The 2025 college football season kicked off with an unforgettable opening week. The top ranked Texas Longhorns traveled to defending national champions Ohio State and were beaten in a hard fought battle. It was the season debut for Texas quarterback Arch Manning, nephew of NFL greats Eli and Payton, who looked prepared for the test that Ohio State brought. On the other side of the battle, the Ohio State Buckeyes brought plenty of new faces to the team this year, and still came away with a big win to start their season.
It wasn’t the only first-week battle between top ten teams: No. 4 Clemson hosted No. 9 LSU in a Tigers showdown. The two teams played hard all game, but LSU went home with the win. The runners up from last year’s playoffs, Notre Dame, traveled to Miami for a renewal of the “Catholics vs Convicts,” series. A game where the Catholics, Notre Dame take on the “Convicts,” the Miami Hurricanes. The Miami Hurricanes proved themselves as real title contenders after a poor finish to the season last year.
The final upset of the entertaining week one was No. 8 Alabama falling to unranked Florida State, just two years after Florida State was snubbed from the playoffs in favor of Alabama. The Florida State Seminoles looked like a whole new team, ready to make a title run.
The second year of the 12-team playoff will leave a lot of schools with a chance to take home the ultimate prize in January. Starting with the Big Ten conference, the Ohio State Buckeyes sit at the top of the standings. Penn State has high expectations that maybe this could finally be their year to win. Oregon, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan are the other main contenders from the powerhouse conference with a real chance to win. This is due to how they are expected to play this season.
Looking at the South Eastern Conference (SEC), LSU, Georgia, Texas, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Alabama all have legitimate shots to win the national championship. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) was once arguably the best conference in all of football, now they are flying under the radar and a lot of experts say they will never be what they once were. Miami, Florida State and Clemson are the headliners from the conference.
The regular season is packed with high end matchups that will shape the playoff race by December. After a wild week one, week two brings a freshman-led Michigan to Oklahoma in an early test for both teams. Week three has Texas A&M traveling to South Bend in a rematch with Notre Dame,where Notre Dame narrowly came out with the win last year. Week four features Illinois and Indiana meeting in a rare 9 vs 19 ranked match up. A top five showdown between Oregon and Penn State will take place in week five, week six shifts to Tallahassee, where Miami visits Florida State in a clash of Florida’s best. Weeks seven through nine will be three straight SEC headliners: South Carolina at LSU, Ole Miss at Georgia and Ole Miss at Oklahoma.
As of now, Week ten will be the highest ranked match up between Ohio State and Penn State. Then Week 11 has LSU at Alabama, and 12 previews a potential playoff matchup between Texas and Georgia. Week 13 sees a battle between unranked Nebraska who is looking to shock the college football world as they take on Penn State. Week 13 is also known as Rivalry Week, where every team plays against their rival. Rivalry Week ends the season with the most anticipated College Football Game: Ohio State vs Michigan. Can Michigan get their fifth win in a row, or is it finally the Buckeyes time at The Game? While those games will shape the playoff picture, they’ll also go a long way in deciding the race for the Heisman Trophy.
The Heisman Trophy is the great individual prize in all of College Football. Legends like Cam Newton, NFL MVP in 2012. Johnny Manziel, some say the most exciting player in college football ever. Lamar Jackson, a two time NFL MVP, and Tim Tebow, who many experts argue is the best college football player ever. The race is usually a quarterback’s to lose, but this year could be different. Jeremiah Smith, the top wide receiver from Ohio State. Along with Ryan Williams, a wide receiver from Alabama and running back Jeremiah Love from Notre Dame headline the non-quarterbacks. Still, quarterbacks like John Mateer from Oklahoma, Carson Beck from Miami, LaNorris Sellers from South Carolina and Cade Klubnik from Clemson lead the chase.
The 2025 College Football season is just getting started and has already experienced flashes of chaos just in week one. The rest of the season will assure only the best games on the way to the National Championship.
