Jackson shared the news with On3’s Hayes Fawcett.

The 6-foot, 234-pound junior Jackson was used sparingly in 2025, earning just 7 carries for 16 yards as the Tigers struggled to a 7-5 season. Jackson’s strongest season in Baton Rouge was his freshman campaign in 2023, when he totaled 33 carries for 165 yards and 4 touchdowns. He followed that up with a sophomore stint totaling 44 carries for 150 yards.

Jackson also flashed range as a pass catcher out of the backfield, hauling in 17 receptions for 132 yards in 3 seasons at LSU.

Jackson’s impending transfer leaves LSU with only 2 scholarship running backs – Caden Durham and Harlem Berry – heading into 2026. So Kiffin and Co. will almost certainly hit the portal to shore up LSU’s depth at the position. Durham finished 2025 as the Tigers’ leading rusher at 505 yards on 106 carries and 3 touchdowns, while Berry totaled 446 yards on 101 carries and 2 TDs.

The Tigers are set to play No. 21 Houston (9-3) in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 27 (9:15 pm ET, ESPN). Kiffin was lured away from Ole Miss in controversial fashion to replace the fired Brian Kelly.

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But the public has quickly pointed to candidates for the job, and many have landed on the same name — Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer

While DeBoer has indicated he is happy remaining in Tuscaloosa to coach the Crimson Tide in preparation for a College Football Playoff first-round matchup at Oklahoma, ESPN pundit Paul Finebaum believes DeBoer should think twice about the Michigan opening – especially if the Tide lose to the Sooners.

“Certainly Kalen DeBoer’s people are putting out the feelers or the word that he is not interested, but that is to be understood – we are one week away from one of the most important games in his 2-year tenure,” Finebaum said Friday on Get Up. “But check back on midnight a week from now. If Alabama wins that game, I think this goes completely off the board and he moves on to the Rose Bowl to take on Indiana.

“But should Alabama lose, I don’t need to tell you what it is like for Alabama to have consecutive 4-loss seasons. I think he would take a deep breath and perhaps look at it, assuming that job is still open. And I would advise him to look at it, because the winter in Alabama after a 4-loss season for two consecutive years for Kalen DeBoer will be very cold.”

RELATED READING: Who will be Michigan’s next head coach? Kalen DeBoer among favorites, per prediction markets

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The recent hire of offensive coordinator Kendal Briles might be a move that keeps Sellers in Columbia, as Briles told reporters Friday morning that he has spoken to the South Carolina quarterback on the phone recently, and he plans to mold his scheme around what Sellers does best.

“It’s really more the offense fitting around him,” Briles said. “He’s the quarterback. He’s touching the ball every single snap. I’m not going to go out there and ask him to do something he’s not great at. We’re going to build the offense around him, and the rest of the personnel, and do things he’s really good at.

“We want him to be comfortable. … We’re going to do the things he feels really comfortable with. I’m excited to work with him. Seems like a great kid.”

And did Briles, who was hired away from TCU to replace Mike Shula at South Carolina, come away with a sense of Sellers’ future plans?

“He’s going to make a decision,” Briles said. “I feel confident that he’s going to be back here.”

Sellers passed for 2,437 yards and 13 touchdowns against 8 interceptions in 2025 for the 4-8 Gamecocks. That output came after a breakout freshman season in 2024 that saw Sellers throw for 2,534 yards and 18 TDs against 7 interceptions in leading South Carolina to a 9-4 record and the Citrus Bowl.

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One of Golesh’s primary tasks has been to assess the Tigers at quarterback. Jackson Arnold has announced plans to enter the transfer portal. Auburn does have returnee Ashton Daniels and talented freshman Deuce Knight back on campus, though, as well as the recent addition of 2026 signee Rhys Brush.

“My intent is not to blow the room up at all. Quite the opposite,” Golesh said to reporters earlier this week. “My intent is to have everybody here that wants to be here. Because I think there’s individually enough talent and enough potential and in a lot of ways, enough production to say man, like we could go win at some point, with you.”

“The one thing I will say is it’s a room full of really, really good dudes that want to get better, want to know what it’s going to take. And then when we’re done with this get-to-know phase, do we need to bring anybody else in? And the intent for us is to have a one and a two and a three that are talented, but also bought into what we’re doing, also able to lead, also can functionally do it, to give us the opportunity to go win games.”

Auburn finished the 2025 season with a 5-7 record and fired coach Hugh Freeze on Nov. 2 after losing to Kentucky at home 10-3. Golesh went 23-15 in his 3 seasons at South Florida before Auburn tapped him to replace Freeze.

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CBS Sports first reported that Callaway had emerged as Tulane’s top offensive coordinator choice. A subsequent report from On3 stated that Tulane and Florida are working through the financial arrangement to make the transaction official.

Callaway served as offensive coordinator and tight ends coach under Billy Napier at Florida in 2024-25 after coaching tight ends in 2023 and working as a defensive intern in 2022. The Valdosta State product and son of former UAB coach Neil Callaway also worked for the NFL’s New York Giants, LSU, Samford, Murray State, and Alabama – the final stop coming with national championship rings in 2011 and 2012.

Hall was hired by Tulane on Dec. 8 to replace Jon Sumrall, who took Napier’s job with the Gators. Hall was promoted from passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach to the top spot after previously serving as offensive coordinator in 2019-20.

Sumrall is continuing to coach the American Conference champion Green Wave (11-2) in the 2025 College Football Playoff, as 11-seed Tulane travels to play 6-seed Ole Miss in a first-round matchup on Dec. 20 (3:30 pm ET, TNT/HBO).

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LSU’s full 2026 schedule was revealed on Thursday night. SEC Network analyst Cole Cubelic said shortly after that the closing stretch is the toughest for any team in the conference next season.

“We know what that (Alabama) game means. That’s one where the physicality is always extra,” Cubelic said during the conference’s schedule reveal show. “That game is usually a bloodbath. So what do you get to do the next week? Turn around and play Texas.

“Then you get to go to Tennessee, one of the most difficult places to play on Earth. Then you go to Arkansas. So, your final 2 games (are) on the road after you play Alabama and Texas. That is a behemoth of a stretch to close the season.

Kiffin takes over the Tigers after Brian Kelly was fired midway through his fourth season in Baton Rouge. Kiffin’s departure from the Ole Miss program was controversial, as both LSU and Florida pursued him while the Rebels were recording their first-ever 11-win season and earning a College Football Playoff berth.

LSU finished the 2025 season 7-5 and will play No. 21 Houston (9-3) in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 27 (9:15 pm ET, ESPN).

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Georgia’s schedule contains the conference’s first-ever 9-game league format. The SEC announced in August it would begin playing 9 conference games for each school beginning in 2026, and that each program will continue to be required to schedule at least 1 opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, or Big 12, or Notre Dame.

The Bulldogs open Sept. 5 at home against Tennessee State and then play host to Western Kentucky on Sept. 12. Georgia then hits the road to begin SEC play at Arkansas on Sept. 19 before returning to Samford Stadium to take on Oklahoma on Sept. 26 and Vanderbilt on Oct. 3.

A highly anticipated rematch of the SEC Championship Game is set for Oct. 10 when Georgia plays at Alabama. The Bulldogs then host Auburn on Oct. 17. Following a bye week, Georgia will play Florida at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Oct. 31.

The Bulldogs then travel to play Ole Miss on Nov. 7. Georgia takes on Mizzou at home on Nov. 14, then goes to Columbia to play South Carolina on Nov. 21. Georgia’s 2026 schedule wraps up Nov. 28 with a home date against Georgia Tech.

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LSU’s complete schedule, which was released Thursday following the 2026 SEC schedule reveal, contains the conference’s first-ever 9-game league format. The SEC announced in August it would begin playing 9 conference games for each school beginning in 2026, and that each program will continue to be required to schedule at least 1 opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, or Big 12, or Notre Dame.

After the opener against ACC power Clemson and a Sept. 12 home matchup against Louisiana Tech, LSU hits the road for the first time on Sept. 19 for its SEC opener. That game will be none other than the hotly anticipated matchup against Ole Miss – Kiffin’s former team and one he spurned during the Rebels’ journey to the 2025 College Football Playoff.

LSU returns home Sept. 26 to play Texas A&M and then Oct. 3 against McNeese before heading back on the road for an SEC game against Kentucky on Oct. 10. Mississippi State heads to Baton Rouge to take on the Tigers on Oct. 17, and then LSU travels to play Auburn on Oct. 24.

Following a bye week, LSU has back-to-back home dates against Alabama on Nov. 7 and Texas on Nov. 14 before finishing the regular season on the road at Tennessee on Nov. 21 and at Arkansas on Nov. 28.

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Those dates, which were released Thursday during the 2026 SEC schedule reveal, is part of the conference’s first-ever 9-game league format. The SEC announced in August it would begin playing 9 conference games for each school beginning in 2026, and that each program will continue to be required to schedule at least 1 opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, or Big 12, or Notre Dame.

The consecutive road trips are a part of a monster closing month for Alabama. The Crimson Tide will go to Death Valley to take on Lane Kiffin and the Tigers before heading to Nashville to take on the Commodores in a rematch of the 2024 upset victory by Vanderbilt that knocked Alabama out of its No. 1 national ranking.

Alabama is 58-27-5 all time against LSU, and the Tide holds an impressive 30-10 record against the Tigers in games played in Baton Rouge. Alabama is 61-20-4 all time against Vanderbilt.

After a tune-up Week 12 matchup against Chattanooga, Alabama will finish the 2026 regular season Nov. 28 against arch-rival Auburn in Tuscaloosa.

Under the new format, the SEC will continue with a single-standings, non-divisional structure. Each school will play 3 annual opponents, focused on maintaining many traditional rivalries. Each team’s remaining 6 games will rotate among the remaining conference schools and each team will face every other SEC program at least once every 2 years and every opponent home and away in 4 years.

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That news was reported by On3’s Brett McMurphy on Thursday.

Created in 2020 to be played in SoFi Stadium but postponed a year due to COVID-19, the LA Bowl was formed to match the Mountain West champ annually against a Pac-12 team. But the game’s fate was altered when conference realignment gutted the Pac-12 – losing 10 programs to the Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC.

The game’s 6-year contract concludes after this season. In its history, the LA Bowl has had 4 official names: Bucked Up LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk (2025), Art of Sport LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk (2024), Starco Brands LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk (2023), and Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl presented by Stifel (2021–2022).

The Bahamas Bowl also no longer exists, replaced by ESPN in this season’s bowl lineup by the Xbox Bowl in Frisco, Texas.

Mountain West champ Boise State (9-4) and Washington (8-4) meet Saturday (8 pm ET, ABC) in an LA Bowl matchup that features two standout quarterbacks. Huskies QB Desmond Williams Jr. passed for 2,850 yards and 21 touchdowns against 8 interceptions in 2025. Boise State QB Maddux Madsen finished with 2,283 passing yards and 18 touchdowns against 7 interceptions this season.

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Kiffin’s LSU Tigers will meet the Ole Miss Rebels in Oxford on Sept. 19, 2026.

That date, which was released Thursday during the 2026 SEC schedule reveal, is part of the conference’s first-ever 9-game league format. The SEC announced in August it would begin playing 9 conference games for each school beginning in 2026, and that each program will continue to be required to schedule at least 1 opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, or Big 12, or Notre Dame.

Kiffin bolted Ole Miss for Baton Rouge after the Rebels completed their first-ever 11-win regular season and a week before the team learned it was the No. 6 seed in the upcoming College Football Playoff. Kiffin replaced the fired Brian Kelly at LSU, and former defensive coordinator Pete Golding replaced Kiffin at Ole Miss.

Under the new format, the SEC will continue with a single-standings, non-divisional structure. Each school will play 3 annual opponents, focused on maintaining many traditional rivalries. Each team’s remaining 6 games will rotate among the remaining conference schools, and each team will face every other SEC program at least once every 2 years and every opponent home and away in 4 years.

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According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, Arkansas is hiring TJ Rushing to coach defensive backs. A subsequent report from FootballScoop’s John Brice stated that Arkansas is also adding Arizona’s Gaizka Crowley as its new general manager.

Rushing most recently coached safeties at Auburn in 2025 and has coached defensive backs previously at Texas A&M from 2020-23, Memphis from 2018-19 under Silverfield, Arizona State from 2016-17, and Northern Arizona in 2015. The former Stanford player recorded 4 seasons in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts.

Crowley was lured to Arkansas from Arizona, where he has served as general manager for the past 2 seasons under coach Brent Brennan. The 17th-ranked Wildcats improved to 9-3 in 2025 after going 4-8 in 2024. Prior to Arizona, Crowley worked in the same role at Western Michigan and in personnel departments at Eastern Illinois and UNLV. He also worked at XOS Digital, a company that aids coaching staffs in roster analysis and scouting.

Silverfield was hired Nov. 30 to replace Sam Pittman, who was fired by Arkansas on Sept. 28 after a disastrous 56-13 home loss to Notre Dame. Pittman recorded a 32-34 overall record in Fayetteville in 5-plus seasons, including a 14-29 mark in SEC play.

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“Michigan is one of the best jobs in college football, and obviously in this era has myriad resources that it can leverage,” Thamel said. “We saw that with the Bryce Underwood signing last year. It also comes at a time where we have seen about a dozen power jobs open and big coaches move, and about a half-dozen really high-profile coaches get extensions or get close to being extended.

“So, in theory, the pool for Michigan is smaller than it would have been if the job had opened in the traditional hiring and firing timeline.”

Thamel went on to say that the Wolverines will likely want to gauge Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer’s possible interest before working through any other coaches on their target list.

“I was told this morning that the timing won’t quell Michigan’s ambitions. Michigan, institutionally, feels like it can still go get a great coach,” Thamel said. “Michigan officials are in shock right now. It is hard to overstate the human nature to this here. I don’t expect a decision in 48 hours, in terms of having to gather yourself. There’s going to be a lot of board input on this. How much say does (Michigan AD) Warde Manuel have in this hire going forward will be a question.

“It is going to be, from a pure football standpoint, perhaps the most compelling search in this whole cycle.”

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The voting totals for spots 5-10 were released by the Heisman Trust on Thursday night, with 2 SEC quarterbacks among the vote-getters.

Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez finished fifth in the Heisman voting, with Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith at No. 6.

Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton earned the seventh-most points in the Heisman voting, with Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss at No. 8. Ohio State safety Caleb Downs finished ninth in the voting and Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King at No. 10.

Notably, Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson – the betting favorite at one point in October – did not finish among the Top 10 vote-getters.

Ohio State’s 3 top-10 finishers mark the seventh time in the last 8 years that there has been at least 2 players from the same team in the Heisman Top 10 balloting – and the first time there has been 3 in the Top 10 since Alabama’s DeVonta Smith, Mac Jones, and Najee Harris finished first, third and fifth, in 2021.

The winner of the 2025 Heisman Trophy will be announced Saturday night on ABC. Mendoza is the favorite, per the latest Heisman odds.

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Williams was the 50th-ranked overall prospect in the 2023 class.

The redshirt sophomore spent 3 seasons with the Longhorns, totaling 41 solo tackles, 34 assisted stops, 2 passes defensed, a forced fumble, and an interception. Williams appeared in 13 games as a freshman, recording 24 solo stops with 2 tackles for loss. He played 3 games as a sophomore in 2024 before sustaining a season-ending injury and returned in 2025 to appear in 12 games.

Texas just finished a 9-3 regular season with losses to then-No. 3 Ohio State, Florida, and then-No. 5 Georgia. Despite upsetting then-No. 3 Texas A&M 27-17 in the regular-season finale to hand the Aggies their first loss of the season, along with ranked wins against then-No. 6 Oklahoma and then-No. 9 Vanderbilt, Texas was left out of the College Football Playoff.

The outcome marked the first time since 2022 that the Longhorns both missed the CFP field and failed to play for their conference championship. No. 13 Texas is set to play No. 18 Michigan in the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31 (3:30 pm ET, ESPN). The bowl game will mark just the third time Texas has played Michigan, beating the Wolverines 38-37 in the 2004 Rose Bowl and then downing UM 31-12 in Ann Arbor in 2024.

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Kilgore made this announcement on his X account on Thursday, saying, “After deep reflection and prayer, I believe it is in my best interest to take the next step in my journey. With gratitude for all that South Carolina has given me, I am announcing that I will forgo the remainder of my collegiate eligibility and declare for the NFL Draft.”

Kilgore, a 6-foot-1, 211-pounder from Eatonton, Georgia, recorded 32 solo tackles with 22 assists, 10 passes defended, and 2 interceptions in 2025. Kilgore made 31 solo stops with 5 passes defended and 5 interceptions – which tied for the SEC lead – in 2024.

Kilgore recorded 46 solo stops with 6 pass defenses, a forced fumble, and an interception as a freshman in 2023 en route to freshman All-SEC and freshman All-American honors. He is projected to be a middle-round draft selection as a safety in early mock drafts.

South Carolina finished 4-8 overall and 1-7 in SEC play in 2025. The Gamecocks’ pass defense ranked 60th in the NCAA in passing yards allowed at 216.3 yards per game – a mark that ranked eighth in the SEC.

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Hardy transferred from UL-Monroe to Mizzou and made an instant impact in 2025, rushing for 1,560 yards on 241 carries and 16 touchdowns. Hardy also caught 6 passes for 22 yards for the 8-4 Tigers, who are set to play No. 19 Virginia (10-3) in the Gator Bowl on Dec. 27 (7:30 pm ET, ABC).

Hardy, who is among the 3 national finalists for the prestigious Doak Walker Award given to the nation’s top running back, led the nation in rushing on a per-game basis (130.0 YPG) while leading all Doak Walker finalists and ranking second nationally in rushing

Hardy racked up 8 100-yard games and just the sixth 300-yard rushing performance in SEC history against Mississippi State on Nov. 15 – gashing the Bulldogs for 300 yards on 25 carries and 3 touchdowns. His 16 rushing scores ranked fourth nationally, and Hardy rushed for 281 more yards than any other back in the SEC.

As a unanimous choice, Hardy was one of 3 AP All-SEC first-team selections, joining offensive linemen Keagen Trost and Cayden Green. Mizzou linebacker Josiah Trotter and defensive tackle Chris McClellan were named to the second team.

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While sportswriters were doing double duty as police-beat reporters throughout Michigan, speculation quickly turned to who would replace the fired Sherrone Moore as leader of the Wolverines football program. One name that immediately popped up as a possibility, though, made absolutely no sense…

Kalen DeBoer.

Why on Saban’s green earth would DeBoer leave an Alabama program he has finally gotten his hands around late in Year 2 to take over an abject disaster in Michigan? Why would a coach with all the resources at his disposal, not to mention positive momentum finally in his sails, cut bait and take over a Wolverines program that is careening headlong into the ditch at maximum speed?

Oh sure, Michigan apologists will claim DeBoer’s distant-memory in-state ties as a reason to become the savior of a program-redefining scandal with each passing news cycle. And the same Michigan apologists will claim that their rich history and pedigree is enough of a lure for a tippy-top-tier coach to abandon a Good Ship Crimson that has finally crested another high Tide.

But here’s a news flash, my fine deluded Wolverine friends: Michigan isn’t on Alabama’s level. Not now, and minus a Connor Stalions-aided burst of glory in 2023, not for the past 2 decades.

I have a unique relationship with birthright legacy, having performed journalism inside Alabama’s borders for a good many years. The amount of Crimson Tide faithful who hadn’t ever stepped foot in a college classroom yet adored and still adore the Crimson Tide in the state could fill an NFL stadium. Same goes for many stops in the SEC … it’s simply part of the territory and what makes the ad slogan “It Just Means More” particularly accurate.

The same goes within the borders of the Wolverine State. With 12 claimed national titles, 45 Big Ten crowns and the most all-time wins in FBS history (1,021 and counting), Michigan’s blood is as blue as it gets in the sport. And Wolverine Nation is in fact nationwide, as you can’t walk a city block from coast to coast without encountering a Michigan fan good and ready to tell you they are a Michigan fan.

But here’s the thing Michigan Man (and Michigan Woman) is forgetting: Alabama became the new and once-again gold standard in college football the moment Nicholas Lou Saban stepped on the Capstone campus. Not only did Saban awaken the echoes that had gone dormant from years of scandal and malaise in the post-Bryant era, but he raised Alabama to unforeseen heights.

In the wake of Saban’s retirement in January 2024, it is true Alabama took a step down from the sport’s ziggurat in DeBoer’s star-crossed first season – a 9-3 regular season that saw the Tide miss the College Football Playoff for the just the third time in the CFP’s existence.

That step backwards had some grumbling that DeBoer might not be The Man to replace Saban and continue the insanely high standards that delivered 6 national titles in 17 seasons. But DeBoer calmly steered Alabama through a tumultuous 2025 that began with a shocking loss at Florida State and ended with a harrowing victory at Auburn to get back to into the CFP field once again.

Is DeBoer the perfect coach to lead Alabama to more glory in the post-Saban era? It is impossible to answer that question in real time, other than to note that going from 9-4 to 10-3 with a harsh schedule, all those grumblings and his predecessor casting a literal shadow on campus and on television is definite progress.

And because of Alabama’s obscene success since Saban bolted the Miami Dolphins for Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide have the financial wherewithal to continue the upward momentum moving forward. NIL money – both harvesting and spending on talent – has continued apace with DeBoer, and Alabama’s facilities are the envy of the nation.

DeBoer himself earned $10.25 million in 2025 as part of an 8-year, $87 million contract he signed when he left Washington for Alabama – placing him among the top 10 highest-paid coaches in the country.

Michigan, on the other hand, is a straight-up mess right now. Face it, Jim Harbaugh bolted Ann Arbor in 2023 the nanosecond he got his national championship ring and seconds ahead of the NCAA coming after him for the illegal scouting and sign-stealing scandal that should have tainted the 15-0 title season way more than it did (ironically, including nipping Alabama in overtime in the CFP semifinals in what ended up being Saban’s final game).

Harbaugh’s departure begat Moore, who immediately took on some sign-stealing sanctions of his own but also kept the shine going just enough to upset Ohio State in 2024 – a loss that helped fuel the Buckeyes to end up going on a CFP title run of their own.

Moore served 2 more games’ worth of suspensions for the sign-stealing scandal in 2025 but had otherwise seemingly brought calm to the Wolverines en route to a 9-3 season. But alas, all that calm turned into chaos Wednesday when Moore was fired for cause by Michigan due to “credible evidence” that Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.

That insanity is still unfolding at this very minute, but the ripple effect of Moore’s self-destruction only further lends to the belief that Michigan is not a program to take over right now. The Wolverines’ newly signed recruiting class is probably looking for alternate 2026 options, several existing Michigan players are also throwing out feelers for transfer portal opportunities, and who knows what kind of effect all of it will have on NIL funding – which we all know is the secret sauce to the new world of college football.

So why, exactly, would DeBoer leave a proven winner with virtually unlimited resources that he has trending upward for a program wrapped up so far in scandal that it can’t find the thread to pull to begin untangling it all?

What Michigan needs is a full-on, control-alt-delete reset – just as Alabama did when it hired alum Mike Shula to coach the football team in the wake of the Mike Price drama and ongoing NCAA hurdles. The Wolverines simply need to keep their noses clean for a couple years, put the twin dramas of sign-stealing and Moore in the rearview mirror and regroup.

So don’t worry too much, Crimson Nation. It is simply too illogical for DeBoer to depart Alabama right now – especially for Michigan. There is too much to lose and just not enough to gain.

The post Kalen DeBoer would be crazy to leave Alabama for Michigan appeared first on Saturday Down South.

ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky came down on the Notre Dame side of things, arguing on Monday’s Get Up show that Alabama should have been passed over by the Fighting Irish for a Playoff spot.

“Notre Dame should have been in over Alabama. I am 100 percent onboard with having Miami in because of that head-to-head point. … Alabama hasn’t played good football in a month,” Orlovsky said “I said Friday if Alabama gets boat-raced they I would leave them out, and they got boat-raced. They didn’t look good in that game, they didn’t look good against Auburn, they didn’t look good against OU. Shoot, they didn’t look good against LSU like 5 weeks ago.

“Notre Dame, unequivocally, is a team that people can sit there and say ‘Yes, they could win a national title.’ The way Alabama has played, at least in the last 4-5 weeks, is not a team right now that can win a national championship.”

No. 9 seed Alabama (10-3) plays at No. 8 seed Oklahoma (10-2) in a Playoff first-round game on Dec. 19 (8 pm, ABC/ESPN).

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Among those hashing it out was ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, who appeared on the First Take television show Monday morning to question the strength of Notre Dame’s brand given their declining television ratings.

“Notre Dame makes all that money off that NBC contract, but does anybody watch these games? No,” Finebaum said. “The problem is they think they’re great, but they’re not. They’re not the draw they used to be. That has nothing to do with the Playoff, it just has to do with the fact that their brand – as good as they say they are – isn’t as good as the SEC brand or the Big Ten brand.”

Finebaum specifically referenced a Week 8 college football slate that saw Notre Dame take on USC – a game that averaged 4.64 million viewers on NBC. That ranked fourth in the sport over the weekend, well behind a trio of SEC matchups in Ole Miss–Georgia (9.79 million on ABC), Tennessee–Alabama (8.01 million on ABC) and LSU–Vanderbilt (5.94 million on ABC).

Notre Dame’s current contract with NBC allows the network to broadcast all Fighting Irish home games and Peacock to exclusively stream select games. That deal, which runs through 2029, pays the school a reported $50 million per year.

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Barrie took aim at one of the factors that could have helped Notre Dame toward inclusion in the CFP — being an independent instead of playing in a Power 4 conference.

“You are the University of Notre Dame. You are brand in college football. You are one of the founding fathers of what makes this sport great. You should not have the right to do this as a team,” Barrie said on Sunday’s Championship Drive Bowl Breakdown show. “If you want to figure it out, and don’t want to opt out of a bowl game as the University of Notre Dame, I can fix this whole thing with you with one phone call.

“‘Hi, can we join your conference?’ You can not be an independent, control your own schedule, and then pout when you don’t get in when you don’t have the conference championship at your wake. It’s not hard.”

Notre Dame has competed as an independent throughout history in football, though the Fighting Irish’s other athletic offerings have competed in the Big East and the ACC throughout the years.

Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua is expected to hold a press conference on Tuesday.

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That’s according to a report from CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz:

Johnson has coached Florida State running backs as well as served as the Seminoles’ recruiting coordinator since 2020. He previously worked in the SEC at Tennessee, coaching the Volunteers running backs in 2019 and their wide receivers in 2018.

Johnson, who was a 2-time all-conference wide receiver at Nicholls State in 1992 and 1993, also has collegiate coaching experience at Memphis and Tulane.

Arkansas is coming off a 2-10 season that saw the Razorbacks lose 10 straight after season-opening home victories against non-conference opponents Alabama A&M and Arkansas State. That performance led to Sam Pittman being fired on Sept. 28 and Bobby Petrino being named interim coach.

Silverfield, whose Memphis team beat Arkansas 32-31 earlier in the season, was named the Razorbacks head coach on Nov. 30.

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Banks played defensive back at Central Michigan from 1990-94 before beginning his coaching journey at Bowling Green. He also coached at Ferris State, Memphis, Maryland, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Illinois and Penn State before joining Josh Heupel’s staff at Tennessee in 2021.

Tennessee entered 2025 projected to have one of the best defenses in college football, but the Volunteers finished the season ranked outside the top 60 nationally in yards per play allowed and 92^nd in scoring defense at 28.8 points per game allowed.

Although Tennessee played without its top 2 defensive backs for much of the 2025 campaign, the Volunteers also struggled against the run – giving up 3.92 yards per carry to rank 11th in the SEC en route to an 8-4 finish.

Tennessee will now move forward without a defensive coordinator while preparing for the Music City Bowl against Illinois. The Volunteers play the Fighting Illini (8-4) on Dec. 30 at 5:30 pm, with ESPN set to broadcast the game.

Here is some of the social media reaction surrounding Monday’s news about Banks’ departure from Tennessee:

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“I’m coming back, I’ll be back,” Reed said on the Outta Picket with RGIII podcast.

Reed led the Aggies to an 11-1 record and a 2025 College Football Playoff berth by passing for 2,932 yards and 25 touchdowns against 10 interceptions. Reed also added 466 rushing yards on 89 carries with 7 touchdowns.

In his 3 years in College Station, Reed has passed for 5,170 yards and 41 touchdowns with 17 interceptions, as well as rushed for 1,058 yards and 14 scores. Texas A&M’s offense ranked 34^th in the country in passing yards and 261.8 yards per game, and 14^th in the nation at 36.3 points per outing.

Texas A&M was on the cusp of earning a trip to the SEC Championship Game before a regular season-ending 27-17 loss to Texas. The Longhorns earned the No. 7 seed in the CFP bracket and will host No. 10 seed Miami in a first-round Playoff game Dec. 20 (Noon ET, ABC/ESPN).

The Aggies are 2-3 against Miami all time, including a 48-33 loss last season in Miami Gardens.

The post Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed confirms plans for 2026 season appeared first on Saturday Down South.

“I still didn’t think the committee watched that game and was thinking ‘This team will free-fall out of the Playoffs’, because if anything, Alabama’s metrics improved after the game against Georgia – which is mind-blowing,” McElroy said. “They lost the game convincingly, which is totally true and totally fair. But they increased their strength of schedule 6 spots … So I was not surprised to see Alabama fall in.”

McElroy went on to say that the CFP selection committee probably was cognizant of not wanting to overly penalize a potential Playoff team for losing in a conference championship.

“I don’t think the committee wants to set a precedent where they are disincentivizing participation in the championship game,” MeElroy said. “These conferences are very powerful. These conferences are very important. And if you all of a sudden, from the committee’s standpoint, are telling the SEC or the ACC or the Big Ten ‘We are really going to hold the teams accountable that lose in the conference championship game’, you are basically telling teams not to play in the conference championship game.”

Here’s video of McElroy’s full comments:

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Bevacqua appeared on the Dan Patrick Show to discuss his issues with the process that led Notre Dame to believe it had made the 12-team bracket. The Fighting Irish were ranked ahead of Miami in the penultimate rankings release before sliding behind the Hurricanes on Sunday despite both teams being idle on conference championship weekend.

“I get why people think it is sour grapes. But it is disappointment. We take this seriously, as do other universities,” Bevacqua said on The Dan Patrick Show. “The rankings can’t just be musical chairs at some fifth-grade birthday party. They have to mean something. To me, what happened to us, is alarming.”

Bevacqua added that the CFP selection committee’s apparent comparison of Notre Dame to Alabama in the preliminary weekly rankings gave the Irish a false sense of scope.

“Listen, everybody kind of wants to do right by their team. We felt like did what we needed to do this season to earn a spot in the College Football Playoffs,” Bevacqua said. “We feel that we have one of the very best teams in the country, and the majority of people who follow this sport so closely agree.

“Every indication that we had from that first ranking suggested that the committee agreed with us. We were always being compared to Alabama, and we couldn’t possibly have ended the season better than we did.”

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Bevacqua made his comments during an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show.

“I have tremendous respect for Miami. Great team, great school, and their athletic director Dan Radakovich is a good friend. And all the teams in the ACC, wonderful universities. We have no gripes about any of the schools in the ACC,” Bevacqua said. “But we were mystified by the actions of the conference to attack, really, their biggest business partner in football and a member of their conference in 24 other sports.

“I wouldn’t be honest with you if I didn’t say that they have certainly done permanent damage in the relationship between the conference and Notre Dame.”

Patrick asked Bevacqua to expound on what he meant, and the Notre Dame official did just that.

“We didn’t appreciate the fact that we were singled out repeatedly and compared to Miami. Not by Miami – Miami has every right to do that,” Bevacqua said. “But it raised a lot of eyebrows here that the conference was taking shots at us. That is not something we chose to do here … and it isn’t something we would be comfortable with.”

While Notre Dame is not an ACC member in football, the Fighting Irish are ACC members in 24 other sports and have a football scheduling arrangement with the conference.

The ACC made numerous social media posts and programming decisions in recent weeks that Notre Dame seems to have taken exception to. Here’s a clip of Bevacqua’s comments:

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That’s according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz:

Johnson starred at Ole Miss and was drafted in the second round by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2005 NFL Draft. He played for the Vikings – during which Silverfield coached him – along with the Raiders and Buccaneers before retiring in 2010. Johnson coached at Duke, Mississippi State, Missouri and Purdue before joining the Buckeyes as an analyst for the 2025 season.

Myers starred at Toledo for 3 seasons from 2012-14 before moving into coaching at Toledo, Iowa State and Memphis. He has coordinated the Tigers’ running game and coached the offensive line for 2 seasons.

Silverfield ascended from the Memphis assistant coaching ranks to take over the Tigers in 2020 and lead them to an 8-4 record in 2025. In his 6 seasons in charge, Memphis went 50-25 with 7 bowl appearances and 4 bowl victories.

Silverfield takes over at Arkansas after Sam Pittman was fired following 5-plus seasons in which he went 32-34 overall and 14-29 in SEC play.

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Texas running back CJ Baxter reportedly is set to depart the Longhorns via the portal after 3 seasons in Austin that included a standout freshman campaign in 2023. That’s according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel:

Did you know Underdog Fantasy is legal in Texas? Don’t miss out on the action during the College Football Playoff!

Baxter was named the Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year in Texas’s final season in the conference in 2023 after rushing for 659 yards on 138 carries and 5 touchdowns. Baxter sustained a season-ending knee injury prior to the 2024 season, tearing the lateral and posterior collateral ligaments in his right knee.

The redshirt sophomore was used more sparingly behind starter Quintrevion Wisner in 2025, totaling 54 carries for 196 yards. He is also effective out of the backfield, catching 24 passes for 156 yards in 2023 and adding 12 receptions for 41 yards and a touchdown this season.

Texas (9-3) earned the No. 13 ranking in the final College Football Playoff standings and is set to play No. 18 Michigan in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Eve (3 pm ET, ABC). The Longhorns and Wolverines have played twice throughout history, with Texas winning both times – including an electrifying 38-37 win in the 2005 Rose Bowl to win the national championship.

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Admittedly, your humble scribe is in that camp – as I believed and still believe the Crimson Tide effectively played their way out of the 12-team CFP field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday night. Alabama looked middling at best, wandering at worst, and most definitely not of Playoff caliber against the SEC champion Georgia Bulldogs.

But here’s the thing about sports: Bad calls made by humans are a part of the process, and now it is up to Alabama to prove the many, perhaps most, that we were very much wrong about Alabama belonging in the 2025 CFP field.

The 10-3 Crimson Tide will now spend the next 11 days preparing for an Oklahoma Sooners team they already know very well, having played the Sooners less than a month ago. Of course, said 23-21 loss at Bryant-Denny Stadium was part of the reason the Tide were hat-in-hand in front of the CFP selection committee in the first place.

That sun-splashed afternoon was one of the stranger ones of the season for Alabama, in that the Tide almost doubled up Oklahoma in offensive yards and owned the football for almost 9 more minutes than the Sooners. But the combination of 3 Alabama turnovers, the first glimpses of Ty Simpson instability, missed Tide field goals and dodgy special teams was good enough for Oklahoma to pull the upset for a second-straight season.

Alabama had finally gotten wet after an 8-game run of dancing between the raindrops that day, but without knowing it the Tide also got all the prep tape it could possibly need for the upcoming CFP first-round test.

And because nearly all the mistakes that cost Alabama its second regular season loss on Nov. 15 are correctable issues, not to mention the next 11 days are vitally important to get assets like running back Jam Miller, tight end Josh Cuevas and defensive lineman LT Overton healthy, the Alabama that trots out to take on the Sooners in Norman will likely be a far more dangerous unit that the one that tucked tail in Atlanta.

Naturally, Oklahoma will want a word about that. Quarterback John Mateer appears completely healed from midseason hand surgery and the Sooners gritted their way through season-ending victories against No. 22 Mizzou and LSU by a combined 14 points. Coach Brent Venables’ defense hasn’t gone anywhere, either, as the Sooners own the 7th-best scoring defense in the nation allowing just 13.9 points per game.

Should Alabama get out of Norman without being run over by the Sooner Schooner – literally or figuratively – No. 1 Indiana (that still feels foreign to type…) beckons in the Rose Bowl.

That New Year’s Day matchup in Pasadena would actually be more unique to the Hoosiers than the Crimson Tide. Why? Because it has been 58 years since Indiana last played in Padadena (a 14-3 loss to USC in the 1968 Rose Bowl).

Alabama, on the other hand, has played in Pasadena twice in the 21st century – downing Texas 37-21 to win the program’s 13th national title in 2010 and again in the 2024 CFP semifinals (a 27-20 loss to eventual champion Michigan in Nick Saban’s final coaching appearance). Heck, the Rose Bowl is even mentioned in the team’s fight song Yea Alabama.

In other words, an Alabama-Indiana Rose Bowl would darn near feel like a home game for the Crimson Tide.

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Such a scenario alongside the Arroyo Seco is still a ways off, naturally, as Alabama’s record ninth CFP berth gets rolling Dec. 19 with a prime-time test against a fellow blue-blood college football program. Alabama is just 2-5-1 all time against Oklahoma – only winning a couple of Orange Bowls against the Sooners and tumbling in both ventures to Norman.

“You spend an entire offseason working for this,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said after his team received the CFP good news. “You spend countless hours and you have all these games in the regular season, the ups and downs, the emotions within a game, the SEC schedule and everything there, last night and it all adds up to this moment.”

And how will Dec. 19 be different from Nov. 15 for Alabama?

“Every game is its own game” DeBoer said. “You learn from it. We understand them. They understand us. This third time meeting in a little over a year, it’s going to be a physical game. Hard fought. I know it’s going to be an awesome environment on a Friday night to kick off the playoffs.”

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“My feelings and the feelings here are just shock and, really, an absolute sense of sadness for our student-athletes,” Bevacqua told Yahoo Sports. “Overwhelming shock and sadness. Like a collective feeling that we were all just punched in the stomach.”

Notre Dame (10-2) finished the regular season with a 10-game winning streak, but as an independent did not play in a conference championship game. The Fighting Irish ultimately slotted below Miami in the final CFP rankings because of the Hurricanes’ 27-24 victory on Aug. 31 – running contrary to the CFP releases leading up to Sunday.

“There is no explanation that could possibly be given to explain the outcome,” Bevacqua said. “As I said to (coach) Marcus (Freeman), one thing is for sure: Any rankings or show prior to this last one is an absolute joke and a waste of time. Why put these young student-athletes through these false emotions just to pull the rug out from underneath them having not played a game in two weeks and then a group of people in a room shatter their dreams without explanation?

“We feel like the Playoff was stolen from our student-athletes.”

Notre Dame has yet to make a bowl announcement.

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“I hope we blow this whole thing up and start from scratch,” Kanell said. “I don’t have much faith we will do that because of this high-leverage game of poker taking place between the Big Ten and SEC.

“The teams I feel bad for are Vanderbilt, Texas, Notre Dame – teams that are very clearly better than any one of these Group of 5 teams. They’re sitting at home and would have to think their conference commissioners will be pounding the table to say ‘What are we doing with these teams that really don’t have any chance of winning a game, zero chance to win the national championship? Why are we wasting spots for the College Football Playoff with those teams?’”

Tulane (11-2) defeated North Texas 34-21 to win the American Conference title, and James Madison (12-1) downed Troy 31-14 to win the Sun Belt crown. Both the Green Wave and Dukes ranked above 5-loss ACC champion Duke in the final polls and thus were included in the CFP bracket.

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Among the most notable takes came from analyst Louis Reddick, who believes No. 4 seed and Big 12 champion Texas Tech might be the most “dangerous” team in the CFP field.

“When your best players are your best people, and they’re the people everyone rallies around, you have got a perfect mixture,” Riddick said. “Texas Tech is, I believe, the most dangerous team in this playoff. They are the one that no team wants to see because of their versatility on offense, their versatility on defense, and the love and camaraderie they have. That is a very powerful thing.”

Texas Tech (12-1) will face the winner of the James Madison-Oregon first-round game in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1 (Noon ET, ESPN). The Red Raiders stormed past BYU 34-7 in Saturday’s Big 12 title game, and their 26-22 loss at the hands of Arizona State on Oct. 18 is the lone blemish on an otherwise stellar season.

Texas Tech went 4-0 against current CFP Top 25 teams in 2025 – downing BYU twice, Houston and Arizona.

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“We evaluated all of those conference championship games, and felt like in the end, regardless of Alabama’s performance yesterday, their body of work in those first 12 games – where they had probably the best win arguably this season at No. 3 Georgia along with wins against Vanderbilt and Tennessee as well – that in spite of their performance in the conference championship they deserved to stay in that No. 9 spot,” CFP selection committee chairman Hunter Yurachek said Sunday to ESPN’s Rece Davis after the Tide were included.

Alabama (10-3) lost 28-7 to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, causing pundits across the country to wonder if the Crimson Tide would get vaulted by Miami or Notre Dame – or both – when the final rankings were released.

Instead, Alabama will travel to play Oklahoma in a CFP first-round game Dec. 19 at 8 pm ET in Norman, with the game telecast on ESPN and ABC. The Sooners defeated the Crimson Tide 23-21 in Tuscaloosa on Oct. 25.

The post Hunter Yurachek explains why Alabama made CFP field despite loss to Georgia appeared first on Saturday Down South.

The opening total for the Aggies-Hurricanes matchup at Kyle Field in College Station is 52.5 points.

Texas A&M (11-1) won 11 straight games in 2025 and rose to No. 3 in the polls before falling 27-17 to then-No. 16 Texas in the final game of the regular season. That loss bumped the Aggies out of contention for an SEC Championship Game berth.

A&M quarterback Marcel Reed torched opposing defenses for 2,932 passing yards and 25 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. The Aggies boast the 14^th-best scoring offense in the country, piling up 36.3 points per game.

Miami (10-2) had to sweat out the CFP bubble heading into the final weekend of play, having lost twice in 2025 to unranked teams. The Hurricanes fell to Louisville 24-21 at home and 26-20 in overtime to SMU on the road – but boasted wins against then-No. 6 Notre Dame 27-24 in the opener as well as ranked victories against South Florida, Florida State and Pitt.

Miami is 3-2 against Texas A&M all time, last claiming a 48-33 home victory in 2023. Texas A&M is 1-1 against the Hurricanes at Kyle Field, last beating Miami there 17-9 in 2022.

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The Cyclones and Wildcats were each fined $500,000 by the Big 12 Conference on Sunday for opting out of participating in the conference’s bowl pool – bringing into question replacement possibilities that went 5-7 teams with the highest Academic Progress Rates.

Iowa State (8-4) said its players met with school officials and elected not to play in a bowl game after coach Matt Campbell departed the program to coach at Penn State. Kansas State (6-6), which also lost its coach when Chris Klieman retired, said its athletic director Gene Taylor made the decision after speaking with the team’s leadership council and Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark.

“While the Conference acknowledges the difficult timing around coaching changes, the Big 12 is responsible for fulfilling its contractual obligations to its bowl partners,” the league said in a release announcing the fines. “The Big 12 considers the matter resolved and will have no further comment.”

Iowa State hired Jimmy Rogers to replace Campbell in Ames, and Collin Klein is set to replace Klieman in Manhattan. Rice, Auburn and Florida State are among the programs that could take the place of the Big 12 teams.

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CFP selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek said that the door opened for Miami after seeing BYU’s 34-7 loss to Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game – a setback the committee felt moved the idle Hurricanes past the Cougars.

“The first move in that was how we felt BYU performed in their championship game, a second loss to Texas Tech in similar fashion, was worthy of Miami moving ahead of BYU in the rankings,” Yurachek said to Rece Davis on ESPN. “We then had that side-by-side comparison between Notre Dame and Miami.”

Yurachek also said that it wasn’t until the Hurricanes were paired beside the Fighting Irish that the head-to-head result between the two teams on Aug. 31 (a 27-24 Miami victory in Miami Gardens) was considered in trying to weigh them against each other.

“The one metric we had to fall back on was the head-to-head,” Yurachek said. “I charged the committee members to watch that game again, because it was so far back, and we got some interesting debate from our coaches on what that game looked like. On that, we gave Miami the nod over Notre Dame for that 10^th spot.”

Yurachek, who serves as vice chancellor and director of athletics at Arkansas when he isn’t chairing the CFP committee, confirmed that Miami’s head-to-head against Notre Dame never came into consideration until that point – because Miami entered the first CFP rankings on Nov. 4 at No. 18 and Notre Dame was ranked 10^th.

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“I think the fact of the matter is, all 3 of those teams should have gotten in and deserve the right to play in the College Football Playoff,” Saban said during ESPN’s College Football Playoff selection show. “You’re going to have 2 teams in the Playoff, no disrespect to the Group of 5, that are nowhere near as highly ranked.”

The Dukes (12-1) won the Sun Belt Conference title by downing Troy 31-14 on Saturday. The Green Wave (11-2) captured the American Conference crown by outlasting North Texas 34-21. The CFP selection committee had to include the 5 highest conference champions as automatic bids, and both James Madison and Tulane finished ranked higher than did 5-loss Duke – which won the ACC title by upsetting Virginia 27-20 in overtime Saturday.

“You have 10 teams that are getting evaluated on one set of criteria in this year’s polling, and you have 2 teams getting into the playoffs being evaluated on a whole different set of criteria,” Saban continued. “In some kind of way, we have to bring those to balance – that we shouldn’t be evaluating teams with a different set of criteria.”

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The Crimson Tide finished 10-3, with a disappointing 28-7 loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game throwing their fate into chaos. Alabama did earn a major victory against the then-No. 5 Bulldogs in the regular season – a 24-21 win in Athens on Sept. 27 that touched off an unprecedented 4-game winning streak against ranked teams.

Alabama also absorbed a major setback to start the season, losing to Florida State 31-17 on Aug. 30 – a loss that loomed larger as the season wore on as the Seminoles struggled to a 5-7 finish. Stinging the Crimson Tide, too, was a 23-21 home loss to Oklahoma on Nov. 15.

After the Georgia victory, Alabama downed then-No. 15 Vanderbilt 30-14 in Tuscaloosa, edged then-No. 14 Mizzou 27-24 in Columbia and thumped then-No. 11 Tennessee 37-20 in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide is the only FBS team currently in the top 10 in the Football Power Index (8th), strength of schedule (6th) and strength of record (10th) ratings.

The Crimson Tide have less than 3 weeks to get healthy and prepare for an Sooners team that finished 10-2 with a 23-6 loss to Texas in the Red River Rivalry on Oct. 11 and a 34-26 setback against then-No. 8 Ole Miss on Oct. 25. Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer returned from midseason hand surgery to throw for 2,578 yards, 12 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

The Alabama-Oklahoma winner would face off against No. 1 overall seed Indiana in the Rose Bowl, which will also serve as the CFP quarterfinals, on Jan. 1 at 4 pm ET on ESPN.

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“The answer is Alabama, but that Miami lawyer is me right now because there is a stipulation to it,” Finebaum said on SportsCenter. “If the committee does that, that’s fine – just cancel the championship games next year, because they are dead as we know it.

“There has to be a purpose behind this. It seems ridiculously unfair to put either Notre Dame or Miami in for sitting home and going to the mall (Saturday) while Alabama had to get on the field against a team it had beaten in late September in Athens. Everyone knows that, the committee knows that. … I would go with Alabama. There has to be some penalty for losing the game, and the penalty is dropping down. But there should be a built-in reward, and that is staying in the playoffs.”

Alabama (10-3) lost to Georgia 28-7 in the SEC Championship Game, but as Finebaum alluded downed the Bulldogs 24-21 earlier in the regular season. Miami finished the season 10-2 and did not qualify for the ACC Championship Game. Notre Dame also finished 10-2 and did not play in a postseason league title game as an independent.

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Both Barrie and Finebaum believe that Miami will be chosen by the CFP committee for one of the final at-large spots in the 12-team CFP field when it is announced Sunday (Noon ET, ESPN).

Barrie began the back-and-forth by stating he believes the 10-2 Hurricanes will be selected over the Crimson Tide and asked Finebaum what his official pick is.

“It will be Miami for the 8,000 reasons we have already given,” Finebaum said, and then stated he believed the committee would agree with him.

“I’m with you. I think I’m with you on both,” Barrie added. “I think Alabama stays in and I think Miami gets in over Notre Dame and the head-to-head carries the day. Also carrying the day is conference championships not punishing you. If there’s a sliver of hope, they stay around. But I think for college football, we have all together and we get rid of conference championship games.”

Alabama finished the regular season 10-2 but lost to the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game.

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Miami leapfrogged Alabama to move up to No. 10 in the media poll, with Miami moving down to No. 11. That is especially notable in that the Hurricanes are vying with the Crimson Tide for 1 of the final at-large berths in the College Football Playoff field set to be released Sunday (noon ET, ESPN).

Miami finished the regular season 10-2, but did not qualify for the ACC Championship Game. Alabama also finished 10-2 and was the top seed in the SEC Championship Game, but the Tide lost 28-7 to Georgia in that matchup Saturday.

The Bulldogs moved up to No. 2 in the AP poll, with Ohio State falling to No. 3 after the Hoosiers defeated them 13-10 in the Big Ten title game. Texas Tech, which won the Big 12 crown, is No. 4 in the AP poll, followed by Oregon, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Notre Dame.

AP Top 25 for Week 16

First-place votes in parentheses

1. Indiana (66)
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Texas Tech
5. Oregon
6. Ole Miss
7. Texas A&M
8. Oklahoma
9. Notre Dame
10. Miami
11. Alabama
12. BYU
13. Vanderbilt
14. Texas
15. Utah
16. USC
17. Tulane
18. Michigan
19. James Madison
20. Virginia
21. Arizona
22. Navy
23. North Texas
24. Georgia Tech
25. Missouri

Others receiving votes: Houston 82, Iowa 74, Tennessee 61, New Mexico 21, Duke 18, Boise St. 16, UNLV 10, South Florida 10, SMU 8, Arizona St. 6, Louisville 6, UConn 5, Washington 4, Pittsburgh 3, Kennesaw St 3, Illinois 2, Iowa St. 2, W. Michigan 1, TCU 1.

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Hashing it out on The Matt Barrie Show, Finebaum said he believes the 10-3 Crimson Tide will get into the CFP grid despite a disappointing 28-7 loss to Georgia in Saturday’s SEC Championship Game.

“I do (believe Alabama is in). And by the way, I mean, I joked last week on an interview that I would call for a federal investigation if they aren’t,” Finebaum said. “I’m not doing that anymore, Matt. I think they’re a very close call, but I think reasonable people appreciate the whole body of work, which is what this is supposed to be about.”

Barrie pointed out that SEC teams like Vanderbilt and Texas aren’t a part of the conversation due to conference title victories by James Madison (Sun Belt) and Tulane (American) – meaning the Dukes and Green Wave get automatic berths. He then asked if Finebaum believes the CFP committee agrees with the SEC Network host’s assessment that Alabama should be in the CFP.

“I do. I have no reason,” Finebaum said. “I have no inside information other than knowing how they think they don’t want to have to face the Greg Sankeys of the world at the next meeting, which will probably be Monday afternoon in Vegas, whenever college football world gets together again and have to deal with that because these are just one-offs and collectively, they’re part of the apparatus of college football.”

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Following Indiana’s 13-10 win against Ohio State on Saturday night to win the program’s first outright conference crown since 1945, 3-time national championship coach Urban Meyer heaped the ultimate praise on the job Cignetti has done with the Hoosiers.

“This is the greatest turnaround in the history of our sport. It’s not even close,” Meyer said on the field to the FOX television audience as the Hoosiers celebrated their victory behind him.

“This is the best coaching job I’ve seen, certainly, in my life – and I think in the history of the sport.”

Indiana (13-0), which is poised to earn the No. 1 overall seed when the College Football Playoff field is set Sunday (noon ET, ESPN), had not experienced a winning record since Tom Allen coached them to a 6-2 record in 2020.

The program has the second-most on-field losses in FBS history (715, 3 more than Big Ten compatriot Northwestern’s 718), yet went 13-0 in Cignetti’s second season at the helm and Heisman Trophy front-runner Fenando Mendoza under center.

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ESPN college football analyst discussed this in her final CFP projections Sunday morning, noting Alabama’s poor performance against Georgia in the SEC Championship Game potentially getting in over a Miami team that knocked off Notre Dame in August but didn’t qualify for the ACC Championship Game.

Here’s is Dinich’s CFP Top 12 rankings, which of course will differ from the CFP field due to the 5 highest-ranked conference champions receiving automatic bids – which likely will put Sun Belt champ James Madison ahead of ACC champ Duke:

1. Indiana
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Texas Tech
5. Oregon
6. Ole Miss
7. Texas A&M
8. Oklahoma
9. Notre Dame
10. Alabama
11. Miami
12. BYU
    

Dinich’s final CFP bracket reflects the inclusion of both James Madison and American Conference champion Tulane:

First-round byes

No. 1 Indiana (Big Ten champ)

No. 2 Ohio State

No. 3 Georgia (SEC champ)

No. 4 Texas Tech (Big 12 champ)

First-round games

On campus, Dec. 19 and 20

No. 12 James Madison (Sun Belt champ) at No. 5 Oregon

No. 11 Tulane (American champ) at No. 6 Ole Miss

No. 10 Alabama at No. 7 Texas A&M

No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 Oklahoma

Quarterfinal games

At the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl Presented by Prudential and Allstate Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

No. 12 James Madison/No. 5 Oregon winner vs. No. 4 Texas Tech

No. 11 Tulane/No. 6 Ole Miss winner vs. No. 3 Georgia

No. 10 Alabama/No. 7 Texas A&M winner vs. No. 2 Ohio State

No. 9 Notre Dame/No. 8 Oklahoma winner vs. No. 1 Indiana

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But at least one pundit – ESPN’s Paul Finebaum – doesn’t see the Hoosiers as the favorite heading into the 12-team College Football Playoff.

“You don’t need me to compliment (Curt) Cignetti and the program for what they did. It is an amazing accomplishment and I don’t think very many people saw it coming,” Finebaum said Sunday on ESPN’s SportsCenter. “But I still think you have to look at Ohio State as the team to beat. They had every chance in the world to win that game. They turned it over on fourth down, they missed a chip-shot field goal. They were nearly perfect all year long.

“Something deep down in Ryan Day today is telling me he is not all that upset. Remember, last year losing to Michigan spurred them on to win the national championship. And right now, I expect the same thing to happen.”

Indiana (13-0) is expected to earn the No. 1 overall seed in the 12-team CFP field when the rankings are released starting at noon ET Sunday. Ohio State isn’t expected to fall outside the top 8, thus the Buckeyes should host a first-round game at home either on Dec. 19 or Dec. 20.

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Speculation centers on Alabama, which lost to Georgia 28-7 in the SEC Championship Game, making the 12-team Playoff field over the highest-ranked ACC team in Miami. And the Hurricanes also have a case to make against Notre Dame, as Miami defeated the Fighting Irish 27-24 in the season opener.

ESPN’s experts forecast as many as 5 SEC teams reaching this year’s CFP bracket. Four of them — Georgia, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Oklahoma — are presumed locks. But what will the CFP committee do with the Crimson Tide when the bracket is announced at noon ET Sunday on ESPN?

Here are ESPN’s CFP picks ahead of conference championships:

Andrea Adelson: 1. Indiana 2. Ohio State 3. Georgia 4. Texas Tech 5. Oregon 6. Texas A&M 7. Ole Miss 8. Miami 9. Notre Dame 10. Oklahoma 11. Tulane 12. James Madison

Kyle Bonagura: 1. Indiana 2. Ohio State 3. Georgia 4. Texas Tech 5. Oregon 6. Ole Miss 7. Texas A&M 8. Oklahoma 9. Alabama 10. Miami 11. Tulane 12. James Madison

Bill Connelly: 1. Indiana 2. Ohio State 3. Georgia 4. Texas Tech 5. Oregon 6. Ole Miss 7. Texas A&M 8. Notre Dame 9. Miami 10. Oklahoma 11. Tulane 12. James Madison

David Hale: 1. Indiana 2. Ohio State 3. Georgia 4. Texas Tech 5. Oregon 6. Texas A&M 7. Ole Miss 8. Miami 9. Notre Dame 10. Oklahoma 11. Tulane 12. James Madison

Eli Lederman: 1. Indiana 2. Georgia 3. Ohio State 4. Texas Tech 5. Oregon 6. Texas A&M 7. Ole Miss 8. Oklahoma 9. Notre Dame 10. Miami 11. Tulane 12. James Madison

Max Olson: 1. Indiana 2. Ohio State 3. Georgia 4. Texas Tech 5. Oregon 6. Ole Miss 7. Texas A&M 8. Oklahoma 9. Notre Dame 10. Miami 11. Tulane 12. James Madison

Adam Rittenberg: 1. Indiana 2. Georgia 3. Ohio State 4. Texas Tech 5. Oregon 6. Ole Miss 7. Texas A&M 8. Oklahoma 9. Notre Dame 10. Alabama 11. Tulane 12. James Madison

Mark Schlabach: 1. Indiana 2. Georgia 3. Ohio State 4. Texas Tech 5. Oregon 6. Ole Miss 7. Texas A&M 8. Oklahoma 9. Notre Dame 10. Alabama 11. Tulane 12. James Madison

Jake Trotter: 1. Indiana 2. Georgia 3. Ohio State 4. Texas Tech 5. Oregon 6. Ole Miss 7. Texas A&M 8. Oklahoma 9. Miami 10. Notre Dame 11. Tulane 12. James Madison

Paolo Uggetti: 1. Indiana 2. Ohio State 3. Georgia 4. Texas Tech 5. Oregon 6. Ole Miss 7. Texas A&M 8. Oklahoma 9. Miami 10. Alabama 11. Tulane 12. James Madison

Dave Wilson: 1. Indiana 2. Ohio State 3. Georgia 4. Texas Tech 5. Oregon 6. Ole Miss 7. Texas A&M 8. Oklahoma 9. Miami 10. Alabama 11. Tulane 12. James Madison

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Most notably, ESPN’s FPI sets the chances for the Alabama Crimson Tide to make the CFP field at 82.8 percent. That comes after Alabama tumbled to Georgia 28-7 in the SEC Championship Game.

Alabama (10-3) moved down 2 spots to eighth in the FPI following Saturday’s setback in Atlanta, with Georgia (12-1) moving up 2 spots to sixth. The only other move was by Indiana (13-0), which knocked off defending national champion Ohio State (12-1) 13-10 in the Big Ten Championship Game.

The FPI rates 10-2 independent Notre Dame as its third-ranked team – giving the Fighting Irish a 94.6 percent chance of making the 12-team CFP field. The Miami Hurricanes (10-2), which didn’t make the ACC title game but was the conference’s highest-ranked team in the CFP standings heading into the final weekend of play, is rated No. 7 in the ESPN FPI and carries a 21.6 percent chance of making the CFP field. Notably, Miami beat Notre Dame 27-24 in both teams’ season opener on Aug. 31.

The final 12-team College Football Playoff field will be set starting at noon ET Sunday, and is televised on ESPN.

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For example, the United States had only 48 states the last time the Hoosiers laid claim to the outright Big Ten title – as it would be 14 more years before Alaska and Hawaii joined the union.

Chuck Yeager was still 2 years away from breaking the sound barrier, commercial flight was still a novelty, the interstate highway system wasn’t even a dream, football itself was still a decade away from being televised in color for the first time, and there actually were only 9 teams even playing football in the Big Ten.

It was 1945 when Indiana claimed its 1 and only outright Big Ten crown, as coach Bo McMillin led the Hoosiers to a 9-0-1 record – the only blemish a 7-7 tie at Northwestern. Before and since, Indiana was pretty much the punching bag of both the conference and the country by having the ignominious distinction of earning the second-most losses in FBS history.

Until Saturday night.

The Indiana Hoosiers – yes, the Indiana freaking Hoosiers – are your 2025 Big Ten champions. The Hoosiers capped a perfect 12-0 regular season by taking on and taking down the defending national champions and undisputed No. 1 team in the country, the Ohio State Buckeyes.

What does it take for a program that has been a literal afterthought on its own campus to climb that mountain? What does it take for Indiana to muster up the resources, talent, will and just plain gall to make a stunning 2-year turnaround and take down the biggest bully in the sport?

It can’t just be belief, because plenty of teams around the Big Ten started their 2025 journey with audacious dreams of celebrating amid confetti. It can’t just be pure talent, as plenty of Big Ten teams have out-recruited and outspent the Hoosiers over the past few years.

To make believers out of the nation, you gotta make believers on your own campus. And Bloomington isn’t exactly football territory. Fall afternoons at Memorial Stadium throughout history have been quaint affairs often overrun by fans from visiting teams, with the home faithful just waiting for basketball season to start so they can get serious about sports.

And why not? McMillin was the school’s last winning coach, and he retired in 1947. Sure, a slice of the Big Ten pie in 1967 with Minnesota and Purdue was worthy of some celebration, but a basketball-mad school in a basketball-mad state seemingly didn’t have the time or inclination to take football seriously.

Until 2024, that is, when Indiana decided to replace Tom Allen with a brash, unapologetic coach named Curt Cignetti – who had just ushered James Madison into the FBS and was ready for something bigger.

From the start, with Cignetti drawing immediate attention from skeptics by proclaiming “I win. Google me.” Cignetti set about manifesting that declaration into reality, starting the 2024 season with an inexplicable 10-0 start before falling to the Buckeyes 38-15 in Columbus. That season earned a College Football Playoff berth, which lasted all of 1 game before Notre Dame knocked them out.

But that was only prelude to 2025, as the Hoosiers knocked off No. 9 Illinois and No. 3 Oregon to finish the only perfect regular season in school history. Still, Ohio State loomed – larger than ever – just waiting to recalibrate everyone’s understanding of the pecking order of things. After all, the Buckeyes had not only won 30 straight meetings against Indiana but had finally vanquished the lone demon they had left when they went to Ann Arbor and outlasted Michigan the week before.

But Indiana… oh, Indiana. Armed with Heisman Trophy front-runner Fernando Mendoza and a full-throated home state crowd in Indianapolis believing at their backs, the Hoosiers put together a gritty performance from start to finish to solve the Buckeyes 13-10 and knock them off the perch they hadn’t budged off of since winning the Big Enchilada.

How does that happen? How does a perennial tomato can walk that aisle and Rocky-style knock out the champs?

“We can drag teams to the deep end because we know we are going to stick together as the strongest glue ever,” Mendoza shouted at the nation through the FOX television cameras – a network that was still 41 years away from conception when the Hoosiers last were consensus Big Ten champs.

“The Hoosiers are real and we’re here,” wide receiver Charlie Becker crowed a short time later.

For the first time in program history, Indiana woke up Sunday morning as the unquestioned No. 1 team in the country. Later in the day, Indiana will receive the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff.

And for the first time, well, ever… Indiana will fully be the hunted.

Does Cignetti, whose motivational tactics and unmitigated will hauled Indiana from worst-to-first in under 2 seasons, have what it takes to prepare the Hoosiers to climb an even higher mountain than the one they just ascended? Indiana isn’t sneaking up on anyone anymore, not after what it displayed against Ohio State, but to do it when it is expected is an entirely different skillset.

That, as the kids say, is a later problem. For now – 80 gauzy, forgettable years after that lone, dusty outright championship earned just months after the end of World War II – Indiana is once again the king of the Big Ten.

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“We’re all arguing about Miami, Alabama, Notre Dame and overlooking that TWO groups of 5 schools are occupying spots when they have zero business playing in it this year,” Kanell said, making reference to Troy and James Madison. “What a mess.”

Kanell’s point is that both the Green Wave and Dukes play far inferior schedules than do teams like the Hurricanes, Crimson Tide and Fighting Irish. Tulane (11-2), which nipped North Texas to win the American Conference title, was hammered by Ole Miss 45-10 on Sept. 20. And 12-1 James Madison, which won the Sun Belt by defeating Troy, lost 28-14 to Louisville in its lone attempt against a Power 4 team.

Yet because both the Green Wave and Dukes were ranked above ACC champ/5-loss Duke heading into the weekend, both teams are destined to be slotted into the final 2 at-large CFP spots.

The final College Football Playoff rankings will be announced Sunday, starting at noon ET on ESPN.

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