. Bama was not about to be denied this time as Nick Saban went off into the sunset, retiring with a title
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Awards
Heisman:
1 - Ray Martino, QB, Texas, So | *Winner* | Despite the loss to Bama in the title game Martino came up clutch with several 4th quarter comebacks and a national title game run
2 - Floyd Hyatt, QB, Ohio State, So | Hyatt was a distant number 2 to Martino given his late struggles
3 NR Mark Sousa, RB Temple | Sousa's performance in the OT loss to eventual runner-up Texas made a mark and he was invited to New York
4 -1 Kahleb Roman, QB, Indiana, Sr | Roman struggled mightily in the Hoosiers CFP loss to Florida State but still became the second Hoosier player ever to go to New York


Previously discussed, not invited:
4 - Gino Kimball, QB, Northwestern |
5 - WR Johnny Vu, Northwestern |

Other Awards:
Nagurski, Lomardi | Robert Johns, DE, Alabama, Jr
Walker | Mark Sousa, RB, Temple, r-Sr
Biletnikoff | Johnny Vu, WR, Northwestern
Moore | James Frye, T, Texas, r-Jr
Butkus | Amulfo Valdez, LB, UAB, Jr
Thorpe | Willie Hale, CB, Colorado, r-Jr
Alabama's Donald Norway and Miguel Garza sweep Groza and Guy awards

[palmer006]

2027 Purdue Football
Walters fires Graham Herrell, hires Sean Lewis, former Colorado OC and HC at Kent State and SDSU, also revamps vaunted defense
Recruiting: Purdue gets big time CB Lance Klinger with loads of DB talent, lands #7 class, highest in Purdue history
Camp: DT Willie Cloutier looks dominant. QB Charles Bentley, who redshirted after starting two years, wins the job over sohomore Ethridge and freshman Peter Crockett
Date | Time | TV | Record | Rank | Cnf Rk | Opp Cnf | Opponent | Result

9/4 | 3:30p | BTN | 1-0 | #7 | N/A | N/A | BUTLER | W 52-7
Excitement had hardly been higher for a Boilermaker season with Shaun Lewis, plus Bentley and Cloutier looking like studs. The Boilers were as good as advertized shredding Butler
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9/11 | 3:30p | BTN | 2-0 | #7 | N/A | N/A | ARIZONA (1-0) | W 24-21
Purdue led 14-6 at half on the stregnth of a couple Bentley drives but Teair Callendar got going in the third with two TD drives to put AZ in control. Bentley was hurt and last year's starter Paul Ehteridge led Purdue to a larte score then the game winning field goal in a thriller in West Lafayette
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9/18 | 2:30p | NBC | 3-0 | #6 | N/A | N/A | @Notre Dame (1-2) | W 23-12
Lebby's Irish team was coming off a loss to Navy and had a chance to score a high profile win on the Boilers at home. Bentley stepped back in and was perfectly accurate as Purdue rode Cabreara and shut down Nance and the Irish offense
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9/25 | 12p | Pea | 4-0,1-0 | #6 | N/A | N/A | RUTGERS (1-2) | W 31-0
Rutgers knocked on the door of the CFP in '24 and a bit in '25 but dissapeared in '26 and were struggling, putting Greg Schiano's job on the line. Cabrera and Wallace ran wild in their third year as a duo as Bentley and Purdue cruised another week
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10/2 | 12p | Fox | 4-1,1-1 | #4 | 1t | 1t | @#6 USC (3-0,1-0) | L 7-21
A massive top six showdown at the Coliseum on Fox was being billed as Lincoln Riley's come up. Four fumbles were back breaking on ending drives as Ellis made plays in the 4th to ice it
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10/11 | 3:30p | CBS | 5-1,2-1 | #12 | 5t | 5t | #21 UCLA (4-1) | W 23-17
A 93 yard punt return from Benjamin Smith was answered by UCLA's Vernon Davidson's 100 yard KR-TD. The defenses settled in after that with both Bentley and Ethdridge playing for Purdue and Roper giving way to Larson for UCLA but Bentley found Greg Sandberg to put Purdue up 17-10 midway through the third. UCLA answered but two late drives with Wallace running the football pleased the home crowd with a win over UCLA and new coach White
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10/18 | 7:30p | NBC | 6-1,3-1 | #10 | 4t | 4t | #13 MARYLAND (5-1,2-1) | W 23-3
Purdue and Maryland faced off in another home game with big playoff implications. Wallace pounded Maryland's vaunted run D with RB Wallace
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10/25 | 7:30p | BTN | 7-1,4-1 | #8 | 2t | 7 | @Nebraska (4-2,2-1) | W 26-25
Rhule and a dangerous Nebraska team were next. Purdue controlled throughout and led 17-6 at half. After a scoreless third quarter NU scored two TDs in a row before a Purdue field goal made it 20-18 Purdue. After Darren Latimer led Nebraska down and hit Manuel Lacey on a 36-yard TD pass, a stunning 107 yard Jerry Smythe KR-TD won it for Purdue
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11/8 3:30p | BTN | 8-1,5-1 | #6 | 2t | 10t | @Minnesota (5-3,2-3) | W 17-16
After a bye week a trap game at Minnesota came in. Purdue forced the Gophers to the air and QB Rinehart helped move the ball late, but Purdue's Samuel Domingo's 53 yarder went through wile Minnesota's Flores missed a 48 yarder to win
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11/15 | 7:30p | NBC | 8-2,5-2 | #6 2t | 11t | @Oregon (5-4,2-4) | L 27-32
Purdue came to Autzen and a talented Oregon squad led by second year man Ken Wilson. Bentley struggled on the ground as Oregon took control of the game in the third quarter and never let up, QB Hall's 32-39-2-0 highlighting the performance
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11/22 | 7:30p | BTN | 9-2,6-2 | #10 | 2t | 9t | ILLINOIS (5-5,3-4) | W 24-20
The Illini were a dangerous team with a RB that had sometimes been in the Heisman discussion as Purdue looked to keep pace with the B1G and CFP races ahead of a showdown with rival Indiana. Star CB Roy Denney's 76 yard pick 6 was key and Bentley hit Dustin Manley for a 40 yard TD after being shut down all day to send Purdue through
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11/29 | 3:30p | CBS | 10-2,7-2 | #9 | 1t | 1t | #10 INDIANA (9-2,6-2) | W 48-31
The Boilermakers and Hoosiers face a CFP play-in just as in '25 but the winner could land in the B1G title game as well in the second ever top 10 matchup between Purdue and Indiana. Purdue jumped out to a 24-7 lead before the offense slowed and Khaleb Roman's vaunted deep stirkes to Kirk Cross struck twice. Leaning on Bentley more than ever, he found Lucas Murray on a 35 yarder. IU answered and it was 31-31 heading into the 4th. Purdue put together a nice scoring drive, then Roman threw a pick, then IU fumbled all in succession as Bentley outplayed him for the monumental win
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12/6 | 8p | Fox | 10-3,7-3 | #6 | 1t | 1t | "B1G Championship
Indianapolis
#3 Ohio State (9-3,7-2)" | L 10-41
Purdue was favored against an Ohio State team they came close to beating the year before. The Boilermakers led early but couldn't punch the ball in in the red zone and saw OSU's Hyatt light them up in the second half
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1/1 | 4p | Fox | 10-4,7-3 | #12 | 2 | 2 | "Rose Bowl
Pasadena, CA
#21 ARIZONA (10-3)" | L 16-31
Purdue rematched with Arizona and despite missing the CFP in controversial fashion were happy to be in the game. A scoop and score from AZ helped make sure Purdue went to 1-2 in Rose Bowls
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[palmer006]

2027 National
Coaching Changes
Alabama | Tavaras Robinson (DC) | Robinson, a former corner coach and top recruiter, is an apt replacement for Saban despite rumors Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkisan, or even Kirby Smart would take over those coaches knew better than to follow a legend. Robinson gets his shot
Arizona State | Butch Jones (OC NDSU) | ASU went unconventional with retread Butch Jones who had dissapeared off the national scene in a job that was increasingly undesirable in the Big XII
Colorado (Arizona State) | Brian Newberry | Newberry jumped at what Prime had built as he stepped away and the chance to escape a hot seat at ASU
Duke | Chip Kelly (UCLA) | Manny Diaz came within a whisper of the CFP but elected to take the Georgia DC job to leapfrog to a bigger HC job no longer wishing to languish in the dying ACC. Kelly comes in with championsihp pedigree and along with Mark Stoops and Gus Malzhan continues a trend of ACC jobs being undesirable except as landing spots for big name coaches who have seemingly slipped
Iowa State | Warren Ruggerio (OC) | Matt Campbell's exit for a new challenge as an NFL OC made it a natural changeover to the team's OC
Kentucky | Matt Mumme (OC WSU) | Mumme guided WSU's offense to the CFP and takes over for Mark Stoops who left at his father's proving ground in the spread offfense
North Carolina (Army) | Jeff Monken | Monken nearly made the CFP at Army and finally took the opportunity to leave the academy for a huge opportunity with a talented roster in need of discipline after Mack Brown stepped down at 0-5 for UNC in a move echoing Paul Johnson's move from Navy to Georgia Tech in the late aughts
Pittsburgh | Gus Malzhan (UCF) | Malzhan was a heartbeat away from a Big XII title and Pitt was happy to snap him up
SMU | Mark Stoops (UK) | Stoops seat was finally warming in the 12-team CFP era in Lexington, and he had an all-star facilities and cast in Dallas with OC Sherrone Moore in hopes he can take over the ACC"s auto-bid
UCF (Charlotte) | Biff Poggi | Poggi's steady rise at Charlotte made him an unpopular but solid choice after the dissapointment of missing the CFP led to the end of Gus Malzhan
UCLA | Tony White (Sac State) | UCLA hopes Tony White can guide them where Chip Kelly couldn't but support for the program is still not at a CFP level
Virginia | Kurt Mattix (OC) | Virginia promoted from within based on Mattix's interim performance as they struggle to compete in the SEC
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Recruiting
Rk Team Commit 5 4 3 |
1 Texas Longhorns 35 3 30 2 | The Longhorns program kept building
2 USC Trojans 31 3 28 0 | RIley was staying in place with a #2 class building on last year's #1 class
3 Ohio State Buckeyes 28 5 22 1 | After the '25 title and another Final Four appearance in '26 OSU is going
4 Penn State Nittany Lions 30 3 26 1 | Franklin's best recruiting class ever has fans excited
5 Alabama Crimson Tide 23 5 18 0 |
6 Georgia Bulldogs 24 5 19 0 |
7 Purdue Boilermakers 29 3 18 7 | Purdue's best recruiting class in school history has them poised for a breakthrough
8 Michigan Wolverines 32 2 5 25 |
9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 36 1 0 35 | Year 3 for Jeff Lebby comes with lots of transfer talent
10 Wisconsin Badgers 34 1 2 31 | Fickell and Braun are raising the recruiting profile for their teams
11 Northwestern Wildcats 38 0 0 34 |
12 Oregon Ducks 34 0 2 31 |
13 Oklahoma Sooners 29 0 6 23 |
14 Minnesota Golden Gophers 38 0 1 27 | PJ Fleck's dilligence was rewarded
15 Miami (FL) Hurricanes 31 0 3 27 | Somehow Cristobal was going into year 6 in a put up or shut up year
16 Tennessee Volunteers 30 0 3 26 |
17 Nebraska Cornhuskers 33 0 0 33 |
18 LSU Tigers 13 3 10 0 | Kelly seems to be slipping and may be on his way out
19 Clemson Tigers 29 0 1 28 |
20 North Carolina Tar Heels 35 0 0 27 |
21 Washington Huskies 30 0 1 27 |
22 Auburn Tigers 22 1 4 17 |
23 Michigan State Spartans 33 0 0 25 |
24 South Carolina Gamecocks 30 0 0 28 |
25 Texas A&M Aggies 26 0 0 26 | Elko is trying to recruit his guys
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Preseason
Usual suspects Georgia, Bama, Texas, Ohio State, Michigan, and Florida State are all in teh top 10. It's a key season for LSU, Auburn, and USC, all of which are in the top 10. It could be #10 Iowa and Kirk Ferentz's swan song. The 11-20 ranks feature some intriguing teams with Florida and Napier facing a put up or shut up year two years after a '24 CFP bid and SEC title game appearance saved Napier's job. OU and Eric Morris have yet to get going. Maryland, Clemson, Purdue, Louisville, Arkansas, South Carolina, Arizona, and Iowa State are all looking to have 'up' years with roster crescendos, while Colorado, Penn State, and Illinois are hanging around at a familiar level.
Optimism is high for new coach Tony White and #19 UCLA
Pre-SeasonHeisman Watch
- Ray Martino, Sr QB, Texas | Martino seeks to capture the elusive back to back Heisman
- Steven Hunyh, Sr CB, Florida State |
- Johnny Cotton, Jr DE, Auburn |
- Robert Acevedo, rSr WR, Ohio State |
- Clinton Keaton, So QB, West Virginia |
Rodrick Packard, Jr QB, Alabama |
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Week 0
Notre Dame opens with a home win over Stanford and A&M opens with a home win over Ole Miss
Week 1
Week 1 is devoid of upsets in a tune up week for the big boy matchups in week 2
Week 2
Baylor (1-0) { 27 } @ { 17 } [22]Arkansas (1-0)
Arkansas's Liddell ran the ball well but it was Baylor QB Rose who got the big road win
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UCF (1-0) { 33 } @ { 20 } [13]Florida (1-0)
UCF shut down RB Gonzalez and were in control throughout much to the consternaton of the anti-Napier crowd
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[8]Penn State (1-0) { 17 } @ { 20 } Syracuse (1-0)
PSU's new QB was not up to the taask as Syracuse's Whitmore played solid as their 4th year HC looks to show progress and did against the embattled Franklin
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[11]Auburn (1-0) { 27 } @ { 30 } Wisconsin (1-0)
Second year man Trent Bray felt the sting of the loss to the veteran Kuykendall who made his mistakes but guided his team to the winning field goal after stud RB Robert Wells ripped off a 39 yard one to tie
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[10]Michigan (1-0) { 13 } @ { 22 } [25]Tennessee (1-0)
The two teams with the biggest stadiums showed out as Michigan and new QB Garris played it overly conservative
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[24]Duke (2-0) { 16 } @ { 30 } [16]Maryland (1-0)
Massey rushed and passed for over 200 yards and Maryland rolled as their recruiting momentum might finally translate to a big year
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[15]Iowa (1-0) { 21 } @ { 34 } [18]Iowa State (1-0)
Iowa State QB Agree, who was a Heisman candidate in '25 as a sophomore, played brilliantly in the 4th as ISU got their first series win since '21
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[23]South Carolina (1-0) { 17 } @ { 9 } [21]Illinois (1-0)
Starnes looked great as both teams got down and dirty with defense
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[4]Ohio State (1-0) { 21 } @ { 24 } [1]Alabama (2-0)
Hyatt and Packard rematched their semi-final game last year in Bryant Denny, with Clark McDermott's punt return providing just enough space to overcome Hyatt's late magic in hitting Austin Douglas to cut the lead to 24-21 with 3min to play
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Miami (OH) scores first win over Cincinnati in two decades
Navy beats Notre Dame for just second time in 64 years
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Week 3
[18]Army (2-0) { 27 } { 41 } [12]Tennessee (2-0)
Even without Jeff Monken Army was the frontrunner to make a CFP appearance. Roberts played wonderfully at QB but Tennessee rode Neyland to a second straight raucous win
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Liberty upsets NC State
Arkansas State upsets Ole Miss as Rebs program struggles
Buffalo puts pressure on Greg Schiano with win at Rutgers
Charlotte beats South Carolina, who was ranked in the preseason
Coastal Carolina takes down #20 Florida on the road
South Alabama beats Miami
Tulsa clips Missouri in miserable day for the SEC
Louisiana beats Arkansas to cap rough day for SEC
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Week 4
[9]Maryland (3-0) { 30 } @ { 38 } Michigan State (2-1)
Despite outgaining State Maryland's preseason hopes crash landed in a raucous Spartan Stadium with experienced QB Massey playing well for Maryland
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[19]Colorado (3-0) { 3 } @ { 48 } [10]Iowa State (3-0)
Warren Rugger was humming right along and preparing to host perhaps ISU's biggest nemesis for control of the expanded Big XII in the 4 years of his history. With some huge numbers on Fox, Agee established himself as 'back' to his '25 form and in the Heisman running
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[22]UCLA (3-0) { 7 } @ { 37 } [25]Michigan (2-1)

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[13]Indiana (3-0) { 47 } @ { 21 } [17]Oregon (3-0)
QB Tellez is more of a playmaker than IU is used to, throwing 3 picks in Autzen to go with 5 TDs but it was enough on the road
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[11]Ohio State (2-1) { 54 } @ { 3 } [20]Washington (3-0)
Down for a couple seasons after deep runs in '23 and '24, DeBoer hoped to return Washington to promineance and smelled a good opportunity against an OSU team smarting from the loss to Texas found its feet
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[5]USC (2-0) { 20 } @ { 17 } [18]Wisconsin (3-0)
SC's road win was a big step in a prove it year for Lincoln Riley. QB Ricky Ellis hit WR Harold Negrete for the winning score late
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Week 5
[10]Florida State (3-0) { 16 } @ { 8 } [13]Tennessee (3-0)
UT couldn't get the offense going late as FSU got a tough win
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[14]Oklahoma (3-0) { 10 } vs { 17 } [3]Texas (3-0)
Sarkisian has taken back control of the series despite a slow day from reigning Heisman winner Martino
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[16]Kentucky (3-0) { 0 } @ { 24 } [11]Texas A&M (4-0)
With a seasoned QB in Sears this is A&M's time, shutting down Matt Mumme's offense.
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[18]Penn State (2-2) { 0 } @ { 57 } Illinois (3-1)
It was a stunning result with Stephens rusing for 130 yards and Franklin's job on the line
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[19]Baylor (4-0) { 11 } @ { 21 } Kansas State (2-2)
Martinez has reached its ceiling as K-State, who has been quiet recently, rose up and got the W
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[5]Ohio State (3-1) { 23 } @ { 29 } Nebraska (2-2)
Latimer was experienced enough not to make mistakes as Nebraska rushed the field with a huge CFP resume win
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[9]Indiana (4-0) { 17 } @ { 37 } Washington (3-1)
Thigpen and Huston were awesome as Washington got back to contender status
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Week 6
[24]Kentucky (3-1) { 24 } @ { 38 } [6]Florida State (4-0)
QB Beckman and RB Butler were balanced for FSU as UK's Mumme continued to have tough sledding spearheading the offense
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[15]Illinois (4-1) { 17 } @ { 28 } [14]Maryland (4-1)
It was an exicting B1G Saturday Night for Maryland as Illinois was coming off the heels of demolishing Penn State. RB Rufus Massey pounded the ball for Maryland in a solid win
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[19]Auburn (3-1) { 27 } @ { 31 } [3]Texas (4-0)
Martino needed every bit of guile to sequeeze this one out from Trent Bray's team answering an Auburn go ahead drive with a 31 yard strike to TE Mark Novak that was in turn replied by a 67 yard bomb from Stanton Burton to Anthony Morales. Marquel Herbert ran it in for the win after a long drive
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[25]Washington (4-1) { 9 } @ { 27 } [4]USC (4-0)
USC's defensive upgrade and talent all over the field was evident for Lincoln Riley
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[23]Virginia (4-0) { 34 } @ { 36 } Missisippi State (3-2)
Fan excitement was up after Mattix's 4-0 start but Dan Lanning's D came to play with only 3 over the top passes from UVA keeping it close after MSU led 26-6 midway through 3
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[8]Texas A&M (5-0) { 10 } @ { 34 } Oklahoma (3-1)
Sears couldn't move the ball as OU got some redemption for the loss to Texas
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Georgia Tech (4-2) { 42 } @ { 14 } [16]Pittsburgh (6-0)
Gus Malzhan's scorching start came to a halt against the Jackets as WR stud Elliot had his usual 5-172-1 for Pitt
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Week 7
AP Top 25
1 Alabama Crimson Tide (5-0) | W5 | | Bama is rolling right along under Tavares Robbins
2 Georgia Bulldogs (5-0) | W5 | |
3 Texas Longhorns (5-0) | W5 | |
4 USC Trojans (5-0) | W5 | |
5 Florida State Seminoles (5-0) | W5 | |
6 Iowa State Cyclones (6-0) | W6 | | Rugger has the Cyclones back in '25 form
7 LSU Tigers (5-0) | W5 | |
8 Northwestern Wildcats (6-0) | W6 | |
9 Clemson Tigers (5-0) | W5 | |
10 Purdue Boilermakers (5-1) | W1 | |
11 Michigan Wolverines (5-1) | W4 | |
12 Ohio State Buckeyes (4-2) | W1 | |
13 Maryland Terrapins (5-1) | W2 | |
14 Indiana Hoosiers (5-1) | W1 | |
15 BYU Cougars (6-0) | W6 | | The Cougars hope to put it all together under Sitake and challenge for the Big XII title
16 Texas A&M Aggies (5-1) | L1 | |
17 Oklahoma Sooners (4-1) | W1 | |
18 Colorado Buffaloes (5-1) | W2 | |
19 Syracuse Orange (5-0) | W5 | | The Orange's recruiting is beginning to pay off
20 Southern Methodist Mustangs (4-0) | W4 | | SMU is a 4th ACC unbeaten
21 Duke Blue Devils (5-1) | W3 | |
22 Boston College Eagles (5-0) | W5 | |
23 Illinois Fighting Illini (4-2) | L1 | |
24 Pittsburgh Panthers (6-1) | L1 | |
25 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (5-2) | W4 | |
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Mid-SeasonHeisman Watch
Ray Martino, Sr QB, Texas | With an unbeaten squad Martino is leading the race to repeat but many times before repeat challengers have stumbled from this position in the past
Steven Hunyh, Sr CB, Florida State |
Johnny Cotton, Jr DE, Auburn |
Robert Acevedo, rSr WR, Ohio State |
Rodrick Packard, Jr QB, Alabama |
NR Justin Stephens, RB, Illinois | Stephens has announced himself on the national stage despite a couple tough recent top 25 games for Illinois
Dropped Out:
Clinton Keaton, So QB, West Virginia
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[17]Oklahoma (4-1) { 16 } @ { 26 } [2]Georgia (5-0)
UGA's offense and QB Gunderson were in full control as Eric Morris struggles to make the CFP just as Brent Venables did in the rough and tumble SEC
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[20]SMU (4-0) { 10 } @ { 33 } [25]Georgia Tech (5-2)
QB Fitzsimmons and Tech pounded the ponies in rising up
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[4]USC (5-0) { 24 } @ { 35 } [8]Northwestern (6-0)
Rickey Ellis's luck slowed down in a rainy Windy City with Edmund Oliver putting up some TDs
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[18]Colorado (5-1) { 3 } @ { 41 } Arizona (4-1)
Another season of early season promise beginning to nose dive as AZ's Pantoja makes it happen
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Oregon State (1-6) { 23 } @ { 17 } [22]Boston College (5-0)
OSU stayed alive for a bowl as BC's Koonce had a day from hell
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Washington (4-2) { 34 } @ { 31 } [11]Michigan (5-1)
Washington's offense came out firing with a late punt return TD helping put it out of reach, stun Michigan, and announce that Washington was not giving up on the CFP
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[23]Illinois (4-2) { 6 } @ { 44 } Wisconsin (3-3)
Wisconsin contained Stephens and stunned the Illini
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Cal beats Notre Dame in continued tough sledding for Jeff Lebby
Rutgers drops Penn State
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Week 8
Coaching hot seat: Lebby at Notre Dame, Franklin and Penn State
[6]Florida State (6-0) { 23 } @ (OT) { 26 } [25]Auburn (4-2)
Dwight Hoover's TD run capped off an excellet game from Auburn QB Babin at 32-43-293-1. WR Hoover was 10-101 in the enormous win for the Tigers who hoped this was the year to make the CFP
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[3]Texas (6-0) { 0 } @ { 38 } [2]Georgia (6-0)
Georgia and Gunderson were looking dominant, making a case for no.1
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[11]Indiana (6-1) { 20 } @ { 30 } [16]Maryland (5-2)
Rufus Massey continued to be solid handing IU their second straight loss and setting things right for Maryland losing last week
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[19]Michigan (5-2) { 27 } @ { 21 } [4]Northwestern (7-0)
Despite a big running day from Burkholder, Michigan held Northwestern off to stay in the CFP thick race
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[9]Clemson (6-0) { 19 } @ { 37 } [23]Oklahoma (4-2)
OU closed things out well at home as Clemson's shaky 6-0 was exposed
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[14]Texas A&M (6-1) { 35 } @ { 38 } Arkansas (2-4)
Falling short againt Pittman's team provided Pittman a needed life raft but was a big dissaointment for Elko's team seeking to finally make the CFP in year 4
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Louisville (4-4) { 35 } @ { 24 } [20]Georgia Tech (6-2)
ACC chaos continued with Brohm and WR Abrams engineering a big win
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[12]USC (5-1) { 14 } @ { 23 } Notre Dame (3-4)
QB Nance helped Stablize Lebby's flagging program with a big win
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[15]Syracuse (6-0) { 31 } @ { 34 } SMU (4-1)
SMU held off a late scoring dpush with QB Stringer having a great day
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Week 9
[20]Arizona (6-1) { 22 } @ { 30 } [22]Baylor (6-1)
Pantoja didn't come alive until the 4th as Martinez and Baylor had now recovered if they could avoid the typical November swoon under Aranda
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[9]Florida State (6-1) { 19 } @ { 6 } [10]Clemson (6-1)
With both coming off a loss it was FSU's defense that stuffed it
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[3]LSU (7-0) { 20 } @ { 13 } [15]Oklahoma (5-2)
Bowie at QB and Morton WR caught the game winner over the middle as LSU got the win
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[6]Ohio State (6-2) { 15 } @ { 3 } [8]Northwestern (7-1)

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[23]Colorado (5-2) { 24 } @ { 31 } Houston (2-5)
Houston's OT win was a major setback for the Buffs
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[12]BYU (7-0) { 28 } @ { 31 } Kansas State (4-3)
QB Olivares and BYU's late drive couldn't sruivie a collapse as Kruger and K-State's offense got a big win for the program
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Miss State (4-4) { 35 } @ { 27 } [21]Texas A&M (6-2)
Lanning's crew and QB Miller led most of the way as Elko took another big loss
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Oregon State upsets Louisville
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Week 10
Initital CFP Rankings
1 Georgia Bulldogs (8-0) W8 | SEC co-L | Georgia leapfrogged Alabama based on its dominant performance thus far
2 Alabama Crimson Tide (8-0) W8 | SEC co-L | Robbins first year looks slated for a chance at repeating
3 LSU Tigers (8-0) W8 | SEC co-L | Almost run out of town last year, Kelly and crew are back
4 Ohio State Buckeyes (7-2) W4 | B1G co-L |
5 Iowa State Cyclones (8-0) W8 | XII ldr | Warren Ruggerio has ISU back on top
6 Purdue Boilermakers (7-1) W3 | B1G co-L | Ryan Walters is shaping up for the #1 rank
7 Texas Longhorns (7-1) W1 | SEC -1 |
8 Florida State Seminoles (7-1) W1 | SEC -1 | Norvell's defense up to the '23 standard 4 years later
9 USC Trojans (6-2) W1 | B1G co-L | Riley had his team in the top 10 despite the setback to Notre Dame
10 Auburn Tigers (6-2) W3 | SEC -1 | Trent Bray had his best team yet
11 Northwestern Wildcats (7-2) L2 | |
12 Maryland Terrapins (6-2) W1 | |
13 Washington Huskies (6-2) W2 | |
14 Michigan Wolverines (6-2) W1 | B1G co-L |
15 Duke Blue Devils (8-1) W6 | ACC Ldr | Chip Kelly was making UCLA regret dropping him
16 Indiana Hoosiers (6-2) L1 | |
17 Baylor Bears (7-1) W3 | XII -1 |
18 Southern Methodist Mustangs (6-1) W2 | ACC -1 |
19 Clemson Tigers (6-2) L2 | |
20 Pittsburgh Panthers (7-1) W1 | ACC -1 |
21 BYU Cougars (7-1) L1 | XII -1 |
22 Arizona Wildcats (6-2) L1 | XII -1 |
23 Georgia State Panthers (8-0) W8 | | Georgia State edged out Kent State in the first G5 race
24 Oklahoma Sooners (5-3) L1 | |
25 Kent State Golden Flashes (7-1) W5 | |
NR Washington State (5-3) | ACC -1 |
NR Utah (6-2) | XII -1 |
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Heisman Race
1 W Rodrick Packard, Jr QB, Alabama | Packard is the placeholder best player on the best team
2 W Ray Martino, Sr QB, Texas | Martino's loss knocked him down a peg in the race to repeat
3 W Justin Stephens, RB, Illinois | Stephens has announced himself on the national stage despite a couple tough recent top 25 games for Illinois
4 NR QB Franklin Roberts, Army | Roberts was an early candidate last year but needs to get Army back in the CFP race to win
5 NR Michael Cosgrove, WR, NW | Cosgrove is the latest in a line of WRs under Braun
Not in top 5, on mid-season watch list:
Steven Hunyh, Sr CB, Florida State
Johnny Cotton, Jr DE, Auburn
Robert Acevedo, rSr WR, Ohio State
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[1]Georgia (8-0) { 42 } @ { 3 } [19]Clemson (6-2)
Georgia has dominated the renewed rivalry and looks unstoppable
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[14]Michigan (6-2) { 20 } @ { 21 } [16]Indiana (6-2)
Khaleb Romanstruggled but came up with a drive and then a 67 yard strike to favorite target Kirk Cross to stun the Wolverines who led 20-0 late in the third
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[7]Texas (7-1) { 14 } @ { 26 } [3]LSU (8-0)
QB Bowie played hyper-efficient and LSU controlled from the opening drive's 57 yard strike from Bowie to Frank Morton as Kelly looked to roll towards a second title
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[1]Alabama (8-0) { 21 } @ { 24 } Texas A&M (6-3)
Just when Elko's squad was left for dead, the defense pitched a dominant performance up until a late bomb TD and handed Robbins his first loss as Alabama coach as fans stormed the field
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[11]Northwestern (7-2) { 44 } @ { 47 } UCLA (4-4)
UCLA's Garza outplayed Heisman candidate Cosgrove with 8-186 and a ridiculous 5 TDs and UCLA got the stunner
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[21]BYU (7-1) { 21 } @ { 48 } West Virginia (3-5)
A talented WVU team took advantage of BYU's miscues to take advantage of the Cougars sudden tailspin
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Week 11
CFP Rankings
1 - Georgia Bulldogs (9-0) W9 | SEC co-L | Georgia and LSU look unbeatable and on a collision course. Both have taken down Texas
2 1 LSU Tigers (9-0) W9 | SEC co-L |
3 1 Ohio State Buckeyes (8-2) W5 | B1G co-L |
4 -2 Alabama Crimson Tide (8-1) L1 | SEC -1 | Bama suffered a first loss under Robbins but still look solid
5 - Iowa State Cyclones (9-0) W9 | XII Ldr |
6 - Purdue Boilermakers (8-1) W4 | B1G co-L |
7 1 Florida State Seminoles (8-1) W2 | SEC -1 |
8 1 USC Trojans (7-2) W2 | B1G co-L | SC has stepped up as needed under Riley and is on track to make the B1G title game in a pivotabl yar
9 1 Auburn Tigers (7-2) W4 | SEC -1 |
10 -3 Texas Longhorns (7-2) L1 | |
11 1 Maryland Terrapins (7-2) W2 | | Maryland still controls its own destiny for a first ever playoff berth
12 4 Indiana Hoosiers (7-2) W1 | |
13 - Washington Huskies (7-2) W3 | | The Huskies are sniffing on a return trip to the playoff for the first time since '24
14 3 Baylor Bears (8-1) W4 | XII -1 |
15 - Duke Blue Devils (8-1) W6 | ACC Ldr |
16 2 Southern Methodist Mustangs (7-1) W3 | ACC -1 | It's all finally coming together for the Mustangs in ACC year 4
17 5 Arizona Wildcats (7-2) W1 | XII -1 |
18 2 Pittsburgh Panthers (8-1) W2 | ACC -1 |
19 -8 Northwestern Wildcats (7-3) L3 | |
20 NR Texas A&M Aggies (7-3) W1 | | Elko's seat is still warm but has a dark horse chance
21 4 Kent State Golden Flashes (8-1) W6 | | Kent State passed unbeaten Georgia State, setting up the potential for controversy
22 1 Georgia State Panthers (9-0) W9 | |
23 NR Syracuse Orange (7-2) W1 | |
24 NR Kansas State Wildcats (6-3) W3 | |
25 NR Utah Utes (7-2) W4 | XII -1 | After 3 fallow years the program is finally back in the top 25 and XII race
NR Washington State (6-3) | ACC -1 |
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Heisman Race
1 1 Ray Martino, Sr QB, Texas | It's weird for Martino to move up to 1 with a loss, but he's still playing solid and no one is stepping into the void
2 -1 Rodrick Packard, Jr QB, Alabama |
3 NR Travis Agee, QB, Iowa State | Just as with two years ago the buzz is building for the QB of the unbeaten XII leader
4 NR Anthony Hamilton, QB, Wake | Hamilton's cause is quietly building behind gaudy stats
5 -2 Justin Stephens, RB, Illinois |

Dropped Out of top 5
QB Franklin Roberts, Army
Michael Cosgrove, WR, NW
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[2]LSU (9-0) { 3 } @ { 22 } [4]Alabama (8-1)
Bama owon this battle of titans despite a tough day from QB Robinson to throw the SEC race into chaos
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[1]Georgia (9-0) { 10 } @ { 12 } [9]Auburn (7-2)
Auburn pulled off the biggest upset of the day using special teams, turnovers, and a great D to get the stunning win, perhaps having turned the corner under
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[22]Georgia State (9-0) { 20 } @ { 6 } James Madison (7-2)
GA St's D continued to be dominant as they attempted to get back ahead of Kent State
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[23]Syracuse (7-2) { 23 } @ { 17 } [18]Pittsburgh (8-1)
Cuse's Whitmore was clutch with two field goal drives late to just get past Pitt
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[11]Maryland (7-2) { 29 } @ { 17 } [8]USC (7-2)
Mike Locksley's program got a breakthrough win in LA despite QB Ellis's heroics, with Robinson pounding the rock in the 4th and their playoff hopes now on the ropes with Riley likely to be fired without the CFP
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[14]Baylor (8-1) { 24 } @ { 41 } [25]Utah (7-2)
Anthony Burden's big day running helped Utah overcome a big day from Martinez passing with timely D as Utah's journey towards the XII title game continued
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[21]Kent State (8-1) { 20 } @ { 10 } Ball State (8-1)
KSU and unbeaten Georgia State both got past their biggest obstacles
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West Virginia (4-5) { 25 } @ { 6 } [24]Kansas State (6-3)
WVU's win streak continued with a stunner as KSU just can't get over the hump the past 4 years
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Week 12
1 3 Alabama Crimson Tide (9-1) W1 | SEC co-L | Bama is back at #1 after Georgia and LSU went down
2 -1 Georgia Bulldogs (9-1) L1 | SEC co-L | Georgia's loss was stunning given their dominance and its now a 5-way tie at the top of the SEC
3 -1 LSU Tigers (9-1) L1 | SEC co-L |
4 1 Iowa State Cyclones (10-0) W10 | XII L | ISU was left out of the top spot despite being unbeaten in the new reality
5 -2 Ohio State Buckeyes (8-2) W5 | B1G Ldr |
6 3 Auburn Tigers (8-2) W5 | SEC co-L |
7 - Florida State Seminoles (9-1) W3 | SEC co-L |
8 2 Texas Longhorns (8-2) W1 | |
9 2 Maryland Terrapins (8-2) W3 | B1G -1 | The B1G has an absolute logjam of 6 teams vying for #2 behind Ohio State
10 -4 Purdue Boilermakers (8-2) L1 | B1G -1 |
11 1 Indiana Hoosiers (8-2) W2 | B1G -1 |
12 1 Washington Huskies (8-2) W4 | B1G -1 |
13 2 Duke Blue Devils (9-1) W7 | ACC ldr |
14 5 Northwestern Wildcats (8-3) W1 | |
15 1 Southern Methodist Mustangs (8-1) W4 | ACC -1 |
16 1 Arizona Wildcats (8-2) W2 | XII -1 | Zona is battling Utah week to week
17 -9 USC Trojans (7-3) L1 | B1G -1 |
18 -4 Baylor Bears (8-2) L1 | |
19 3 Georgia State Panthers (10-0) W10 | | GSU rightly leapfrogged 1-loss Kent State after a win over 7-2 James Madison on the road
20 1 Kent State Golden Flashes (9-1) W7 | |
21 5 Michigan Wolverines (7-3) W1 | B1G -1 |
22 1 Syracuse Orange (8-2) W2 | |
23 -3 Texas A&M Aggies (7-3) W1 | |
24 1 Utah Utes (8-2) W5 | XII -1 | Utah continues its comeback
25 NR BYU Cougars (8-2) W1 | |
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Heisman Race
1 - Ray Martino, Sr QB, Texas |
2 - Rodrick Packard, Jr QB, Alabama |
3 - Travis Agee, QB, Iowa State |
4 - Anthony Hamilton, QB, Wake |
5 - Justin Stephens, RB, Illinois |

Dropped Out of top 5
None

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[19]Georgia State (10-0) { 9 } @ { 24 } Georgia Southern (6-4)
State's rival Georgia Southern shut down the offense and knocked GSU off the pedestal for the G6 slot
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[5]Ohio State (8-2) { 17 } @ { 34 } [11]Indiana (8-2)
A pick 6 from Walter Shaw put IU in front in the third, then a 46 yard bomb from Tellez to favorite deep threat Kik Cross sealed, sending the B1G into a huge tie and setting up a top 10 clash for the Bucket
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[22]Syracuse (8-2) { 14 } @ { 27 } [15]SMU (9-1)
SMU hoped to keep the moentum up while Cuse still had an outside shot at a league title
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[17]USC (7-3) { 24 } @ { 41 } Oregon (6-4)
The loss against rising Oregon and coach Ken Wilson resulted in Lincoln Riley's firing the following day after failing to make the CFP
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[16]Arizona (8-2) { 39 } @ { 29 } [24]Utah (8-2)
It was the Utes chance at a return to proimnence against a now solid Arizona with the winner in the drivers seat for a conference title berth. Arizona overcame a tough performance on offense with Teair Calendar hitting two deep TDs and a pick 6 helping put them over the top on the road
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Penn State fires James Franklin admist a 4-7 record
Oklahoma fires Eric Morris after two years due to no CFP berths
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Week 13
CFP Rank
1 - Alabama Crimson Tide (10-1) W2 | SEC co-L | Winning against Auburn and possibly the SEC-CG is required for a bye
2 - Georgia Bulldogs (10-1) W1 | SEC co-L | Bama, Georgia, and LSU are all in but are fighting for the bye and an SC title chance
3 - LSU Tigers (10-1) W1 | SEC co-L |
4 - Iowa State Cyclones (11-0) W11 | XII clnch | Losing both to 1-10 OK St and the XII title is likely to knock out ISU, so winning on the road this week is key
5 1 Auburn Tigers (9-2) W6 | SEC co-L | Auburn 'should be in even with a loss to Bama but won't want to tempt fate
6 1 Florida State Seminoles (10-1) W4 | SEC co-L | FSU's record probably has them in with a loss to Florida but they won't want to tempt fate
7 1 Texas Longhorns (9-2) W2 | | Texas cannot afford a loss to #21 A&M to make the playoff
8 1 Maryland Terrapins (9-2) W4 | B1G co-L | Maryland can't afford to lose to a down Penn State
9 1 Purdue Boilermakers (9-2) W1 | B1G co-L | The Boilermakers and Hoosiers face a CFP play-in just as in '25 but the winner could land in the B1G title game as well
10 1 Indiana Hoosiers (9-2) W3 | B1G co-L |
11 1 Washington Huskies (9-2) W5 | B1G co-L |
12 -7 Ohio State Buckeyes (8-3) L1 | B1G co-L | The B1G has a 6-way tie for first that will be at most 4-way
13 - Duke Blue Devils (10-1) W8 | ACC cln | Duke is not in good position for an at large bid and must win out to get in to avoid '24 NC State's fate at 11-1 and out
14 - Northwestern Wildcats (8-3) W1 | | Northwestern has a shot to get in if they can win
15 - Southern Methodist Mustangs (9-1) W5 | ACC -1 |
16 - Arizona Wildcats (9-2) W3 | XII -1 | It's win and in for Zona and the Big XII title which is their only path to the CFP
17 1 Baylor Bears (9-2) W1 | XII -2 | Baylor and Utah's bounceback years could end with a CFP chance if htey win and Arizona lose
18 2 Kent State Golden Flashes (10-1) W8 | | Kent State is in perfect position to get to the CFP with two wins and in
19 2 Michigan Wolverines (8-3) W2 | B1G co-L | The Wolverines third loss against a weak schedule likely has them out of the at large race; a win over OSU and some luck is required to get them in the B1G title
20 2 Syracuse Orange (8-3) L1 | |
21 2 Texas A&M Aggies (8-3) W2 | |
22 2 Utah Utes (8-3) L1 | XII -2 | Baylor and Utah's bounceback years could end with a CFP chance if htey win and Arizona lose
23 2 BYU Cougars (8-3) L1 | |
24 NR Army (9-2) W | | Army replaced Georgia State as next team up behind Kent State
25 -8 USC Trojans (7-4) L2 | |
Pittsburgh (9-2) | ACC -2 | Pitt is probably out even with a win against Notre Dame as they hope for an SMU loss and other things to fallt heir way
Washington State (7-4) | ACC -2 |
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Heisman Race
1 - QB Ray Martino, Texas (Sr) |
2 - QB Rodrick Packard, Alabama (Jr) |
3 - QB Travis Agee, Iowa State |
4 NR QB Khaleb Roman, Indiana |
5 NR QB Franklin Roberts, Army | As Army's fortunes have risen so has Roberts once again in fringe conversations

Dropped Out of top 5
Justin Stephens, RB, Illinois
QB Anthony Hamilton, Wake


Washington State beats Oregon State to stay alive in ACC race

Wake Forest (6-5) { 24 } @ { 31 } [15]SMU (10-1)
The Ponies Meier made the plays needed to get SMU to the ACC title game
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[4]Iowa State (11-0) { 58 } @ { 10 } Oklahoma State (1-10)
The country's last unbeaten team rolled into the Big XII title game looking to hang onto their seed. Mike Gundy mutually departed after the 1-11 season
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[17]Baylor (9-2) { 55 } @ { 20 } TCU (7-4)
Martinez hoped to play his way back into the Heisman discussion if Baylor could get some bounces and a big XII title bid with a 3 TD outing and rivalry win
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[22]Utah (8-3) { 18 } @ { 20 } [23]BYU (8-3)
Only visiting Utah had XII tilte aspirations but it would be an intense holy war. BYU withstood a comeback from Utah, stopped a TCU and then QB Olive drove for the winning field goal in a classic
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[16]Arizona (9-2) { 24 } @ { 7 } Arizona State (5-6)
Teair Callendars 19-39-357-3-1 day and big road win got them to the Big XII title game
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Akron (3-8) { 7 } @ { 14 } [18]Kent State (10-1)
Akron's Turner had a great audition at QB for the next level but Kent hung on
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[24] Army (8-2) { 32 } @ { 19 } Memphis (6-5)
Zarate's 115 yards rushing helped Army stay in play for a CFP bid should Kent stumble
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[7]Florida State (10-1) { 3 } @ { 13 } Florida (6-5)
Florida had spoiler status for perhaps the CFP and SEC title and came through with a victory. Billy Napier was still fired
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[1]Alabama (10-1) { 16 } @ { 19 } [5]Auburn (9-2)
With FSU knocked out Alabama-Auburn and Georgia-LSU in the night cap were now SEC semifinal games with Auburn the more desperate rival having a chance of dropping out of the CFP with a home loss. QB Babin didn't dissapoint, supplanting Robinson in the Heisman race with a brilliant game where he scored late, took over off a pick from Robinson and then led a 52 yard field goal drive in 3 plays as time expired in yet another wild rivalry game at Bryant-Denny
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[2]Georgia (10-1) { 22 } @ { 19 } [3]LSU (10-1)
Georgia punched its ticket to the SEC title game against rival Auburn while LSU likely squandered a bye with the loss. LSU broke down to a field goal attempt in OT as Georgia QB Gunderson was perfectly efficient in the win
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[21]Texas A&M (8-3) { 17 } @ { 29 } [7]Texas (9-2)
Texas punched their CFP ticket despite a valiant effort from A&M's Polanco. Mike Elko was fired as despite another solid season he had yet to make the CFP in 4 seasons
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[12]Ohio State (8-3) { } @ { } [21]Michigan (8-3)
Ohio State's loss to Indiana had both them and Michigan needing a win and some help to get into the B1G title to avoid this being the first season without either in the CFP. Michigan made great adjustments to shut down OSU in the second half and close the gap from 31-17 to 31-29, but a failed 2pc weighed heavily and Floyd Hyatt hit Charles Baker on a 41 yard TD late to finally silence the Michigan crowd. OSU would still have to await their playoff fate
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Oregon (7-4) { 13 } @ { 45 } [11]Washington (9-2)
Washington made their case for CFP inclusion if they don't win the B1G tiebreaker by picking off hall 3 teams
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Penn State (4-7) { 27 } @ { 44 } [8]Maryland (9-2)
Hanson played well at QB for coach-less Penn State but Maryland had Robinson running well and celebrated their first CFP berth
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[14]Northwestern (8-3) { 40 } @ { 13 } Illinois (5-6)
Illinois's season of promise ended with a dud against a Northwestern team hoping they put enough on tape for a CFP bid
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Champ Game

1 1 Georgia Bulldogs (11-1) W2 | SECt | Georgia and Auburn's playoff would essentially be for a bye
2 2 Iowa State Cyclones (12-0) W12 | XIIt |
3 -2 Alabama Crimson Tide (10-2) L1 | lAtl |
4 1 Auburn Tigers (10-2) W7 | SECt |
5 -2 LSU Tigers (10-2) L1 | lAtl | LSU's loss to Georgia put them out of bye position
6 3 Purdue Boilermakers (10-2) W2 | B1Gt | Purdue hoped to leapfrog LSU and the SEC C.G. loser for a bye if they could get by Ohio State and hoped their spot was assured
7 - Texas Longhorns (10-2) W3 | lAtl |
8 - Maryland Terrapins (10-2) W5 | lAtl |
9 2 Washington Huskies (10-2) W6 | lAtl |
10 -4 Florida State Seminoles (10-2) L1 | lAtl | FSU's second loss rightly dumped them to the bottom of the heap of Power 2 teams but safely in the field
11 1 Ohio State Buckeyes (9-3) W1 | B1Gt |
12 -2 Indiana Hoosiers (9-3) L1 | Bubble | After losing to their rival the Hoosiers now needed their rival to beat Ohio State in order to put them in the field
13 2 Southern Methodist Mustangs (11-1) W7 | ACCt |
14 2 Arizona Wildcats (10-2) W4 | XIIt |
15 -1 Northwestern Wildcats (9-3) W2 | |
16 1 Baylor Bears (10-2) W2 | |
17 -4 Duke Blue Devils (10-2) L1 | ACCt |
18 7 USC Trojans (8-4) W1 | |
19 NR Pittsburgh Panthers (10-2) W2 | |
20 -2 Kent State Golden Flashes (11-1) W9 | MACt |
21 -2 Michigan Wolverines (8-4) L1 | |
22 NR Oklahoma Sooners (8-4) W3 | |
23 1 Army Black Knights (10-2) W8 | AACt |
24 NR Colorado Buffaloes (8-4) W2 | |
25 -4 Texas A&M Aggies (8-4) L1 | |
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Heisman Race
1 1 QB Travis Agee, Iowa State | Agee's leading his team to a perfect season has him back in frotrunner status
2 -1 QB Ray Martino, Texas (Sr) | Ahead all season it still comes down to the playoff for Martino
3 NR QB Gunderson, Georgia |
4 NR QB Babin, Auburn |
5 -1 QB Khaleb Roman, Indiana | As Army's fortunes have risen so has Roberts once again in fringe conversations

Dropped Out of top 5
|
QB Rodrick Packard, Alabama (Jr) |
QB Franklin Roberts, Army |

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Ball State (9-4) { 20 } @ { 21 } [20]Kent State (12-1)
A missed field goal sent Kent State to victory and they hope the CFP
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[14]Arizona (10-2) { 3 } @ { 28 } [2]Iowa State (12-0)
Iowa State's championship level D rolled to a win and a home playoff win. The win keeps Indiana's CFP hopes alive.
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[1]Georgia (11-1) { 9 } @ { 6 } [4]Auburn (10-2)
In a game with the same final score and reminiscent of 2011's LSU-Bama game, Georgia scraped by in a slugfest
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[11]Ohio State (9-3) { 41 } @ { 10 } [6]Purdue (10-2)
Ohio State's Hyatt jumped back on the national scene with a brilliant performance
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[17]Duke (10-2) { 52 } @ { 37 } [13]SMU (11-1)
SMU and Duke are both looking for their first CFP with SMU's longtime coach and boosters having tears at the culmination of a dream as first year Duke coach Chip Kelly proves himself again with QB Curran and the offense providing a relentless barrage
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