The start of the 2025 college football season is officially less than a month away.
Iowa State and Kansas State will be taking their ‘Farmaggedon’ rivalry across the pond to Ireland for the first game of the season on Aug. 23 in Dublin. Colorado will kick off its third season under coach Deion Sanders a few days later on Aug. 29 in Boulder with a matchup against Georgia Tech, while Colorado State and Jay Norvell begin a day later with a road game against Washington in Seattle.
Over the next week and across the country the sound of pads thudding will echo across college campuses as the now 136 FBS programs (with Delaware and Missouri State making the jump up) get ready for what should be yet another full fall of football on Saturdays.
To get ready, here are the top four contenders in each of the Power 4 conferences:
ACC
Contenders: Clemson, Miami, SMU, Louisville
Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) drops back to pass during the Atlantic Coast Conference championship NCAA college football game between Clemson and SMU Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
Jacob Kupferman
The ACC still runs through Dabo Swinney and Clemson. It’s been seven years since the Tigers last won a national championship, but they’ve finished below second in the conference just once in the last decade. Swinney’s group is geared up for a second-straight trip to the College Football Playoff after winning the ACC title game and making the first-ever 12-team field last season.
Clemson opens with a big home game against LSU in Week 1, but the Tigers bring back one of the top preseason Heisman Trophy candidates in junior quarterback Cade Klubnik, who came on strong in last year’s run to the playoff. Klubnik and a young, but uber-talented defense could be the recipe for another conference title.
The biggest threats to the Tigers remain the same from 2024. Miami replaced No. 1 NFL draft pick Cam Ward with Georgia transfer Carson Beck, arguably the top player in the portal, but improvements in late-game clock management and on defense (Miami allowed 34 or more points five times last season) will be key for a jump.
SMU made the playoff alongside Clemson despite the loss in the conference title game and the Mustangs remain a contender heading into year two in the ACC. Rhett Lashlee is one of the top young coaches in the country and he’s got a dynamic quarterback in Kevin Jennings to lead the way again.
Louisville is a clear fourth-best among this group, but the Cardinals won nine games last season and coach Jeff Brohm seems to have found a formula that works with a consistent influx of transfer portal additions. USC transfer Miller Moss will likely take over at quarterback and a soft schedule should have Louisville at 5-0 heading into an October matchup at Miami.
Big Ten
Contenders: Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day celebrates with the trophy after their win against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff national championship game Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Brynn Anderson
If not now, then when, James Franklin? The Penn State coach is coming off the best season of his 11-year tenure in charge of the Nittany Lions with a run all the way to the CFP semifinals (ended by a heartbreaking loss to Notre Dame in the final seconds of the Orange Bowl). Despite losing top-five draft pick in superstar edge rusher Abdul Carter, Penn State returns arguably the most high-end talent of any team in the country. Is this year the Nittany Lions finally get over the hump and win their first national title in almost 40 years?
To do so, Penn State will likely have to beat Ohio State for the first time since 2016 and just the second time under Franklin. Buckeyes coach Ryan Day may have saved his job by winning the national championship (yes, the pressure was that high after another disappointing loss to Michigan to close the regular season) but now he’ll be tasked with trying to repeat with two new coordinators and a new quarterback (likely Julian Sayin). Still, the Buckeyes may have the two best individual players in the country, regardless of position, in wide receiver Jermiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs.
Oregon won the Big Ten title in the program’s first year in the conference, but a disappointing loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl and a nearly entire new group of offensive personnel has the Ducks a clear third behind PSU and OSU.
That brings us to Michigan, one of the most fascinating teams to watch in 2025. Year one without Jim Harbaugh wasn’t great (8-5 overall and 5-4 in Big Ten play) but Sherrone Moore did cap his first year in charge with a win at the Buckeyes and a bowl win over Alabama. The Wolverines’ quarterback play couldn’t have been much worse in 2024 and now they bring in the top high school player in the country in big, 6-foot-4 Detroit native Bryce Underwood, who doesn’t turn 18 until next month.
Big 12
Contenders: Arizona State, Kansas State, Iowa State, Texas Tech
Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt (10) rns out of the pocket against Texas during the first half in the quarterfinals of a College Football Playoff, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Brynn Anderson
If we’re being fair, a list of Big 12 contenders should include at least half the conference. After all, Arizona State did win the title last year after being picked dead last in the preseason media poll. Now, the Sun Devils are the favorites to repeat under third-year coach Kenny Dillingham. ASU returns one of the best quarterback-wide receiver duos in the country in Sam Leavitt and Jordyn Tyson, to go with 10 starters returning on defense.
Just like a year ago, Kansas State remains one of the favorites and it’s due to quarterback Avery Johnson, who now has a whole year of starting experience under his belt. The highs were really high, while the lows were pretty low. The Wildcats looked primed to be the Big 12’s representative in the playoff until a disappointing November saw them finish below the group of four teams that tied atop the standings.
Iowa State coach Matt Campbell is becoming about as known of a quantity as Kyle Whittingham is at Utah. You just trust the Cyclones are going to be in the mix. Losing a pair of 1,000-yard receivers hurts, but ISU returns dynamic QB Rocco Becht (a breakout candidate nationally) and plenty of starters on defense.
Then there’s Texas Tech. No one is doing things like Joey McGuire is in Lubbock. The Red Raiders are spending NIL and revenue-share dollars like they want to compete in the SEC, not the Big 12. If money really does buy wins — and Ohio State’s reported $20-million roster last year showed it does — Texas Tech might be the smart pick to win the Big 12.
SEC
Contenders: Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Texas
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Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer talks with Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams (2) during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Missouri, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
Vasha Hunt
The SEC is coming off back-to-back years without a team in the national championship game in 20 years seasons. Was it just a down few years or has the rest of the country really caught up to the big bad conference down south where it ‘just means more’? That question will be answered in 2025. Heading into the season, there is no clear favorite.
Alabama has to replace QB Jalen Milroe, but returns an absurd amount of talent at just about every other position on the roster. Sophomore wide receiver Ryan Williams is behind only Jeremiah Smith at Ohio State on a list of the most dangerous playmakers in the country and the defense is loaded with returning production. It will be on coach Kalen DeBoer to prove the 1-2 finish to the season was just a first-year blip.
Speaking of needing to replace multi-year starting quarterbacks, Georgia has fully moved on to Gunner Stockton after Carson Beck’s transfer to Miami. Stockton will look to improve an offense that wasn’t up to the usual Bulldog standards that we’ve become accustomed to seeing under Kirby Smart in the 2020s. The same goes for the typically-vaunted Georgia defense, which will be counting on a solid mix of transfers and young blue-chip recruits to take a collective step back to form this fall.
LSU has been good, but not great in its first three seasons under Brian Kelly and that includes a year with the Heisman Trophy winner in QB Jayden Daniels. The Tigers have another quarterback capable of being the best in the country this fall in Garrett Nussmeier. He’s got a stable of talented wide receivers to throw to, as is common in Baton Rouge, but it’s all about a defense taking a step forward after a season that wasn’t nearly good enough in 2024.
Then there’s Texas, the last team standing from the SEC in last year’s playoff. Linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. returns to lead a defense that should be elite yet again, but it’s all about Arch Manning — the prodigal nephew of Peyton and Eli, who has been hyped up for years — whether or not coach Steve Sarkisian can turn him into a Heisman candidate.
The List – 5 offseason storylines from around the country you may have missed1. Bill Belichick, North Carolina head coach
North Carolina coach Bill Belichick arrives for an NCAA college football press conference, Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward, File)
Chris Seward
Oh, yeah, remember this? Arguably the best coach in NFL history is coaching college football and doing so at a Power conference program you wouldn’t really expect. The North Carolina Tar Heels. Just like Coach Prime in Boulder, Belichick has created something that is must-watch, appointment television in Chapel Hill — but can he win? North Carolina has just one season with 10 or more wins this century.
2. The Arch Manning era set to begin in Austin
Texas quarterback Arch Manning warms up before the Cotton Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal game against Ohio State, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Julio Cortez
The anticipation may have died down some during the two seasons Arch Manning sat behind Quinn Ewers, but it will quickly ramp back up ahead of the former top high school recruit’s first season as the full-time starter. Even with just two career starts and 28 pass attempts worth of experience, he’s still one of the Heisman favorites going into the season. If all goes well, it may be his only season in college and he might follow uncles Peyton and Eli as first round NFL draft picks next spring.
3. Texas Tech spends big
Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire listens to a question the during Big 12 NCAA college football media days in Frisco, Texas, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
LM Otero
Coach Prime said it best at Big 12 media days. “Joey got some money!” the Buffs coach yelled from the stage inside the Dallas Cowboys headquarters when asked about Texas Tech’s big offseason in the transfer portal. Sanders was referring to Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire, who brought in the top portal class in the country and far out-spent his peers in the Big 12 to put together a roster that has quickly raised the expectations to ‘playoff or bust’ in Lubbock.
4. The Nico Iamaleava transfer saga
Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava, right, and defensive back Rickey Gibson III, left, celebrate the team’s 36-23 win against Vanderbilt after an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
George Walker IV
We saw our first NIL holdout this spring as Nico Iamaleava sat out of Tennessee practices to try and negotiate a better deal for himself as the star quarterback of the Volunteers. Instead, it just ended with the former five-star recruit leaving Knoxville to head back home to southern California where he has since signed with UCLA. Whether it’s Iamaleava or Tennessee, someone is going to look really smart in December.
5. Kyle Whittingham back at Utah after down season
Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham during the Big 12 NCAA college football media days in Frisco, Texas, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
LM Otero
Longtime Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said the quiet part out loud earlier this month at Big 12 media days. If the Utes had a better season in 2024, he might not have been sitting in front of the handful of reporters gathered around to his breakout session on that afternoon in Frisco. He and the program named defensive Morgan Scalley as the head coach in-waiting last summer and it seemed like Whittingham was eager to pass the torch sooner rather than later. But after Utah went 5-7 last season, despite being the preseason favorites in the Big 12, Whittingham is back for his 21st season in Salt Lake City.
Quotable
North Carolina coach Bill Belichick speaks with a group of reporters during the Atlantic Coast Conference’s NCAA college football media days, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Aaron Beard)
Aaron Beard
“It’s a pro program. Practice, training, food, schemes, terminology, it’s all a pro program. Not to the extent that we did it in the NFL — there will be fewer plays, fewer adjustments — but it will be along those lines.” — North Carolina’s Bill Belichick said this week at ACC media days