The College Football Playoff kicked off last night in Norman, with the No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide squaring off against the No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners in a rematch of an entertaining game the two teams played back in Tuscaloosa in mid-November. The matchup had everything a sports fan could want from a playoff atmosphere: the crowd was amped, the football was fun, and the final result felt earned.

In the end, Alabama — which has endured an up-and-down season that’s been more down than up in recent weeks — stormed back from a 17-point deficit to claim a 34-24 victory over the Sooners. With the win, the Crimson Tide advance to the Rose Bowl (presented by Prudential, which is gross, if you ask me. Remember when the sanctity of the sport was protected from such ludicrous sponsors? Of course, the Pop-Tarts Bowl is an exception here. Anyway, sigh.) to face the No. 1-seeded Indiana Hoosiers.

Read more

After today, The Saturday Watchlist will officially be hitting the hay for a while.

That’s obviously sad, but as we embark on the final big-time Saturday of the season, let’s just enjoy the college football we have in front of us. Because while some might choose to be upset at this all coming to an end, I’m going to go down the path of happiness.

There are five FBS college football games today — all of them conference championships. It starts in the morning with the Big 12 and BYU-Texas Tech. The winner secures a berth to the College Football Playoff, of course, but it’s a bit more complicated than that. You see, if Texas Tech wins, then BYU is most likely out and the Big 12 will have just one representative in the CFP. If BYU wins, however, then both it and Texas Tech will go.

There’s also the SEC Championship Game between Georgia and Alabama in the afternoon. Some are saying that Alabama — which is ranked No. 9 coming into the day, could drop out of the CFP if it loses. I’ll believe that when I see it. There’s just no way that the selection committee would drop the SEC runner-up out of the playoff. Right?

The final act of the day could be the most entertaining of all with the Big Ten Championship and the ACC Championship. It’s a battle between No. 1 and No. 2 in Indianapolis for the right to claim the Big Ten’s most coveted prize. That on its face isn’t the most surprising thing in the world, but the fact that one of those teams is Indiana — a school that usually doesn’t care all that much about football — is truly astounding. I still haven’t wrapped my head around the fact that the Hoosiers are actually good at this sport now.

But as you’re watching Indiana-Ohio State, remember that 7-5 Duke is playing Virginia for a chance to win the ACC. The playoff implications are somewhat simple: if Virginia wins, it’ll go to the CFP as one of the five highest ranked conference champions. If Duke wins, however, the situation gets a little muddier. There’s a shot that the selection committee could choose to include what would be an 8-5 Duke as one its highest ranked conference champions, but the more likely scenario is that it would put No. 25 James Madison — which won the Sun Belt last night — in instead. So, yeah, there’s a chance that no ACC team enters the field come selection day tomorrow morning.

That’s the slate! And that’s pretty much the watchlist. It should be a fun day.

The final Saturday of the college football regular season is here. That’s obviously bittersweet, but the good news is that the day is filled with intense rivalry matchups that will fill all our hearts with joy — so long as your favorite team wins, of course.

Yesterday we saw several good rivalry contests like the Egg Bowl (Ole Miss-Mississippi State), Good Old Fashioned Hate (Georgia-Georgia Tech), and the Lone Star Showdown (Texas A&M-Texas). All that continues today with The Game (Ohio State-Michigan), the Iron Bowl (Alabama-Auburn), and so much more. It should be a great time.

Today’s Saturday Watchlist is no where near an exhaustive list. There are tons of rivalry games to choose from today — these are just the ones I have pegged as potential fun games. If your favorite team isn’t listed, I promise that I mean no slight.

Here’s The Saturday Watchlist for November 29, 2025.

Early Window

Primary Screen: No. 1 Ohio State at No. 15 Michigan - 11 a.m. - FOX
Secondary Screen: No. 12 Miami at No. 22 Pittsburgh - 11 a.m. - ABC
Tertiary Screen: Clemson at South Carolina - 11 a.m. - SEC Network

Also worth tracking:
Houston at Baylor - 11 a.m. - TNT
Kentucky at Louisville - 11 a.m. - ACC Network
No. 5 Texas Tech at West Virginia - 11 a.m. - ESPN

Afternoon Window

Primary Screen: No. 14 Vanderbilt at No. 19 Tennessee - 2:30 p.m. - ESPN
Secondary Screen: No. 6 Oregon at Washington - 2:30 p.m. - CBS
Tertiary Screen: Cincinnati at TCU - 2:30 p.m. - FOX

Also worth tracking:
Missouri at Arkansas - 2:30 p.m. - SEC Network
Florida State at Florida - 3:30 p.m. - ESPN2

Evening Window

Primary Screen: No. 10 Alabama at Auburn - 6:30 p.m. - ABC
Secondary Screen: Virginia Tech at No. 18 Virginia - 6 p.m. - ESPN
Tertiary Screen: No. 21 SMU at California - 7 p.m. - ESPN2

Also worth tracking:
UCLA at No. 17 USC - 6:30 p.m. - NBC
Northwestern at Illinois - 6:30 p.m. - FOX
North Carolina at NC State - 6:30 p.m. - ACC Network

Late Window

Primary Screen: No. 9 Notre Dame at Stanford - 9:30 p.m. - ESPN

Happy Black Friday! Everyone’s aware that watching the NFL on Thanksgiving is one of the most rewarding sports days on the calendar. What people don’t know is that the Friday after usually presents a good amount of sports action as well.

That’s the case today, as there’s a ton of college football to watch. It all starts with the Egg Bowl between Ole Miss and Mississippi State in the early window. Should Ole Miss win, it’ll essentially clinch its spot in the College Football Playoff. If it loses, though, then not only would it potentially fall out of the playoff, but it could also lose its head coach to Baton Rouge or Gainesville. The stakes are, well, high.

Then there’s Georgia’s battle with Georgia Tech in the afternoon in Atlanta. This game was an epic back-and-forth affair a season ago, with the Bulldogs ultimately coming out on top. While that’s once again the expected result today, there’s always a chance that Haynes King completely takes over and the Yellow Jackets pull off a stunner.

The finale to the day is the Lone Star Showdown between Texas and Texas A&M. There are very few college football games that get me as amped as this one. For the Longhorns, their slim CFP hopes hang in the balance, while the Aggies need to win to make the SEC Championship Game next weekend. There’s also the fact that the two schools hate each other’s guts, which adds in that tension that makes college football so awesome.

So, I hope you all have a great day and that this Friday watchlist provides you with the necessary information about how to navigate your day!

Early Window

Primary Screen: No. 7 Ole Miss at Mississippi State - 11 a.m. - ABC
Secondary Screen: Iowa at Nebraska - 11 a.m. - CBS
Tertiary Screen: No. 13 Utah at Kansas - 11 a.m. - ESPN

Also worth tracking:
Ohio at Buffalo - 11 a.m. - ESPNU
Kent State at Northern Illinois - 11 a.m. - CBS Sports Network

Afternoon Window

Primary Screen: No. 4 Georgia at No. 23 Georgia Tech - 2:30 p.m. - ABC
Secondary Screen: Temple at North Texas - 2:30 p.m. - ESPN
Tertiary Screen: San Diego State at New Mexico - 2:30 p.m. - CBS Sports Network

Also worth tracking:
Chicago Bears at Philadelphia Eagles - 2 p.m. - Prime Video

Evening Window

Primary Screen: No. 3 Texas A&M at No. 16 Texas - 6:30 p.m. - ABC
Secondary Screen: No. 25 Arizona at No. 20 Arizona State - 8 p.m. - FOX
Tertiary Screen: No. 2 Indiana at Purdue - 6:30 p.m. - NBC

Happy Thanksgiving week, everybody!

I hope that you all are planning on having wonderful days with your family, friends, acquaintances, and perhaps even enemies this fine week. It’s truly a wonderful time of the year, filled with laughter, joy and, most importantly, football.

As we gear up for the final week of college football’s regular season — I can’t believe it’s already here — it’s time to release the last D Poll before the postseason starts. That means that this iteration of the ranking is pretty important, because this will be the final D Poll that’s based solely on vibes and feelings. Starting next week, it’ll be solely based on resumé, and which teams I believe are most deserving.

That’s a problem for later, though, so let’s get into the D Poll for Week 14. Just like with last night’s College Football Playoff rankings, there aren’t a ton of changes in the top 15. Oregon jumping up a couple of spots after its big win over USC is probably the most notable change of the contending teams.

The Group of 6 has several representatives in the ranking, with North Texas leading the poll at No. 14.

Hold on.

Let’s talk about that for a second.

It was announced yesterday that Oklahoma State had hired North Texas head coach Eric Morris. Yes, that’s right. Three days before the Mean Green’s final game of the season, and just one week before the team potentially played in a conference championship game that would be for a spot in the College Football Playoff, the head coach of the team bolted for another gig. There isn’t time right now for me to rant about the preposterous nature of the college football calendar, but just know that I think it’s ridiculous that schools and coaches feel the need — and rightfully so — to pursue alternative options during the season because of how the calendar is set up.

Anyway, Morris is a spectacular hire for the Cowboys, but this is definitely a net negative for North Texas’ position in the D Poll. Full transparency: I was planning on vaulting UNT up into the top 10 prior to the news breaking yesterday. Now that the team is without a head coach (yes, he’s allegedly coaching the rest of the season, but does that even really matter?), the vibes in Denton are way worse than they were just 48 hours ago. Folks are scared that this will derail what has been a very special campaign. So, I’ve knocked them down a peg — at least from where I originally planned to put them.

For the rest of the D Poll, Arizona jumps all the way to No. 19 after curb-stomping Baylor, which sets up a ranked-on-ranked Territorial Cup matchup between the Wildcats and Arizona State this Black Friday.

Miami is above Notre Dame, which is just the correct thing to do. Listen, I love Notre Dame’s fun new logos that they put out at the beginning of the season more than anybody — I’m just such a sucker for a leprechaun carrying a football — but Miami literally beat the Fighting Irish in Week 1 of the season, and I just can’t ignore that.

UConn is still here despite Jim Mora bolting for the Colorado State job yesterday evening. I don’t really care. The Huskies are good at football, and that’s all that matters.

Enough about UConn, though. I’m sure they’re getting ready for some big basketball game or something (it is Feast Week, after all). Here’s the D Poll for Week 14.

1. Ohio State (NM)

Week 12 result: 42-9 win vs. Rutgers

2. Indiana (NM)

Week 12 result: BYE

3. Georgia (NM)

Week 12 result: 35-3 win vs. Charlotte

4. Texas A&M (NM)

Week 12 result: 48-0 win vs. Samford

5. Texas Tech (NM)

Week 12 result: BYE

6. Oregon (+2)

Week 12 result: 42-27 win vs. USC

7. Ole Miss (NM)

Week 12 result: BYE

8. Oklahoma (-2)

Week 12 result: 17-6 win vs. Missouri

9. BYU (NM)

Week 12 result: 26-14 win at Cincinnati

10. Miami (NM)

Week 12 result: 34-17 win at Virginia Tech

11. Notre Dame (NM)

Week 12 result: 70-7 win vs. Syracuse

12. Alabama (NM)

Week 12 result: 56-0 win vs. Eastern Illinois

13. Utah (NM)

Week 12 result: 51-47 win vs. Kansas State

14. North Texas (NM)

Week 12 result: 56-24 win at Rice

15. Vanderbilt (+2)

Week 12 result: 45-17 win vs. Kentucky

16. Tulane (+2)

Week 12 result: 37-13 win at Temple

17. Michigan (+2)

Week 12 result: 45-20 win at Maryland

18. James Madison (+3)

Week 12 result: 24-20 win vs. Washington State

19. Arizona (NR)

Week 12 result: 41-17 win vs. Baylor

20. Arizona State (NR)

Week 12 result: 42-17 win at Colorado

21. Texas (+3)

Week 12 result: 52-37 win vs. Arkansas

22. Pittsburgh (NR)

Week 12 result: 42-28 win at Georgia Tech

23. UConn (+2)

Week 12 result: 48-45 win at Florida Atlantic

24. Virginia (-4)

Week 12 result: BYE

25. USC (-9)

Week 12 result: 42-27 loss at Oregon

When I first glanced at this weekend’s slate of games, I started to doze off. That’s right — the biggest college football fan a lot of you all probably know almost fell asleep when he saw what was on the table for today.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are some games that catch the eye this wonderful Saturday. USC’s trip up north to face Oregon is definitely something that’ll have my attention. BYU has an important conference matchup with Cincinnati that could have a seismic impact on which team makes it to the Big 12 Championship Game. There’s also Arkansas’ potential upset big in Austin against Texas, although I’d peg that one as extremely unlikely.

But the rest. . . yeah, there’s not much there. Even the other ranked-on-ranked game of the day — No. 22 Missouri at No. 8 Oklahoma — isn’t all that intriguing due to the fact that 1) Missouri’s starting quarterback is probably not going to play, and 2) Missouri shouldn’t even be ranked in the first place.

So, if you watch college football today, then you’re a real fan.

For me, I’ll personally be in attendance for TCU-Houston, which is a game that might’ve had some intrigue a couple weeks ago but is now not anything particularly exciting. The only narrative coming out of it is whether the Horned Frogs are going to let go of head coach Sonny Dykes or not. I presume the answer to that question will be based on how good the team performs. Nonetheless, the fan sentiment surrounding the coaching staff in Fort Worth is anything but pleasant at the moment. If you don’t believe me, just search “Sonny Dykes” on Twitter — you’re sure to have a swell time.

Alright, let’s get to today’s watchlist. If you’re new here, The Saturday Watchlist is my personal repository for every game I plan to watch today. If a game isn’t listed below, then I don’t plan on watching it live. That doesn’t mean I don’t hold the Constitutional right to pivot should I so choose, but it’s unlikely given how exhaustive this list is.

Here’s The Saturday Watchlist for November 22, 2025. Maybe there’ll be a good game or two in here. I don’t know.

Early Window

Primary Screen: No. 22 Missouri at No. 8 Oklahoma - 11 a.m. - ABC
Secondary Screen: Louisville at SMU - 11 a.m. - ESPN2
Tertiary Screen: Baylor at Arizona - 12 p.m. - TNT

Also worth tracking:
No. 13 Miami at Virginia Tech - 11 a.m. - ESPN
Kansas at Iowa State - 11 a.m. - FS1

Afternoon Window

Primary Screen: No. 15 USC at No. 7 Oregon - 2:30 p.m. - CBS
Secondary Screen: Arkansas at No. 17 Texas - 2:30 p.m. - ABC
Tertiary Screen: Kansas State at No. 12 Utah - 3 p.m. - ESPN2

Also worth tracking:
Duke at North Carolina - 2:30 p.m. - ACC Network
TCU at No. 23 Houston - 3 p.m. - FOX

Evening Window

Primary Screen: No. 11 BYU at Cincinnati - 7 p.m. - FOX
Secondary Screen: No. 20 Tennessee at Florida - 6:30 p.m. - ABC
Tertiary Screen: Pitt at No. 16 Georgia Tech - 6 p.m. - ESPN

Also worth tracking:
California at Stanford - 6:30 p.m. - ACC Network
Nebraska at Penn State - 6 p.m. - NBC

Late Window

Primary Screen: Washington at UCLA - 9:30 p.m. - NBC

Vibes are all that matters in this week’s D Poll. As the regular season reaches its penultimate week, I’ve decided that full sending on the vibes and feelings is the only way to go. This ranking has relied on the nuts and bolts that normal polls use, and now it’s time to go back to the roots of what this was all supposed to be in the first place. So, if anything confuses you — or if anything strikes you as odd — just remember that the D Poll is about vibes, more vibes, and then all the vibes.

This week’s poll sees a new No. 1 team emerge, and several other new faces pop up throughout the ranking.

The state of Texas reigns supreme with four schools from the Lone Star State making an appearance.

The SEC is probably the best league in America, and the D Poll recognizes that the vibes are pretty good in the conference that claims everything means more.

While the College Football Playoff selection committee continues to downgrade any success that the Group of 6 has, this poll doesn’t dabble in such nonsense. It welcomes any and every team that proclaims it has good vibes. It’s honestly the only correct stance.

OK, no more wasting your time with any teases. Here’s the D Poll for Week 13. How this affects the race to make the College Football Playoff is anybody’s guess. I’d wander that if your team isn’t in this ranking right now, then the chance of making it to college football’s greatest tournament is probably zero.

1. Ohio State (+2)

Week 12 result: 48-10 win vs. UCLA

2. Indiana (NM)

Week 12 result: 31-7 vs. Wisconsin

3. Georgia (+3)

Week 12 result: 35-10 win vs. Texas

4. Texas A&M (-3)

Week 12 result: 31-30 win vs. South Carolina

5. Texas Tech (-1)

Week 12 result: 48-9 win vs. UCF

6. Oklahoma (+4)

Week 12 result: 23-21 win at Alabama

7. Ole Miss (+1)

Week 12 result: 34-24 win vs. Florida

8. Oregon (-1)

Week 12 result: 42-13 win vs. Minnesota

9. BYU (+3)

Week 12 result: 44-13 win vs. TCU

10. Miami (+8)

Week 12 result: 41-7 win vs. NC State

11. Notre Dame (+2)

Week 12 result: 37-15 win at Pittsburgh

12. Alabama (-8)

Week 12 result: 23-21 loss vs. Oklahoma

13. Utah (+1)

Week 12 result: 55-28 win at Baylor

14. North Texas (NR)

Week 12 result: 53-24 win at UAB

15. Georgia Tech (NM)

Week 12 result: 36-34 win at Boston College

16. USC (NM)

Week 12 result: 26-21 win vs. Iowa

17. Vanderbilt (-6)

Week 12 result: BYE

18. Tulane (+5)

Week 12 result: 35-24 win vs. Florida Atlantic

19. Michigan (-2)

Week 12 result: 24-22 at Northwestern

20. Virginia (NR)

Week 12 result: 34-17 win at Duke

21. James Madison (+1)

Week 12 result: 58-10 win vs. Appalachian State

22. Houston (NR)

Week 12 result: BYE

23. Navy (NR)

Week 12 result: 41-38 win vs. South Florida

24. Texas (-15)

Week 12 result: 35-10 loss at Georgia

25. UConn (NR)

Week 12 result: 26-16 win vs. Air Force'

This past weekend of college football was pretty fun. Georgia rolled past Texas, Sooner magic continued in Tuscaloosa against Alabama, and Texas A&M pulled off an improbable comeback after being down 30-3 at halftime to South Carolina. There was also USC’s impressive victory in the pouring rain versus Iowa, Ole Miss’ close call against Florida, and some more Group of 6 chaos with Navy’s upset over South Florida.

But it’s time to move on, and seeing as it’s already Wednesday (man, this week has flown by), there’s no need to look back at what was in Week 12. Hold on, wait. A little birdie just told me that James Franklin was hired by Virginia Tech. That’s some pretty big news, if I do say so myself!

Franklin was by far the biggest fish in the sea when it came to this coaching carousel, and it appears that the Hokies were able to lure him in. It’s a hire that makes sense, given Franklin is familiar with recruiting the same areas that Virginia Tech does (the DMV metro area, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey). I like it, and I think he can win a lot of football games there.

Wait.

Timeout.

That same little birdie is also telling me that Ole Miss has given Lane Kiffin a deadline to make a decision on whether he’s staying in Oxford or not. That’s a bombshell!

According to multiple reports, Ole Miss’ athletic administration is tired of this whole “will he or won’t he” song and dance that’s been going on surrounding Kiffin and the open jobs at Florida and LSU. That narrative grew even more over the past couple of days when Kiffin’s family was seen romping around Baton Rouge. It’s also been reported that the Kiffins visited Gainesville.

Of course, Ole Miss can’t be a big fan of these shenanigans. After all, he’s still employed at the university, and it’s his job right now to get Ole Miss to the College Football Playoff and win a national championship. But even with all the success in the present, the Rebels have every right to look toward the future, and they want an answer before the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State on whether he’s going to be staying in Oxford moving forward.

I don’t know what will happen if the answer to that question is no. Does Ole Miss really have the guts to tell the head coach that’s on the verge of leading the program to its first appearance in the CFP to go away before the season ends? That’s a hard pill to swallow, yet all indications point toward the administration and the fanbase wanting a definitive stance one way or another from Kiffin. The only thing to do now is wait, I guess.

OK. This little birdie needs to be quiet. He just told me that apparently Steve Sarkisian’s name has come up in some NFL coaching searches. Now that’s just ludicrous, little birdie! Why would Sark leave Texas? I mean, he said today that he’s not going anywhere. When has a head coach ever lied at a press conference about whether they’re going to leave a job? That’s literally never happened in the history of humanity.

If Sark were to bolt for the Tennessee Titans job or any other NFL opening, the college football universe might explode. This coaching cycle has already been a mess, and having Texas open would just be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Alright, I think the birdie is done talking.

Read more

Rejoice! Rejoice! Our long national nightmare is over!

Disney and YouTube TV came to an agreement last night, meaning that all Disney programming is finally available for all to see. That’s especially good news when one considers that the slate today is especially Disney-centric — every single primary screen game is either on ABC or ESPN. Good timing.

Below is every game that I plan on watching live today. While I give myself the right to change the channel to something else should the need arise, this is what I’m planning to have on my screens the entire day. It should be a fun Saturday of football, and I can’t wait for it to get started with Notre Dame at Pitt at 11 a.m.

Here’s The Saturday Watchlist for November 15, 2025. These games are going to knock your socks off.

Early Window

Primary Screen: No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 22 Pittsburgh - 11 a.m. - ABC
Secondary Screen: No. 18 Michigan at Northwestern - 11 a.m. - FOX
Tertiary Screen: Arkansas at LSU - 11:45 a.m. - SEC Network

Also worth tracking:
South Carolina at No. 3 Texas A&M - 11 a.m. - ESPN
Air Force at UConn - 11 a.m. - CBS Sports Network
No. 24 South Florida at Navy - 11 a.m. - ESPN2

Afternoon Window

Primary Screen: No. 11 Oklahoma at No. 4 Alabama - 2:30 p.m. - ABC
Secondary Screen: No. 21 Iowa at No. 17 USC - 2:30 p.m. - Big Ten Network
Tertiary Screen: No. 19 Virginia at Duke - 2:30 p.m. - ESPN2

Also worth tracking:
Penn State at Michigan State - 2:30 p.m. - CBS
NC State at No. 15 Miami - 2:30 p.m. - ESPN

Evening Window

Primary Screen: No. 10 Texas at No. 5 Georgia - 6:30 p.m. - ABC
Secondary Screen: No. 13 Utah at Baylor - 6 p.m. - ESPN2
Tertiary Screen: Florida at No. 7 Ole Miss - 6 p.m. - ESPN

Also worth tracking:
Virginia Tech at Florida State - 6:30 p.m. - ACC Network
Kennesaw State at Jacksonville State - 7 p.m. - ESPNU

Late Window

Primary Screen: TCU at No. 12 BYU - 9:15 p.m. - ESPN
Secondary Screen: Boise State at San Diego State - 9:30 p.m. - CBS Sports Network

The College Football Playoff committee might be releasing its own rankings, but that thing is rife with scandal and nastiness. The D Poll has never had to go through such a thing, which makes it way more trustworthy than the CFP.

If I had to rank the vibes and feelings of the CFP after today’s news — which, if you haven’t heard, the chair of the committee, Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades, stepped down due to an investigation into an incident with a football player a couple of weeks back — I’d put it in the dumpster alongside the raccoons and the dirty diapers. I wouldn’t blame you if you decided that those rankings are dumb and stupid now.

Just remember that the D Poll is attempting to do something entirely different than the CFP selection committee. The D Poll is a ranking of vibes, feelings, and winning, while the CFP is supposedly searching to find the “best team.” Whether it accomplishes that goal 100 percent of the time is neither here nor there, but I can assure you that the D Poll has not done that. Heck, I’d go as far as to say that the team ranked No. 1 this week isn’t the best in the country, but it does have the best vibes and feelings surrounding it.

As with all rankings, this is a subjective exercise. What you categorize as good or bad vibes may be different than me, and that’s okay. You may have Northern Illinois at the top of your list because it crushed UMass last night, or you may instead put Ohio State at No. 1 because, well, it’s the best team in the nation and everybody knows it. Either strategy works for me! I’m not here to judge.

This ranking is a special one because the lovely graphic created by my talented wife is back this week! If you don’t feel like reading all the text I’ve poured my heart and soul into, then feel free to just glance at the pretty picture below, see where your favorite team is ranked, and then leave. Actually, please don’t do that — it’d be rude.

Without further ado, here’s the D Poll for Week 12.

1. Texas A&M (NM)

Week 11 result: 38-17 win at Missouri

2. Indiana (NM)

Week 11 result: 27-24 win at Penn State

3. Ohio State (NM)

Week 11 result: 34-10 win at Purdue

4. Texas Tech (+3)

Week 11 result: 29-7 win vs. BYU

5. Alabama (NM)

Week 11 result: 20-9 win vs. LSU

6. Georgia (NM)

Week 11 result: 41-21 win at Mississippi State

7. Oregon (+2)

Week 11 result: 18-16 win at Iowa

8. Ole Miss (NM)

Week 11 result: 49-0 win vs. The Citadel

9. Texas (+1)

Week 11 result: BYE

10. Oklahoma (+1)

Week 11 result: BYE

11. Vanderbilt (+8)

Week 11 result: 45-38 win vs. Auburn

12. BYU (-8)

Week 11 result: 29-7 loss at Texas Tech

13. Notre Dame (+2)

Week 11 result: 49-10 win. vs. Navy

14. Utah (-2)

Week 11 result: BYE

15. Georgia Tech (+3)

Week 11 result: BYE

16. USC (+5)

Week 11 result: 38-17 win vs. Northwestern

17. Michigan (+5)

Week 11 result: BYE

18. Miami (-4)

Week 11 result: 38-10 win vs. Syracuse

19. Pittsburgh (NR)

Week 11 result: BYE

20. South Florida (NR)

Week 11 result: 55-23 win vs. UTSA

21. Louisville (-8)

Week 11 result: 29-26 loss vs. California

22. James Madison (+2)

Week 11 result: 35-23 at Marshall

23. Tulane (NR)

Week 11 result: 38-22 win at Memphis

24. Cincinnati (NR)

Week 11 result: BYE

25. Hawai’i (NR)

Week 11 result: 38-6 win vs. San Diego State

Teams dropped from last week’s ranking: Missouri, Washington, Iowa, Virginia, Memphis

The top three remain the same. Each team won this week — Texas A&M beat Missouri, Indiana narrowly escaped Penn State, and Ohio State crushed Purdue into submission — thus making it simple to just keep them where they were previously. I ascertain that the Aggies remain the squad with the best vibes in America. What Mike Elko has been able to accomplish there is unlike what any other coach has been able to do in College Station over thirty years. As such, A&M fans are rightfully buzzing with excitement, rightfully so.

Texas Tech rises up to No. 4 after putting on a show for all the nation to see in its win over BYU. The Red Raiders have risen eight spots over the past two weeks, which is just a symbol of how amazing the vibes in Lubbock are at the moment. Just like with Texas A&M, we’re entering unprecedented territory for Texas Tech. That’s some pretty good vibes if you ask me.

The rest of the top 10 is fairly similar to last week. The only change comes with Oregon leaping over Ole Miss due to its gritty, comeback road victory against Iowa. The Ducks went into Kinnick Stadium — a place that’s produced countless nightmares for national championship contenders in the past — and left with a win. Sure, they’re a little battered and bruised because of it, but that’s just the cost of doing business when you play Iowa.

I have to admit, BYU disappointed me. The Cougars ran just seven plays in Texas Tech territory all game and only put up seven points in an effort that was anything but inspiring. The CFP selection committee dinged BYU all the way down to No. 12, and I followed suit. There’s still a path to win the Big 12, though the margin for error is much slimmer.

Vanderbilt surprisingly made a massive jump from No. 19 to No. 11. Beating a zombie Auburn team isn’t necessarily the most impressive accomplishment known to man, but I was impressed with the Commodores’ ability to throw counterpunch after counterpunch in a back-and-forth overtime win. Of course, the vibes king himself resides in Nashville in Diego Pavia, so that always helps the D Poll ranking. And it’s Vanderbilt! How could I not have it fairly high?

I decided to drop Miami below Notre Dame, despite the head-to-head result. If that offends anybody, I apologize, but I just don’t see the vibes with the Hurricanes at the moment. Sure, a 28 point win over Syracuse is fine, though it just doesn’t move the needle for me. One more loss for Miami, and it’s probably out of here.

Pittsburgh is in the poll, and I kind of regret it after hearing head coach Pat Narduzzi’s comments about the Panthers’ upcoming game versus Notre Dame. Oh well, I can’t take it back now. I can only hope that Pitt backs me up by winning on Saturday.

I love the Group of 6. South Florida, Tulane, and James Madison rightfully belong in any top 25 ranking that’s about vibes and feelings. Screw putting in a three-loss SEC or Big Ten team — let’s put in the teams that actually deserve it! And by the way, North Texas just narrowly missed out on making the ranking. Should it continue to win, it’ll be back in the fold very soon.

Hawaii is No. 25 and I’m not afraid to admit it. The Rainbow Warriors are 7-3 and just beat San Diego State, the team most likely to win the Mountain West. Head coach Timmy Chang’s squad is not the best in the world — far from it, actually — but this is a story that deserves celebrating. From going 3-10 three seasons ago to being on the verge of winning nine games is an accomplishment that should be recognized, and that’s what I’m doing with this placement in the D Poll. I don’t care if you ridicule me for it; just at least acknowledge that it’s cool that Hawaii football is kind of good.

The College Football Playoff selection committee has released its latest ranking, and it’s quite boring.

Unlike last week, there really wasn’t that much to talk about. Every team just kind of moved up or down based on how they played, which is not the most enthralling thing in the world. Oh well, I guess we can’t get a bombshell talking point every single week.

The same trends from last week continued in the new rankings. The selection committee hates the ACC — Miami is the highest-ranked team but wouldn’t be in line to make the CFP because it wouldn’t actually be the conference champion. The Big 12 continues to get massive amounts of love with Texas Tech, BYU, and Utah. Of course, the SEC and the Big Ten are still the kings of this castle, with the latter claiming the top two spots in the ranking.

Last week, no Group of 6 team was included. That changed as the selection committee elevated South Florida to No. 24, making it the heavy favorite to make the CFP from FBS’s bottom rung (I say that lovingly). There are several other teams that could crash that party — North Texas and James Madison chief among them — but for now, it’s South Florida’s spot to lose.

And that’s pretty much it. I told you it was kind of boring. (Please keep reading — I hope this isn’t boring!)

Here’s the second College Football Playoff ranking for 2025:

1. Ohio State (9-0)

Last week: 34-10 win at Purdue
This week: vs. UCLA

2. Indiana (10-0)

Last week: 27-24 win at Penn State
This week: vs. Wisconsin

3. Texas A&M (9-0)

Last week: 38-17 win at No. 22 Missouri
This week: vs. South Carolina

4. Alabama (8-1)

Last week: 20-9 win vs. LSU
This week: vs. No. 11 Oklahoma

5. Georgia (8-1)

Last week: 41-21 win at Mississippi State
This week: vs. No. 10 Texas

6. Texas Tech (9-1)

Last week: 29-7 win vs. No. 7 BYU
This week: vs. UCF

7. Ole Miss (9-1)

Last week: 49-0 win vs. The Citadel
This week: vs. Florida

8. Oregon (8-1)

Last week: 18-16 win at No. 20 Iowa
This week: vs. Minnesota

9. Notre Dame (7-2)

Last week: 49-10 win vs. Navy
This week: at No. 22 Pittsburgh

10. Texas (7-2)

Last week: BYE
This week: at No. 5 Georgia

11. Oklahoma (7-2)

Last week: BYE
This week: at No. 4 Alabama

12. BYU (8-1)

Last week: 29-7 loss at No. 8 Texas Tech
This week: vs. TCU

13. Utah (7-2)

Last week: BYE
This week: at Baylor

14. Vanderbilt (8-2)

Last week: 45-38 win vs. Auburn
This week: BYE

15. Miami (7-2)

Last week: 38-10 win vs. Syracuse
This week: vs. NC State

16. Georgia Tech (8-1)

Last week: BYE
This week: at Boston College

17. USC (7-2)

Last week: 38-17 win vs. Northwestern
This week: vs. No. 21 Iowa

18. Michigan (7-2)

Last week: BYE
This week: at Northwestern

19. Virginia (8-2)

Last week: 16-9 loss vs. Wake Forest
This week: at Duke

20. Louisville (7-2)

Last week: 29-26 loss vs. California
This week: vs. Clemson

21. Iowa (6-3)

Last week: 18-16 loss vs. No. 9 Oregon
This week: at No. 17 USC

22. Pittsburgh (7-2)

Last week: BYE
This week: vs. No. 9 Notre Dame

23. Tennessee (6-3)

Last week: BYE
This week: vs. New Mexico State

24. South Florida (7-2)

Last week: 55-23 win vs. UTSA
This week: at Navy

25. Cincinnati (7-2)

Last week: BYE
This week: vs. Arizona

Just like last week, the four first-round byes would go to Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M, and Alabama if the season ended today.

No. 1 Ohio State would get the winner of No. 8 Oregon and No. 9 Notre Dame — a game that’d be played in Eugene at Autzen Stadium.

The Hoosiers would receive a tough test, as either No. 7 Ole Miss or No. 10 Texas would have to face one of the best stories in college football in the quarterfinals.

Texas A&M’s draw would be no slouch, either. No. 6 Texas Tech would host No. 11 Miami (more on this in a second), with the winner facing the Aggies. Can you imagine if we got Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech in the quarterfinals? This state might implode.

Finally, Alabama would receive the victor between Georgia and South Florida. Unfortunately, I think we all know how that one would end — and I say that as somebody who loves the small schools!

As things are currently constructed, Miami would get the ACC’s lone bid as its conference champion, but that’s a little misleading. The Hurricanes actually don’t control their own path to the ACC Championship Game — several other teams, such as Georgia Tech, Duke, Louisville, and Virginia, are ahead of them in that regard and are much more likely to make it into the CFP as a result. Just take Miami’s placement in the bracket with a grain of salt — it’s probably not going to happen.

If any of you are peeved with this week’s ranking, don’t fear. The D Poll comes out tomorrow, and that’s sure to alleviate any concerns.

And, for the first time in what seems like forever, a coach didn’t get fired! What a novel concept.

YouTube TV and Disney’s stupid dispute wasn’t resolved, though. That’s a bummer, though I’m sure most of you all have come up with some sort of solution to watch sports at this juncture. It is getting ridiculous, and if it isn’t sorted out soon, I say that we all turn off our televisions, walk out of our living rooms, go outside, touch some grass, and be merry and cheerful. After all, the holidays are coming up, and being beholden to the whims of major corporations that can’t seem to get their act together is just a terrible time.

Sorry about that little tangent. I’m not bitter, I promise.

Anyway, on to this week’s takeaways. You’ll probably be able to tell, but I focused more on vibes than any analytical thinking in this edition. It just felt like the right thing to do. If you want somebody that crunches down the numbers and tells you why the results took place, go watch ESPN or something. Oh, wait. Never mind, just read this instead — I’m sure it’ll suffice.

Indiana Escapes Happy Valley

There really hadn’t been a moment so far this college football season. There had been great games, sure, but there wasn’t that signature play — at least in my eyes — that captured the nation’s attention.

That was until Omar Cooper Jr. and Fernando Mendoza arrived on the scene Saturday afternoon in State College.

Down 24-20 with less than a minute to play, Mendoza — one of the most unlikely Heisman Trophy candidates I can think of in years — threw a floater off his back foot toward the back of the end zone, hoping someone, anyone, would be there to catch it. Luckily for him, Cooper Jr. was there to play the hero role as he leaped up, plucked the football out of the air, and then miraculously got his left foot down inbounds.

It was an improbable catch that ended an improbable comeback for a Hoosiers team that’s found itself at the precipice of something it’s rarely accomplished — competing for a Big Ten title. That goal was on the verge of hitting a pretty sizable setback had it not been able to take down a Penn State squad that’s been a zombie ever since it fired James Franklin following a 3-3 start to the season. But Indiana made the big plays when it mattered most, with the Cooper Jr. catch being the most dazzling of them all.

Oregon Takes Down Iowa in a Rock Fight

Terrible weather in Iowa City means only one thing: a beautiful football game. Oregon is not unaccustomed to cold, wet, and miserable conditions, which probably made the transition from playing a fast-paced style to a “we’re going to throw mud in your face and bully you” style a little easier.

Still, it wasn’t easy for the Ducks to pull off the road win, as they required a walk-off field goal to get out of Kinnick Stadium with a victory. They’re lucky to do so, as many College Football Playoff hopes and dreams have died at the hands of the Hawkeyes.

Quarterback Dante Moore didn’t play the best game of his career, but he made the big-time throws when it mattered most, including a spectacular throw and catch to Malik Benson on the final drive of the game. It’s those types of throws that separate the good quarterbacks from the great ones, and Moore has continued to show all season that he’s closer to the latter than the former.

The Ducks might not be as potent as they were a season ago, yet they keep winning, which is all you can ask from a team that’s been battered and bruised since the opening kickoff of the first game. Watch out for Oregon — it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

The Big 12 Runs Through Lubbock

West Texas might as well be on a different planet in the eyes of most of America. I bet that prior to Saturday afternoon’s top-10 tilt between BYU and Texas Tech, many folks hadn’t sat down and watched a full Red Raiders game in years, if not decades. It probably hadn’t been since the spectacular upset of then-No. 1 Texas in 2008, when Michael Crabtree single-handedly ended the Longhorns’ dreams of winning a national title, that anybody had paid serious attention to the goings-on in Lubbock.

But 2025 is a year where we’re all turning our eyes to new horizons, and one of those new places is the Texas Tech football program. After paying what seemed like a bajillion dollars over the offseason to essentially overhaul the roster, the Red Raiders find themselves in the driver’s seat to win the Big 12 and subsequently make the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.

There have been impressive wins for Texas Tech throughout the season — the drubbing of Utah particularly comes to mind — yet the complete domination of BYU, a team that hadn’t suffered a loss all year, was extremely impressive. Texas Tech controlled the game from start to finish, and while the 29-7 score is striking, it should’ve been a lot more. The Red Raiders left a ton of points on the field, and had they just scored touchdowns instead of kicking countless field goals, this would’ve been a blowout of epic proportions.

Either way, Texas Tech is well positioned to make the CFP, which is something I’m sure everybody in Lubbock is elated about. After all, that’s why it paid all that money. It appears that investment will be cash well spent.

Read more

The Disney–YouTube TV feud is still ongoing, which is just bananas. Usually, these types of things don’t last this long, but it’s been over a week and Disney networks are still not on YouTube TV’s platform. So, for the second week in a row, those who still have YouTube TV will be unable to watch a good chunk of the college football action today.

This is frankly unacceptable, and those of you who have stayed on the YouTube TV bandwagon deserve some type of compensation from somebody for having to put up with this nonsense. Live sports have kept live television afloat for quite some time, and the fact that the largest digital cable platform in the country doesn’t have access to the networks that broadcast those games is insulting to the consumer.

In last week’s watchlist, I outlined my stopgap measure for how I was going to watch the games. It was originally meant to be just a temporary procedure, but now that this has gone on for another week, I’ve had to branch out to alternative options.

Other platforms like Fubo and Hulu + Live TV — Disney owns both — still have access to ESPN and all the other networks that have gone dark on YouTube TV. DirecTV Stream is also another option for those who might be more familiar with the traditional cable model but still love the ease of access that streaming provides. You can always just get a cable box, too, as that seems to be the option that has the least amount of hassle at the moment (which is insane). Or you could pony up $30 a month for ESPN’s direct-to-consumer product, which little birdies have told me stinks to high heaven.

This conundrum needs to be sorted out soon. YouTube TV is far and away the best at what it does, and it’s a shame that so many have had to pivot elsewhere because of all the shenanigans.

In the meantime, there’s still a litany of football games to watch, and that’s what The Saturday Watchlist is here to tell you about. Below is every game that I plan on watching live today. While I give myself the right to change the channel to something else should the need arise, this is what I’m planning to have on my screens the entire day.

A quick note before we get started: I will be in attendance for Iowa State–TCU, so I’ll most likely have to catch up on everything that occurs in the afternoon window after the fact. That doesn’t mean anything for you or this watchlist — I just thought I’d throw that out there.

Anyway, the football should be good today, and I can’t wait to watch it all. Here’s The Saturday Watchlist for November 8, 2025.

Early Window

Primary Screen: No. 7 BYU at No. 8 Texas Tech – 11 a.m. – ABC
Secondary Screen: No. 2 Indiana at Penn State – 11 a.m. – FOX
Tertiary Screen: No. 5 Georgia at Mississippi State – 11 a.m. – ESPN

Also worth tracking: James Madison at Marshall – 11 a.m. – ESPN2

All eyes will be on Lubbock this morning as BYU gets set to take on Texas Tech in what’s the most gargantuan Big 12 matchup in years. The winner will have the inside track to the Big 12 title game, and the loser could see its hopes of making the College Football Playoff diminish significantly. It’s a battle between a set culture and one that’s relatively brand new. It’s a bout of teams that love to out-physical their opponent and bully them in the process. College GameDayis in the house, and the last time that happened, Michael Crabtree caught a touchdown that sent Lubbock — and the entire college football universe — into an unexplainable tizzy that still resonates with fans of the sport to this day.

The Indiana Hoosiers are a wagon, and their last “real” test before a potential trip to the Big Ten Championship Game will be in (Un)Happy Valley against the flailing Penn State Nittany Lions. It’s been a lost season in every sense of the word for Penn State, but a win over the No. 2 team in the country could help alleviate some of the pains that fans of the school have experienced throughout 2025. Unfortunately, it’s not very likely. The Hoosiers will probably roll as they always do, because at this point, that’s just a fact of life.

Do y’all think that Mississippi State has any chance of taking down Georgia? It’s fine if the answer to that is “probably not,” because I’d agree with you. Yet, I can’t get this feeling out of my head that the cowbells might just work some magic and lift Mississippi State to a shocking upset. After all, Georgia’s been playing with fire all year — wouldn’t this be a great time for it to catch up to them? And Mississippi State’s been close to getting over the hump in big games all season — could this be the day it gets itself a big-time SEC win? I don’t know, but I can’t wait to find out.

Afternoon Window

Primary Screen: No. 9 Oregon at No. 20 Iowa – 2:30 p.m. – CBS
Secondary Screen: No. 3 Texas A&M at No. 22 Missouri – 2:30 p.m. – ABC
Tertiary Screen: Iowa State at TCU – 2:30 p.m. – FOX

Also worth tracking:
Auburn at No. 16 Vanderbilt – 3 p.m. – SEC Network
Syracuse at No. 18 Miami – 2:30 p.m. – ESPN
Stanford at North Carolina – 3:30 p.m. – The CW Network

While I gallivant around Amon G. Carter Stadium, y’all will have the opportunity to witness Oregon and Iowa play in weather that’s straight out of a Christmas rom-com set in Siberia during a snowstorm. OK, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but the forecast of 41 degrees and rainy does not look pleasant. That means this game could be fairly sloppy, which plays right into the hands of the Hawkeyes, who love to muddy up contests with excellent defense and potent work on special teams. If Iowa wins this game, it’ll be in the thick of the CFP hunt with just three weeks to go. Can the country survive watching Iowa play in a CFP game?

Had Missouri quarterback Beau Pribula not gotten hurt against Vanderbilt two weeks ago, this matchup between the Tigers and Aggies would have a lot more juice. Instead, it feels like Missouri is a dead team walking, and Texas A&M is coming up to Columbia to bury it for good.

If you want to watch the game I’ll be attending, tune in to FOX at 2:30 p.m. and catch some Big 12 action between Iowa State and TCU. The Cyclones are out of the conference race, and the Horned Frogs are hanging on by a thread. Should TCU win, it’ll have all its goals in front of it. If it doesn’t, however, some turbulence could set in motion in Fort Worth. If you don’t know what I mean by that, just watch the fallout should the Frogs fall short. Ominous.

Evening Window

Primary Screen: LSU at No. 4 Alabama – 6:30 p.m. – ABC
Secondary Screen: Wake Forest at No. 14 Virginia – 6 p.m. – ESPN
Tertiary Screen: Florida State at Clemson – 6 p.m. – ACC Network

Also worth tracking:
Navy at No. 10 Notre Dame – 6:30 p.m. – NBC
Florida at Kentucky – 6:30 p.m. – SEC Network
California at No. 15 Louisville – 6 p.m. – ESPN2

LSU–Alabama just doesn’t hit like it used to. That’s probably because the Tigers are limping along without a head coach following the firing of Brian Kelly, and Alabama is a literal machine. If this game is competitive, something went terribly wrong for the Crimson Tide.

Virginia saw its name pop up in the CFP bracket for the first time in school history this past Tuesday, which must’ve been an exhilarating feeling. The next step is to keep up the momentum and take care of business against Wake Forest, but teams that haven’t tasted the limelight of November have fallen in this spot many times before — and it wouldn’t shock me if Virginia fell victim to the same curse.

Florida State and Clemson sued the ACC to get more money based on the TV ratings of their games. That was kind of a jerk move, in my opinion, and karma has officially struck back as this game — once seen as a matchup between two heavyweights in the conference — is being aired on the ACC Network, which isn’t even rated by Nielsen. That means that no matter how many people watch this game, the Seminoles and Tigers won’t see a dime of extra revenue.

Late Window

Primary Screen: Nebraska at UCLA – 8 p.m. – FOX
Secondary Screen: Sam Houston at Oregon State – 9 p.m. – The CW Network

The late window is officially dead.

Nebraska just lost quarterback Dylan Raiola for the season. UCLA is playing with an interim head coach who’s exhausted every last drop of good effort from a roster that’s ill-equipped to compete in the Big Ten. It’s going to be an ugly game. If you watch this one, then you’re a real fan of college football.

The main event in the late window is between winless Sam Houston and 2–7 Oregon State. That honestly sounds like a terrible time, but I love college football, and I’ll probably have at least one eye on it before I go to bed.

Here are the schools that have moved on from their current staffs. Remember, this list is only going to grow.

• Stanford (currently filled with interim head coach Frank Reich)

• UCLA

• Virginia Tech

• Oklahoma State

• Oregon State

• Arkansas

• Penn State

• UAB

• Florida

• Colorado State

• LSU

• Auburn

With so many jobs open, there are endless possibilities for how this next coaching carousel turns out. Could we see some big-time splashes from schools like Florida and LSU? Where will Penn State turn after letting go of James Franklin? What about Auburn — how big of a catch are the Tigers, really? And then there are schools like Arkansas and Oklahoma State, which could either turn their programs around in one fell swoop or continue down a path of irrelevancy.

What intrigues me more than the schools themselves is the candidate pool. As each job has opened up, a new hot board of names pops up. The same names make up the majority of these lists, and that’s who I’m going to write about today. Because while some of them are well-known — like Lane Kiffin — others are more obscure, and the casual college football fan might not be aware of who they are. My goal here is to educate everyone on where head coaching candidates might end up — and who they are in the first place.

This is not an exhaustive list — if it were, this piece would be 100,000 words long. No, this is just a simple repository of eight names that I’ve seen floating around as potential new head coaches for the schools that have decided to search for greener grass.

Some of these names are obvious, and some might surprise you. For the ones that are shocking, please give me time to explain — because trust me, there are a couple on here that might knock your socks off.

Note: This list is in no particular order. The order is based on vibes alone, which shouldn’t be surprising to you if you’re a longtime reader of SethStack. Also, only current or former head coaches are a part of this list. To all the offensive and defensive coordinators out there, I’m sorry.

Lane Kiffin

There’s no other way to start this than with the most obvious slam-dunk candidate for most of the big-time jobs that are open. Kiffin’s done wonders for Ole Miss in his six seasons in Oxford, and any school that hires him would get a coach who’s been a surefire winner in the renaissance era of his career. That’s all well and good, but if you’re LSU, Florida, or even Auburn, there’s really only one question that matters: Can you lure him away?

On paper, that answer is simple. Of course Kiffin should jump ship if LSU or Florida offer him the job. After all, aren’t those schools better equipped to compete for a national championship? If this were 2015, the answer would no doubt be yes. But this is 2025 — an era where talent acquisition is more spread out across the board, which by proxy makes it possible to win big pretty much anywhere, Ole Miss included.

At the end of the day, it comes down to what Kiffin wants. If he believes he can win a national championship at Ole Miss — and I believe he can (heck, he’s going to make the College Football Playoff this season) — then staying at a place that’s received him with open arms the entire time he’s been there is the easy choice. But if he wants to live in Gainesville or revive LSU and bring it back to glory, then he’s going to walk out the door.

My gut tells me he’s going to stay with the Rebels, though he hasn’t outright committed to that yet. That might just be Kiffin keeping his cards close to his chest, or it could be a sign that his eyes are drifting. No matter the scenario, wherever Kiffin lands will be getting a coach who’s going to command a pretty penny — and in this day and age, where coaching buyouts are reaching numbers never thought possible, that might not be the wisest decision.

What do I know, though? Money isn’t real in college football. Kiffin could ask for $100 million, and they might give it to him. (I’m not joking.)

Jon Sumrall

The second that Auburn let go of Hugh Freeze this past Sunday, the first name everybody pegged as a perfect fit for the job was Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall. I agree.

Sumrall, a former linebacker at Kentucky in the early 2000s, has won everywhere he’s been. In his two seasons at Troy from 2022–23, he won double-digit games both years and claimed two Sun Belt championships in the process. He then took over Tulane after Willie Fritz departed for Houston and continued to build upon the foundation his predecessor laid. He won nine games a season ago, and at 6–2 so far this season, he’s got the Green Wave in the thick of the American Conference race.

Anybody who’s ingrained in college football will tell you that winning consistently at Troy and Tulane is a difficult endeavor, yet Sumrall has defied the odds in both instances. He’s a bona fide winner — and sometimes that’s the best direction to go when making a hire.

Although he was born in Texarkana, Texas, Sumrall lived most of his life in Huntsville, Alabama. Pair that with his success at Troy (which is in Alabama, if you weren’t aware), and that makes him the perfect fit at Auburn. If I were the athletic director at Auburn, I would’ve sent over the paperwork already.

If Auburn decides to go in a different direction, Sumrall is still an attractive option elsewhere. LSU makes sense, since Sumrall is currently at Tulane in New Orleans. He obviously knows what it takes to win in Louisiana — and that’s one of the most critical parts of being the head coach at LSU. However, the internal politics surrounding the hiring of a coach from an in-state school could make that possibility difficult.

Auburn, just hire this man. I swear you won’t regret it.

Jimbo Fisher

OK, before you start yelling, hear me out.

Actually, feel free to yell — because the fact that Jimbo Fisher’s name is even on a list like this is absolutely insane!

Fisher’s exit from Texas A&M has been beaten to death thousands of times. Everybody knows the Aggies paid him $77 million to not coach for them anymore, and I’d venture to guess they’d call that money well spent given how their season is going at the moment. Still, that ludicrous figure shows just how much of a failure he was in College Station. While he did a good job of assembling a roster filled with talented players, he had no idea what to do with them once they stepped on the field.

The signs that Fisher didn’t have it anymore were apparent to anyone watching his latter days at Florida State — where he did win a national championship in 2013. His offensive system was outdated, his coaching philosophy no longer worked, and he didn’t realize either of those things until it was far too late. All it takes is one look at his ridiculously long collection of plays that he was perusing through every down.

Now Fisher works as an analyst for the ACC Network, but recent reports have signaled that he’s extremely interested in getting back into coaching. There’s also some smoke that prominent people within Auburn would be interested in giving Fisher a look — which, while crazy to the general public, isn’t as wild as you might think when you remember the turbulent entity that is Auburn University.

You and I both know that hiring Fisher to Auburn, or anywhere else for that matter, would result in disaster. Despite amassing the best recruiting class college football had ever seen in 2021, Fisher failed to win more than nine games in a season during his time in College Station.

Don’t do it, Auburn. Don’t do it, Virginia Tech. Don’t hire Jimbo Fisher! (Nothing against Jimbo as a person — I just don’t think he’s a very good football coach anymore.)

Marcus Freeman

If anybody can figure out how to pry Marcus Freeman out of Notre Dame’s cold, dead hands, they’ll be a hero for generations.

Just like with Kiffin — albeit to a lesser degree — Freeman’s name has frequently popped up for some of the bigger SEC jobs, particularly LSU. Again, if this were 2015, leaving Notre Dame for LSU would be a much easier decision. Heck, if this were 2021, it’d be simple — Brian Kelly did the exact same thing I’m proposing here, darting away from South Bend for Baton Rouge, claiming it’d be easier to win with the Tigers than the Fighting Irish. The last several seasons have told us that’s certainly not true.

From the outside looking in, it appears Freeman’s made quite the home at Notre Dame. He was the in-house hire following Kelly’s departure, and the program has embraced him unlike many others in the country. And he’s winning, which makes him an attractive candidate for other jobs.

I’ll just say this: if LSU comes calling, Freeman would be a fool not to at least consider it. Now, I wouldn’t actually leave, but if the offer is enticing, there’s a chance it could happen. Is it likely? No. Is it possible? Definitely.

Mike Elko

This one’s pretty simple: Mike Elko is not going to leave Texas A&M for any other job.

“Then why include him on this list, Seth? Only a dumbo would put someone who’s not actually a candidate for other head coaching positions on a list about people who could become head coaches somewhere else.”

First of all, that’s really rude of you to say. Secondly, Elko’s name did come up after Penn State opened up — and despite what Texas A&M fans might tell you, it made perfect sense. Elko’s from New Jersey, and that’s one of Penn State’s key recruiting areas. It could also be argued that the path to a national championship is easier at Penn State than it is with the Aggies.

OK, now allow me the opportunity to refute those two points. Elko’s New Jersey heritage has nothing to do with where he’d “fit” best. He’s fitting in just fine at Texas A&M, and he has that team competing at its highest level in years. On the second point, I’ll grant you that Penn State doesn’t have to go through the grueling SEC schedule every year — but is the Big Ten really any easier? Would you leave a place that’s willing to build you a statue if you win 10 games? The answer is no to both counts, which means Elko would be a fool to leave.

Ryan Silverfield

Now that the heavy hitters are out of the way, let’s get to some of the lesser-known commodities who might have just as much success at new gigs as the people listed above.

Ryan Silverfield’s been the head coach at Memphis since 2020, and just like Jon Sumrall, all he’s done is win — especially in recent years. The seasons post-COVID weren’t fantastic — the Tigers finished 6–6 in 2021 and 7–6 in 2022 — but the success has been plentiful since then.

Since 2023, Silverfield’s Tigers are a combined 29-6, including an 8–1 mark to start this season. The team is in the thick of the College Football Playoff race, and at a Group of 6 school like Memphis that’s usually spending above the rest of the pack, that’s really all you can ask for.

Silverfield’s name has popped up in a good chunk of the coaching searches in the South, particularly Arkansas. In fact, there was a false report that came out yesterday claiming Silverfield had signed a contract to become the next head coach of the Razorbacks — a report that was shot down as quickly as it went up.

I’m not certain he’d be the first choice for some of the bigger jobs on the market, but with how many openings there are — and a pool of candidates getting slimmer by the day — there could be an avenue for Silverfield to level up regardless. While it wouldn’t be a flashy hire, it’d be one filled with sound logic. Silverfield’s a proven winner — and isn’t that the goal of this whole operation anyway? Let’s not win press conferences. Let’s win football games.

Eric Morris

Get Eric Morris to Fayetteville as soon as possible. This man is a quarterback wizard, and he’d do wonders for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

North Texas is not a football school. Denton is filled with music nerds — I say that respectfully, of course — and students who don’t care much about the blood, sweat, and tears necessary to win on the gridiron. That is, until Morris showed up on the scene with a walk-on quarterback named Drew Mestemaker. Those two have uplifted the Mean Green to a season not seen in many years in Denton, as the team is 8–1 and on the precipice of competing for not only a conference championship but also a spot in the CFP.

His prowess at developing quarterbacks doesn’t stop with Mestemaker. Morris’ first major position was as offensive coordinator at Texas Tech, where he called an offense that ranked second in the country in both total yardage and scoring. Oh, and the quarterback leading the charge for the Red Raiders while Morris was there was none other than Patrick Mahomes. I’m sure you know how that story turned out.

Following his success in Lubbock, Morris became the head coach at FCS Incarnate Word in San Antonio. His crowning achievement there was unearthing the gem that became Cam Ward. After Morris took the offensive coordinator job at Washington State, Ward followed, and after an amazing season in Pullman, transferred to Miami and eventually became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Morris had another quarterback find in his bag while at Washington State. Tapping into his Texas roots, he found John Mateer — a relatively unknown commodity from Little Elm — and helped develop him into a bona fide dude. Mateer is now the quarterback at Oklahoma and has led the Sooners to a wonderful start to their season.

Have I made a good enough case yet? This man can coach an elite offense, and he’s deserving of a chance to prove it at the highest level. Whether that’s at Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Auburn, or anywhere else in the country, Eric Morris will score points — and isn’t that what everybody wants?

Read more

Just because the College Football Playoff started releasing its rankings doesn’t mean that the D Poll isn’t important anymore. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that the D Poll is even more consequential than ever!

While that might be the case, it’s crucial to remember that the CFP committee is aiming to do something entirely different than the D Poll. My ranking is filled with vibes, feelings, winning, and a whole lot more vibes. The CFP ranking is focused more on all those fancy stats that your friend at work tries to talk your ear off about, like success rate, efficiency rating, game control, etc. Those statistics are all well and good, but none of them do much for me in my journey to find the team with the best vibes in the country.

That doesn’t mean that I forgo any of the results on the field when trying to rank teams. For instance, in this week’s poll, Miami is still ahead of Notre Dame despite being eight spots behind the Fighting Irish in the CFP ranking released this past Tuesday night. The inverse is true for Louisville and Virginia — the Cavaliers beat the Cardinals earlier in the year, but the vibes aren’t as great in Charlottesville (at least in my estimation), so they are lower in the ranking.

As with all college football rankings, this is a subjective exercise. What you consider “good vibes” might differ from my definition, and that’s perfectly fine. As long as you understand what this is and what I’m trying to do, you’ll probably find a few fun insights along the way.

Before we get started, I’d like to formally apologize for the lack of a graphic this week. That’s entirely my fault, as I didn’t send in the list to my wonderful graphic designer (my wife) in time. Don’t worry — it’ll return with a bang next week.

Alright, without further ado, here’s the D Poll for Week 11.

1. Texas A&M (NM)

Week 10 result: BYE

2. Indiana (NM)

Week 10 result: 55-10 win at Maryland

3. Ohio State (NM)

Week 10 result: 38-14 win vs. Penn State

4. BYU (NM)

Week 10 result: BYE

5. Alabama (+1)

Week 10 result: BYE

6. Georgia (+3)

Week 10 result: 24-20 win vs. Florida

7. Texas Tech (+5)

Week 10 result: 43-20 win at Kansas State

8. Ole Miss (+1)

Week 10 result: 30-14 win vs. South Carolina

9. Oregon (-2)

Week 10 result: BYE

10. Texas (+10)

Week 10 result: 34-31 win vs. Vanderbilt

11. Oklahoma (+10)

Week 10 result: 33-27 win at Tennessee

12. Utah (+12)

Week 10 result: 45-14 win vs. Cincinnati

13. Louisville (+1)

Week 10 result: 28-16 win at Virginia Tech

14. Miami (-3)

Week 10 result: 26-20 loss at SMU

15. Notre Dame (+2)

Week 10 result: 25-10 win at Boston College

16. Memphis (+2)

Week 10 result: BYE

17. Virginia (+2)

Week 10 result: 31-21 win at California

18. Georgia Tech (-13)

Week 10 result: 48-36 loss at NC State

19. Vanderbilt (-9)

Week 10 result: 34-31 loss at Texas

20. Iowa (+2)

Week 10 result: BYE

21. USC (+4)

Week 10 result: 21-17 win at Nebraska

22. Michigan (NR)

Week 10 result: 21-16 win vs. Purdue

23. Washington (NR)

Week 10 result: BYE

24. James Madison (NR)

Week 10 result: 52-20 win at Texas State

25. Missouri (NR)

Week 10 result: BYE

Here are some of my quick thoughts regarding the Week 11 D Poll:

• Texas A&M retains the top spot for the second week in a row based on just how thorough it was in its domination of LSU. It wasn’t enough that it completely dismantled them on the field; it also sent the governor of Louisiana into a tailspin for all the world to see. And while the Tigers appear to have figured out their coaching search to a certain extent, it’s certainly telling that all it took was one loss to the Aggies for everything to go insane. So, good job Texas A&M — you’re officially a home wrecker.

• The rest of the top 10 was fairly easy to ascertain. Indiana, Ohio State, and BYU are all undefeated, making their placement toward the top a no-brainer. Alabama, Georgia, Texas Tech, Ole Miss, and Oregon have all suffered one loss apiece, so it was simple to lump them together. As for the order, I just went based on head-to-head results, and, as always, vibes.

• Just like the CFP committee, I’m fairly low on the ACC following Georgia Tech and Miami’s losses this past weekend. My projections have just one team from the league making the playoff, which opens up a spot for multiple Big 12 schools to crash the party. At the moment, those spots are BYU and Texas Tech’s to lose, but Utah is right on their tails.

• Unlike the CFP committee, I have two Group of 6 schools included in the D Poll: Memphis and James Madison. Memphis has shown time and again that it can be counted on to win football games (just forget about that loss to UAB — it never happened and was a dream), while James Madison is rated pretty high in my power ratings that I calculate in my head — and on my computer, of course — each week. As such, including the Dukes was necessary for this week’s D Poll.

• Iowa, USC, Michigan, and Washington are all lumped together toward the bottom of the ranking, but each of them has the opportunity to climb up should more victories come along their respective paths. The Hawkeyes have an opportunity to do so against Oregon this Saturday, while USC and Washington will get to do the same later in the season. Meanwhile, Michigan is just chugging along, biding its time until it gets to play Ohio State in Ann Arbor in the last game of the year. If all goes to plan for the Wolverines, a win in that contest could get them a spot in the CFP.

• Astute readers will notice that Tennessee isn’t included, unlike in the AP and the CFP. Well, it has three losses, and, in my opinion, that should eliminate it from consideration for the time being. Now, that doesn’t mean that the Volunteers can’t win some more games and get back up, but there are other teams that deserve a number next to their names, and Tennessee isn’t one of those at the moment.

• As mentioned at the top, I have Miami above Notre Dame. This one seems fairly straightforward to me. Both teams have the same record, and Miami holds the head-to-head victory over the Fighting Irish. Simple enough, right? Wrong. Apparently, it’s hard for people to wrap their heads around the idea that results on the field should matter! I guess it doesn’t mean as much since it was played 11 weeks ago, but if that’s the argument, then whoever is making the argument is dumb. I’m sorry — that was mean. While I don’t take it back, I do acknowledge that it was probably insulting.

• Finally, the vibes are on the rise the most for Utah. After falling in the Holy War to hated BYU, the Utes have captured back-to-back dominant wins over Colorado (53-7) and Cincinnati (45-14). That victory over Cincinnati was enough for me to throw the Bearcats all the way out of the D Poll entirely. Just like with Texas A&M, there’s nothing sweeter than sending a team out the door with not only a loss but with an exit ticket out of the D Poll.

The inaugural College Football Playoff rankings were released tonight on ESPN. If you weren’t able to watch it because 1) it’s a boring show and 2) you don’t have access to it because YouTube TV and Disney can’t stop being high school divas and fighting each other, have no fear! Below is the entire ranking, and while it’s not as important as the D Poll, it’s still crucial to understand where each team stands with four weeks to go in the regular season.

My reaction to this ranking: it’s fine. The top 12 went about as I expected, though Notre Dame’s placement is particularly puzzling. The SEC ruled the day, as it had six teams in the top 12 but only one in the top three.

Surprisingly, the Big 12 was respected more than I thought. Sure, it only had three teams in the ranking — BYU, Texas Tech, and Utah — yet all three were in the top 13. That’s impressive for a league that’s constantly found itself disrespected.

Then there’s the ACC, which has to be in a pit of despair. The highest-ranked team from the league is Virginia at No. 14. That’s… not good. There’s a lot of football left to play, but the situation at the onset doesn’t appear promising.

If the season ended today, the Big Ten would only get three teams into the bracket. That’s the bad news. The good news is that there are several candidates further down the ranking — USC, Iowa, Michigan, and Washington — that could crash the party should things go in the right direction.

For the first time that I can remember, no team from the Group of 6 was included. If that were to continue all the way to the final week, the committee would continue to rank teams past No. 25 until it got to the top-ranked conference champion from the G6. In the case of this week’s inaugural ranking, Memphis is the team that would slot in as the 12 seed.

Without any more dilly-dallying, here’s the first College Football Playoff ranking for 2025:

1. Ohio State (8-0)

Last week: 38-14 win vs. Penn State
This week: at Purdue

2. Indiana (9-0)

Last week: 55-10 win at Maryland
This week: at Penn State

3. Texas A&M (8-0)

Last week: BYE
This week: at No. 22 Missouri

4. Alabama (7-1)

Last week: BYE
This week: vs. LSU

5. Georgia (7-1)

Last week: 24-20 win vs. Florida
This week: at Mississippi State

6. Ole Miss (8-1)

Last week: 30-14 win vs. South Carolina
This week: vs. The Citadel

7. BYU (8-0)

Last week: BYE
This week: at No. 8 Texas Tech

8. Texas Tech (8-1)

Last week: 43-20 win at Kansas State
This week: vs. No. 7 BYU

9. Oregon (7-1)

Last week: BYE
This week: at No. 20 Iowa

10. Notre Dame (6-2)

Last week: 25-10 win at Boston College
This week: vs. Navy

11. Texas (7-2)

Last week: 34-31 win vs. Vanderbilt
This week: BYE

12. Oklahoma (7-2)

Last week: 33-27 win at No. 25 Tennessee
This week: BYE

13. Utah (7-2)

Last week: 45-14 win vs. Cincinnati
This week: BYE

14. Virginia (8-1)

Last week: 31-21 win at California
This week: vs. Wake Forest

15. Louisville (7-1)

Last week: 28-16 win at Virginia Tech
This week: vs. California

16. Vanderbilt (7-2)

Last week: 34-31 loss at No. 11 Texas
This week: vs. Auburn

17. Georgia Tech (8-1)

Last week: 48-36 loss at NC State
This week: BYE

18. Miami (6-2)

Last week: 26-20 loss at SMU
This week: vs. Syracuse

19. USC (6-2)

Last week: 21-17 win at Nebraska
This week: vs. Northwestern

20. Iowa (6-2)

Last week: BYE
This week: vs. No. 9 Oregon

21. Michigan (7-2)

Last week: 21-16 win vs. Purdue
This week: BYE

22. Missouri (6-2)

Last week: BYE
This week: vs. No. 3 Texas A&M

23. Washington (6-2)

Last week: BYE
This week: at Wisconsin

24. Pittsburgh (7-2)

Last week: 35-20 win at Stanford
This week: BYE

25. Tennessee (6-3)

Last week: 33-27 loss at No. 12 Oklahoma
This week: BYE

If the season were to conclude today, Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M, and Alabama would all receive byes to the quarterfinals.

The Hoosiers would play the winner of No. 7 BYU and No. 10 Notre Dame. The game would be played at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo.

Texas A&M would be matched up with the victor of No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 11 Virginia (reminder: the five highest-ranked conference champions get automatic bids, regardless of where they are relative to the top 12), with the game being played in Oxford.

Ohio State’s opponent would be either a rematch with No. 9 Oregon or against upstart No. 8 Texas Tech. The battle between those two teams would be in Lubbock.

Finally, Alabama’s prospects of advancing far could depend on what happens in the first-round game that precedes it. No. 5 Georgia would host Group of 6 representative Memphis in a matchup that probably wouldn’t be all that competitive. Who knows, though? It could be electric, and we just don’t even know it yet.

My advice to everybody overreacting to these first rankings is to take a chill pill. If anything, the first couple of weeks of the CFP rankings are more like a barometer than a thermometer. We’re all just getting a feel for what the committee values and what it doesn’t. At the moment, that picture is still coming together.

And after all, the D Poll comes out tomorrow, so if you’re looking for a ranking that will actually determine how the rest of this season plays out, just defer to that instead.

Throw in the ongoing standoff between Disney and YouTube TV, and not many people actually saw what went down over the weekend. Luckily for you, I caught it all.

Another head coach got fired (shocking, I know), and the ACC race somehow got even wilder. Meanwhile, the Group of Six CFP chase remains a total mess, with a few new teams jumping into the mix. Like I said last week, the final month of this college football season is going to be a doozy, so buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Auburn Fires Hugh Freeze

It seems that each week there’s a new head coach on the coaching block. Sam Pittman, Mike Gundy, James Franklin, Billy Napier, Brian Kelly, and now Hugh Freeze at Auburn. Never before in most of our lifetimes has a coaching carousel been this bananas.

Freeze’s demise at Auburn is quite simple: he couldn’t figure out quarterback. In his two-plus years on The Plains, Freeze had the likes of Payton Thorne and Jackson Arnold under center, and that’s frankly not good enough to compete in the SEC. What’s even more infuriating for Auburn fans is that there were better options available, yet either Freeze didn’t want them or he instead wanted to prove to the world that he could develop any quarterback, no matter the skill level.

It was that hubris that caught up to him in the end, as by the time Freeze’s Tigers lost 10-3 to Kentucky on Saturday night, there was no turning back. Auburn was 15-19 overall and an even worse 6-16 in SEC play under Freeze, and that was a wrap. That’s simply not good enough for a program that believes it can win a national championship. So, for the third time since 2020, Auburn fired its head football coach and is now on the hunt for somebody new to run the operation.

Just like with many of the places that have come open, the internal politics at Auburn will play a role in who the hire ends up being. On the surface, the easy choice is Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall. He grew up in Alabama and was a fantastic coach at Troy before taking the Tulane job. He’s won everywhere he’s been, and that’s something that should carry real weight during his candidacy. If everyone were operating in the right headspace, Sumrall would be a slam dunk, no-doubt-about-it hire. But this is Auburn University, the same school that led a coup to push out Gus Malzahn and then orchestrated an even bigger power play to oust Brian Harsin. There’s no telling which direction this search could take, and given that some of the early hot boards for the job include Jimbo Fisher’s name, we could be in for a bumpy ride.

Texas is Back?

Don’t let the final score fool you: Texas commanded this game from start to finish, albeit with a little bit of an onside kick scare at the end.

For the lucky few who were actually able to watch this game (thanks, Disney and YouTube TV), Texas roared out to a 24-10 lead at the half, and even then it didn’t feel all that close. Everything was working. Arch Manning was throwing dimes — he completed 25 of 33 passes for 328 yards and three touchdowns. For the first time in what feels like forever, his throws had that zip that had been missing for much of the season. He was decisive and poised, which is a perfect recipe for a good day at the office.

Pair that with a running game that, while not dominant, did just enough to get what it wanted. Quintrevion Wisner, who’d struggled to ground and pound all year, carried the ball 18 times for 75 yards and a score. In total, the Longhorns rushed for 100 yards on the day, and while that may not seem like a lot to some, it’s definitely an improvement for a Texas offense that hadn’t been able to get anything going on the ground for much of the season.

With the 34-31 win (again, the final score makes this seem way closer than it actually was), Texas is inexplicably 7-2 and 4-1 in the SEC. For weeks, I have been declaring it dead, but here we are. The team’s goals are still in front of it, and should it go on the road and beat Georgia in two weeks, then we’re facing a situation where the Longhorns — once left for dead — would be right back in the thick of the national title conversation.

For Vanderbilt, the loss is tough but not the end of the world. If anything, it can be proud of how it almost stole victory out of the jaws of defeat with its excellent effort in the fourth quarter. Still, it’s the team’s second loss of the year, which means that any more setbacks would eliminate the Commodores from College Football Playoff contention. Luckily for the folks from Nashville, the schedule is such that winning out the rest of the way isn’t that improbable. But this is college football in 2025, and running the table against Kentucky, Auburn, and Tennessee — as doable as that might seem — won’t be a cakewalk.

Read more

Uhhhhhh, so where are we supposed to watch any of the games today?

If there was ever a day for The Saturday Watchlist, it would be Nov. 1, 2025. Why? Well, two nights ago it was announced that YouTube TV and Disney failed to reach a carrier agreement, meaning that any Disney programming — ESPN included — would not be on the service for as long as an agreement couldn’t be reached. That means we, the consumers, are left in no man’s land searching for ways to watch the football games we so adore.

For a full analysis of the feud between Google and Disney, Deadline wrote a fairly informative article yesterday about the whole ordeal.

There’s really no telling how long this standoff will last, which means there’s no way to know when YouTube TV customers will have access to live sports on ESPN networks. That begs the question: Where can I watch college football today? The answer is quite simple, so long as you’re willing to sign up for a free trial you might forget to cancel. Fubo offers a one-week free trial, which is what I’ll be utilizing. And hey, if you like that option, then you can feel free to sign up for it full time. There’s also a litany of other online streaming options to choose from, such as Hulu + Live TV (Disney really wants you to choose this one) and DirecTV Stream. You can also just shell out $30 a month for ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer service that apparently stinks.

The end-all, be-all for me is that I’m going to find a way to watch football today, whether the bigwigs in conference rooms like it or not. And hey, if you choose pirated means, I will not blame you.

This all really stinks because today’s slate is pretty intriguing. There aren’t a lot of marquee matchups, but the games are still fun, and that’s really all that counts. So, even with all the TV drama, here’s The Saturday Watchlist for Nov. 1, 2025.

Note: All rankings are from the D Poll for Week 10, and all times are CT. Also, I will be watching the World Series tonight — the graphic above is solely meant for college football.

Early Window

Primary Screen: No. 10 Vanderbilt at No. 20 Texas — 11 a.m. — ABC
Secondary Screen: Navy at North Texas — 11 a.m. — ESPN2
Tertiary Screen: No. 11 Miami at SMU — 11 a.m. — ESPN

Also worth tracking:
Penn State at No. 3 Ohio State — 11 a.m. — FOX
Duke at Clemson — 11 a.m. — ACC Network

I’m starting to realize that a lot of the games are on Disney/ESPN networks. I thought monopolies were something eradicated in the early 20th century? Oh, I’m hearing in my ear that that is absolutely not the case.

Anyway, if you figure out a way to access any of this, then Vanderbilt’s tilt against a Texas team that keeps skating by will be a great appetizer (or perhaps even a full meal) for the day ahead. It appears that Arch Manning will play after suffering a concussion in last week’s win at Mississippi State, though how effective he’ll be is still a question.

North Texas has been one of the most wonderful stories in college football to start the year, but its College Football Playoff hopes will be on the line against undefeated Navy at DATCU Stadium this morning. Navy, too, wants to crash the CFP party, yet its tough schedule down the stretch — starting with today’s game in Denton — might make that difficult. If Drew Mestemaker and the Mean Green have anything to say about it, then the Midshipmen will be headed back to Annapolis disappointed.

Apparently the early window is just a Texas Trifecta, as the third viewing option is a crucial ACC matchup between two teams that each have one loss in conference play: Miami and SMU. Did y’all know this is Miami’s first time leaving the state of Florida this season? Isn’t that absolutely nuts?

Afternoon Window

Primary Screen: No. 12 Texas Tech at Kansas State — 2:30 p.m. — FOX
Secondary Screen: No. 8 Georgia at Florida — 2:30 p.m. — ABC
Tertiary Screen: No. 19 Virginia at California — 2:45 p.m. — ESPN2

Also worth tracking:
No. 2 Indiana at Maryland — 2:30 p.m. — CBS

Another game with a team from Texas in it? Anybody from California or Florida is yelling at me to high heaven right now. Anyway, everybody knows about Texas Tech’s big game at home against BYU next week. Before it can tackle that, it has to get through a Kansas State team whose resurgence back to competency has this game looking like anything but a foregone conclusion.

The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party has been Georgia’s to lose for years, and that’s probably not changing this afternoon. Still, in the first game without Billy Napier as head coach, do the Gators come out with a fire to win? We’ll see. The most likely scenario is that the Bulldogs just steamroll, though they really haven’t done that to anybody this year.

Virginia has a good record and deserves to be ranked, but anybody who’s watched the Cavaliers knows they’ve been skating on thin ice all season. Now they have to travel 3,000 miles across the country to Berkeley to face the Golden Bears and star freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (say that five times fast and I’ll give you $100).

Evening Window

Primary Screen: Los Angeles Dodgers at Toronto Blue Jays — 7 p.m. — FOX
Secondary Screen: No. 21 Oklahoma at No. 23 Tennessee — 6:30 p.m. — ABC
Tertiary Screen: No. 25 USC at Nebraska — 6:30 p.m. — NBC

Also worth tracking:
No. 5 Georgia Tech at NC State — 6:30 p.m. — ESPN2
Wake Forest at Florida State — 6:30 p.m. — ACC Network
Kentucky at Auburn — 6:30 p.m. — SEC Network
South Carolina at No. 7 Ole Miss — 6 p.m. — ESPN

Contrary to what The Saturday Watchlist graphic says (thank you to my wife for making that every week!), I’ll be watching Game 7 of the World Series tonight between the Dodgers and Blue Jays. Last night’s game was nuts, and this series as a whole has been filled with so many twists and turns. It all ends this evening in Toronto, and I’m pretty sure the majority of the world — outside of the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area and Japan — is rooting for the Blue Jays to pull it off and win their first World Series since 1993.

If you still have any brainpower to watch anything else, Tennessee will be wearing all-black uniforms — it calls it “Dark Mode” — in a CFP elimination game with Oklahoma. It’s simple: the winner stays alive, and the loser’s fan base falls into such a hole of despair and misery that it most likely goes insane. Sounds fun, right?

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule signed a contract extension the other day, and he’ll get a chance to prove to the school and the fan base that that was money well spent. To do so, he’ll have to accomplish a feat he’s rarely done in his college football coaching career: beat a Top 25 team.

Late Window

Primary Screen: No. 13 Cincinnati at No. 24 Utah — 9:15 p.m. — ESPN
Secondary Screen: Hawai’i at San José State — 9:30 p.m. — CBS Sports Network

If you’re still awake — I trust that you are — then the main event of the day (at least in the college football world) is kicking off late at night in Salt Lake City. The Cincinnati Bearcats have shocked the universe with their quality play, and they’ll get another chance to prove their worth against a Utah team that’s fighting for its Big 12 life. This is going to be so much fun, and apparently College GameDay is there right now. I wish I could watch it!

There’s also the option to tune into a Hawai’i football game, which is always a pleasant experience. One of my dreams in my sports life is to get Hawai’i a home CFP game. That’d just be so much fun.

This week’s D Poll is neither earth-shattering nor shocking. In fact, this might be the most bland ranking I’ve ever put out.

The only notable result that altered the landscape significantly was Texas A&M’s thumping of LSU, which—spoiler alert—vaulted it up to No. 1 in this week’s ranking. If you’re surprised by that, I encourage you to recall what this poll is all about: the vibes. There are no better vibes than winning in Tiger Stadium at night against a team that fancied itself as being in the hunt for the College Football Playoff. Oh, and the Aggies didn’t just beat LSU—they freakin’ clobbered them into obscurity. And what’s even better is that the fallout of the defeat for the Tigers has been utter chaos, as Brian Kelly was fired and the coaching search that’s ensuing has been a clown show to the highest extent. So, yeah, good vibes in College Station.

Everything else remains pretty similar. There’s a new addition toward the bottom in Iowa, who just absolutely dismantled Minnesota, as well as a pretty significant rise for undefeated Navy.

In total, eight SEC schools are ranked, with five landing in the top 10. The Big Ten comes in second with five teams, and the Big 12—my baby—has five. Of the Power 4 conferences, the ACC comes in last with four teams in the D Poll. Only two Group of 5 (or 6) schools are ranked—Navy and Memphis—and the lone independent is, to no surprise, Notre Dame.

Usually, the D Poll would have intense breakdowns of why each team is where they are. That’s usually the best way to explain everything, especially when there’s a ton of movement. But with the top 10 remaining roughly the same, and with the back half of the ranking not having much shifting either, there really isn’t a point. I can assure you that this won’t always be the case. As you’re probably well aware, I’ve been prone to pour 5,000+ words into a D Poll. Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—that is not today.

Here is the D Poll for Week 10. It’s kind of boring, and I apologize for that. Actually, I don’t. We were due for a week where the status quo stayed the same, and frankly, it’s somewhat refreshing.

Note: This is about vibes, feelings, and winning. Just remember that as you go through this list; if you don’t then you’ll probably be confused.

1. Texas A&M (+2)

Week 9 result: 49-25 win at LSU

2. Indiana (-1)

Week 9 result: 56-6 win vs. UCLA

3. Ohio State (-1)

Week 9 result: BYE

4. BYU (NM)

Week 9 result: 41-27 win at Iowa State

5. Georgia Tech (NM)

Week 9 result: 41-16 win vs. Syracuse

6. Alabama (NM)

Week 9 result: 29-22 win at South Carolina

7. Oregon (NM)

Week 9 result: 21-7 win vs. Wisconsin

8. Georgia (NM)

Week 9 result: BYE

9. Ole Miss (+2)

Week 9 result: 34-26 win at Oklahoma

10. Vanderbilt (-1)

Week 9 result: 17-10 win vs. Missouri

11. Miami (+3)

Week 9 result: 42-7 win vs. Stanford

12. Texas Tech (+1)

Week 9 result: 42-0 win vs. Oklahoma State

13. Cincinnati (+3)

Week 9 result: 41-20 win vs. Baylor

14. Louisville (+4)

Week 9 result: 38-24 win vs. Boston College

15. Houston (+4)

Week 9 result: 24-16 win at Arizona State

16. Navy (+5)

Week 9 result: 42-32 win vs. Florida Atlantic

17. Notre Dame (+3)

Week 9 result: BYE

18. Memphis (NR)

Week 9 result: 34-31 win vs. South Florida

19. Virginia (-2)

Week 9 result: 17-16 win at North Carolina

20. Texas (NR)

Week 9 result: 45-38 win at Mississippi State

21. Oklahoma (-6)

Week 9 result: 34-26 loss vs. Ole Miss

22. Iowa (NR)

Week 9 result: 41-3 win vs. Minnesota

23. Tennessee (NM)

Week 9 result: 56-34 win at Kentucky

24. Utah (NM)

Week 9 result: 53-7 win vs. Colorado

25. USC (NR)

Week 9 result: BYE

As I’m sure everybody is aware, Brian Kelly was canned by LSU over the weekend. That piece of news completely dismantled any sort of schedule here at SethStack, and now, for the third consecutive week, the reactions and takeaways column is coming out on a Tuesday. My apologies for the inconvenience.

It was a fun week of college football—it always is—with several key teams emerging as near locks to make the College Football Playoff. We also saw the Big 12 continue to be a modicum of entertainment, the ACC is more chaotic than everybody probably realizes, and the Group of 5’s CFP race, once a foregone conclusion, is now a mess. It’s safe to say that the final five weeks of the regular season are going to be a doozy.

Brian Kelly and LSU Are Done

If you didn’t get the chance to read my full thoughts regarding Kelly’s dismissal from Baton Rouge, you can do so at the link below.

It’s filled with the usual talk about a team that just fired its head coach, but it also features some of my brutally honest thoughts about how Kelly mismanaged his entire tenure at LSU. Frankly, he just wasn’t built for the position, and his firing less than four seasons into his time there makes that loud and clear.

Battered Aggie Syndrome Has Been Cured

Last Thursday, I wrote about how fans of Texas A&M have long been suffering from Battered Aggie Syndrome, a disease that causes their team to give them hope, only for that optimism and expectation to be ripped right out from under them at the worst possible moment. The cure for this ailment was simple: beat LSU. Luckily for the Aggies, that’s exactly what happened.

Texas A&M laid down the hammer on the Tigers, winning 49-25 in a game it was somehow trailing at halftime. The Aggies outscored Kelly’s LSU 21-0 in the third quarter thanks to a five-yard touchdown run by quarterback Marcel Reed, a long punt return for a score by KC Concepcion (he’s awesome), and a wonderful touchdown reception by Jamarion Morrow. Two more touchdowns followed in the fourth quarter, and that was that. Texas A&M went into Tiger Stadium and did what few have done: whip the home team into submission.

The win moves the Aggies to 8-0, marking the first time since 1992 that the program has been undefeated this late into a season. That team went 12-1 and won the Southwest Conference, with the lone loss coming in the Cotton Bowl to Notre Dame.

Obviously, A&M’s aspirations are higher than a mere appearance in the Cotton Bowl. If everything goes to plan, Mike Elko and company will not only make the College Football Playoff, but also win the SEC and potentially even claim victory in the national championship. While that might sound lofty, it’s definitely possible, and Saturday night’s victory exhibited that to the fullest extent. This is not the Aggies of yesteryear; this is a team that can win in every way and doesn’t shoot itself in the foot. Trust me—this is going to be different.

Ole Miss Shuts Down Oklahoma

With all the rumors surrounding the future of Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss, it could’ve been easy for the Rebels to put up a stinker on the road in Norman against the Sooners. Instead, the opposite occurred, and for 60 minutes it was clear who the better team on the football field was, as Ole Miss won 34-26 to keep its aspirations of making it to the CFP for the first time in program history alive.

Oklahoma’s defense had been the staple of the team throughout the first half of the season, but Kiffin schemed his offense to perfection. The Rebels put up 431 total yards of offense on Brent Venables’ unit and controlled the ball for over 35 minutes of game action. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was especially impressive as he threw for 315 yards and ran for 53 more in his second big-time road start as a starter in the SEC.

And while the rushing attack wasn’t all that potent for Ole Miss—on 41 carries, it only had 116 yards, good enough for 2.8 yards per attempt—it was still able to find ways to move the chains and land in the end zone. It never felt in doubt, even when Oklahoma briefly took the lead late in the third quarter. Ole Miss didn’t blink, scored on its next drive, and dominated the rest of the way.

The Rebels are 7-1 and are essentially a lock to make the College Football Playoff barring any disaster. Games against South Carolina, The Citadel, Florida, and Mississippi State remain, and if everything goes to plan, the Rebels could very well be sitting at 11-1 when the regular season concludes.

For Oklahoma, it might be time to panic. The days of racking up “easier” wins in the early part of the schedule are over, and with a foursome of games to end the season that are nowhere near easy—the team plays Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, and LSU—there might be a universe where the Sooners finish the season in the doldrums yet again.

BYU Just Keeps Winning

The human brain is curious. It’s constantly searching for the answers to life’s deepest questions. What happens after death? What is the meaning of the universe? Is Elvis still alive? Stuff like that.

Perhaps the most perplexing nut to crack, however, is the BYU Cougars. Somehow, someway, this team just keeps on chugging along. A team that’s not a top 15 power rated—not power ranked, those are two entirely different things—continues to defy the odds and win close games over and over again. And wouldn’t you know it, they did it again against Iowa State over the weekend!

Down by multiple scores on two separate occasions, BYU took advantage of several Iowa State mistakes to come back and win 41-27 in Ames. Bear Bachmeier threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns, Parker Kingston and Chase Roberts both had over 100 yards receiving, and Faletau Satuala—one of the most underrated defenders in the Big 12—returned an interception back for six. It was an all-around effort that happened despite star running back LJ Martin departing the game in the first quarter due to an injury.

The Cougars, for the second consecutive season, are 8-0 this deep into the season. Last year, it didn’t go to plan as they lost some crucial games down the stretch. With some challenging contests remaining, there are definitely opportunities for BYU to slip up. Conversely, there’s also the chance that the team learns from its mistakes from a season ago, runs the table, and makes the CFP for the first time in program history. If that were to occur, I’d be dumbfounded—not because I don’t believe, but because I’m in awe of what Kalani Sitake has built in Provo.

Rapid Fire Takeaways

• Indiana completely dismantled UCLA. The Bruins were a success story in the making. Interim head coach Tim Skipper had revitalized that entire operation, and the team had won three consecutive games after falling in its first four. Indiana promptly put a stop to all that on Saturday. The Hoosiers never left anything in doubt in their 56-6 win as they put up 475 yards compared to just 201 for UCLA. If you want a clear picture at just how one-sided it was, here’s the end result of UCLA’s drives: interception, punt, turnover on downs, punt, fumble, punt, field goal, end of half, punt, field goal, interception, turnover on downs. Utter dominance. That’s just the Curt Cignetti way.

• Vanderbilt survives Missouri despite lackluster day. For anybody that watched this game from start to finish like I did, I’m so sorry. It was a slog of the highest degree, but it was also slightly entertaining and enthralling. Neither team had any sort of rhythm offensively, yet Vanderbilt made the big plays when it needed to, the largest of which being Diego Pavia’s one-yard touchdown run with 1:52 left in the fourth quarter that gave the Commodores the lead for good. With that score, Vanderbilt moved to 7-1 and kept its dreams intact, while Missouri’s went plummeting into the depths. What’s worse is that starting quarterback Beau Pribula went down with a nasty ankle injury and is probably out for the rest of the regular season.

• North Carolina almost won a game for the second straight week. There’s a lot that can be said about the Bill Belichick experience at North Carolina, but it’s impossible to not admit that this team is improving. To be frank, that doesn’t mean that it’s a good squad, but it was able to take Virginia down to the wire and was literally one inch away from picking up its first ACC win of the season. Of course, that didn’t happen, and the Tar Heels are still bad. Well, they always were.

• The Group of 5 has a new frontrunner. Last week, Memphis lost to UAB, a team that had just fired its head coach the previous week. This past Saturday, Memphis upset South Florida and asserted itself as the top dog in the Group of 5. Down 31-17 in the fourth quarter, Memphis reeled off 17 unanswered and ultimately won after South Florida kicker Nico Gramatica missed a 52-yard field goal. As a result, South Florida’s playoff chances are now slim while Memphis’ once thought to be dead, are back in action. There’s obviously a long way to go in determining which team’s going to represent the G5—and it does seem to change each week—but for now, it’s safe to say that it’s Memphis’ title to lose.

• Texas can’t keep getting away with this. First things first, Arch Manning actually had a pretty good day. If it weren’t for his unfortunate concussion in overtime, he would’ve been able to finish off the miraculous comeback—the Longhorns were losing 38-21 with 12:29 to go in the final quarter and won 45-38. Still, Texas has been playing with fire, and it’s bound to catch up to it at some point down the line. And with Vanderbilt, Georgia, and Texas A&M left on the schedule, it could be coming sooner rather than later. But hey, at least Arch finally had his moment. In all seriousness, that’s awesome, and I hope that there’s a whole lot more of that in the future.

• The Hurricanes wore the worst uniforms in the world. Miami beat Stanford 42-7, which isn’t surprising. What’s abhorrent and shocking, is what it decided to wear onto the football field. I’ll just let the picture below speak for itself.

• Houston goes into Tempe and ruins Kenny Dillingham’s day. Arizona State won the Big 12 last season, but it won’t be doing so this year after Houston came away with an impressive 24-16 victory on Saturday. The Cougars went up 24-0 before having to fight off a furious comeback that was led by Sun Devils’ backup quarterback Jeff Sims after Sam Leavitt went down with an injury. Despite the late-game struggles, Houston might be for real, and at 7-1 it’s a major factor in the race to win the congested Big 12.

• Washington beat Illinois and nobody seemed to notice. Inexplicably, Illinois was ranked this past week, and Washington went ahead and stole its lunch anyway. The Huskies dismantled the Fighting Illini in every which way, and should’ve been ranked themselves following the victory (more on that in the D Poll tomorrow). But the AP decided to disregard them completely, and that’s a shame.

• Iowa’s also not ranked for some reason. Did y’all see what Iowa did to Minnesota? If you didn’t, Iowa scored in every facet of the game—offense, defense, and special teams—and limited Minnesota to just 133 total yards in a 41-3 triumph that delivered the Floyd of Rosedale for tenth time out of the last 11 seasons. Iowa should be ranked, and honestly, it should be in consideration for the playoff. That’s right. The Iowa Hawkeyes, a team that people love to laugh at because they just refuse to play competent offense, could be a playoff team.

• Alabama escapes Columbia. It appeared that the Crimson Tide were going to lose for the majority of the fourth quarter. South Carolina had gone up 22-14 with 10 minutes to go, and all the momentum was on the side of the Gamecocks as a result. But Alabama’s going to Alabama, and it came through in the clutch when it mattered most. The offense unfurled a beautiful seven-plus minute drive to tie the game at 22, and then forced a fumble on the ensuing South Carolina possession that ended up setting up the game-winning touchdown run by Germie Bernard with 34 seconds to go. The Tide are good, and as of right now, are the favorite to win the SEC. I say it every week, but that’s not changing until something or somebody gives me a reason to alter my opinion.