The Official 2025 College Football Offseason Discussion Thread

[Wolverine]

Touchdown Ohio State.

 

[Wolverine]

Ugh, touchdown again by Ohio State.

 

[R-Troop]

ND can't get a stop. Need halftime adjustments. They did some vs. Penn State. Here's hoping they can do it tonight.

 

[Wolverine]

Hate to say it, but Congratulations to Ohio State on winning their first National Championship since 2014, their ninth overall!

Sorry Stormy.

 

[O-Blaze]

Carson Beck, transfers to Miami to be with his girlfriend lmao. Then he cheats on her. What a dumbass.

 

[Wolverine]

Couple of college football news:

Clemson, ND announce 12-year schedule deal

Clemson and Notre Dame have announced a 12-year scheduling agreement that will pit the two college football powers against each other annually through 2038.

www.espn.com

Clemson and Notre Dame are set to announce a 12-year scheduling agreement that will pit the two college football powers against each other annually through 2038.

The Tigers and Irish have a recent history of marquee showdowns -- they last met in 2023, when Clemson won 31-23 -- and the schools believe the new agreement, which begins in 2027, could be the start of a top-tier rivalry.

"It's been such a great rivalry and we want to see it happen every year," Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua said. "It's historically been a great back-and-forth. I think we could see it continue to develop into one of the great rivalries in college football."

Clemson and Notre Dame have played eight times, but many of their matchups have been marquee events. In 2015, Dabo Swinney captured attention for calling Clemson's two-point win over the Irish in the midst of a downpour a "bring your own guts game" that helped set the stage for the Tigers' first College Football Playoff appearance. In 2018, Clemson beat Notre Dame 30-3 in the Cotton Bowl before winning a national title two weeks later. In 2020, as Notre Dame played as a full-time member of the ACC due to COVID-19 scheduling concerns, the Irish won a shootout in the regular season only to fall to Clemson in the ACC championship game. Both teams made the playoff that year.

For both schools, however, the agreement has practical implications. Notre Dame ensures a marquee matchup on its schedule as it hopes to build a playoff résumé as an independent. For Clemson, an annual game against one of the biggest brands in college football figures to juice ratings for the Tigers as the ACC begins a new era in which revenue is distributed, in part, based on TV ratings.

The agreement also offers some scheduling flexibility and insurance for both schools as the SEC continues to discuss moving to a nine-game conference slate. The Tigers play South Carolina annually in a rivalry game, but they also have future home-and-home series scheduled against LSU (2025 and 2026), Georgia (2029, 2030, 2032 and 2033), and Oklahoma (2035 and 2036). A nine-game SEC slate could put some of those future matchups in jeopardy -- though multiple sources told ESPN they do not see annual SEC-ACC rivalry games such as Clemson-South Carolina being canceled -- but even if all currently scheduled games remain on the docket, these matchups figure to help with playoff résumés.

"This locks in a huge rivalry for us with a nonconference opponent that's going to be strong year in and year out," Clemson athletics director Graham Neff said. "The association of national brands like Clemson and Notre Dame create a great fan experience, strong viewership and value on that is obviously a fundamental component."

Clemson and Notre Dame are already scheduled to play in 2027, 2028, 2031, 2034 and 2037, and the new agreement will overlap with those dates. A source confirmed the annual games will also count toward Notre Dame's required five games vs. ACC opponents. All games in the series would remain on the schedule regardless of Clemson's future conference affiliation, however.

Scheduling is expected to be a significant topic at the ACC spring meetings later this month, as the league looks to bolster its own playoff prospects.

The Notre Dame agreement, which remained unchanged after the ACC added Cal, Stanford and SMU prior to the 2024 season, will be one part of those discussions. The Irish currently play Stanford annually in addition to the new Clemson deal, and other ACC schools are eager to use the league's contract with Notre Dame to maximized their ratings and create marquee TV matchups. The ACC confirmed Tuesday that Stanford and Clemson's new games vs. the Irish would not count against the five-game requirement Notre Dame has with the league.

Florida State athletic director Michael Alford told ESPN he would have no problem playing Notre Dame more than the five games already scheduled through 2037. Going back to 2014, when Notre Dame and the ACC agreed to its scheduling partnership, Florida State will have played the Irish 10 times, more than any school in the ACC except Pittsburgh.

"Today in college football, more than ever, it's important for strong brands to play strong brands," Alford said. "That helps our brand, as well as all of us within the conference. We've been consistent in that belief for a while now as you can see in our nonconference scheduling philosophy. It's important for our conference and our media partners."

Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich echoed those comments, saying, "brands need to play brands." The Hurricanes and Irish have a long and storied history dating back to the famed "Catholics vs. Convicts" showdown in 1988. The two schools currently have seven future games scheduled -- including the season opener this year on Aug. 31. That will be their first meeting since 2017.

Radakovich said he thinks the ACC needs to explore ways to pit its best teams against each other and maximize non-conference opportunities to create top TV inventory in an increasingly competitive environment with the Big Ten and ACC harnessing the bulk of the best TV time slots and the league works to ensure multiple playoff bids as the sport moves toward another expansion of the postseason field.

"The brands need to play each other more," Radakovich said. "That's what has to happen. Do we divide into two divisions? Who gets to play Notre Dame? How are we doing those kinds of things? And if the SEC goes to nine (conference games) we might have to go to nine as well with a bifurcated brands and non-brands [divide]."

ESPN's Andrea Adelson contributed to this report.

Frost's new deal at UCF totals 5 years, $22.1M

Through an executive summary obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, it was detailed that Scott Frost received a five-year, $22.1 million contract upon his UCF return, and it will automatically extend a year if the Knights play in a bowl this season.

www.espn.com

Scott Frost received a five-year, $22.1 million contract upon his return to UCF as head coach and will have it automatically extended a year if the Knights appear in a bowl this season.

An executive summary of Frost's contract was obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday through an open records request.

UCF rehired Frost in December after Gus Malzahn left after four seasons to become offensive coordinator at Florida State. Frost had his first head coaching job at UCF in 2016, and the Knights went 6-7. A year later, UCF went 13-0 with a conference championship, a bowl victory over Auburn and final ranking of No. 6.

Frost took over at Nebraska in 2018 and went 16-31 at his alma mater. He was fired three games into the 2022 season. He was out of coaching in 2023 and on the Los Angeles Rams' staff in 2024.

Frost's starting salary will be $3.9 million, just under the $4 million he earned in his last year at Nebraska, and will receive annual increases topping out at $5 million in 2029-30.

He can earn bonuses of $75,000 for reaching a conference championship game, $50,000 for winning a conference title, $100,000 for appearing in a College Football Playoff game and an additional $100,000 for winning one, with a first-round bye deemed a win.

He also will receive bonuses for his team ranking in the top 20 nationally in any of eight designated statistical categories.

 

[Mr. PrettyGood]

I can tell you three teams that won't go bowling this year: Missouri St and Delaware are transferring to FBS and are ineligible (a rule I disagree with, but accept) and Akron is academically ineligible for postseason play. Of course, Akron hasn't had 6 wins since 2017, so this hardly seems like an effective punishment.

 

[Mr. PrettyGood]

With the season starting in about 2 months (7 weeks until Week 0, which should have at least two decent matches), I figure it's about time to start previewing the teams. I'll start with those who have no conference and those who don't have much of a conference: Independents and the Pac (1)2.

Notre Dame is loaded this year. Last year's playoff runner up. Even with an inexperienced quarterback, They will likely be favored in every game this year - though they do have a habit of dropping one game to a seemingly random unranked team in the first half of the season since Marcus Freeman took over. Their first 4 games include trips to Miami, Fl and Fayetteville, AR as well as home games against Texas A&M and Purdue: who will probably be unranked at this point.

UConn was quite the surprise last year going 9-4 and returning 14 starters from a team that had gone 3-9 the previous year. A team closely resembles their coach by year 3 and Jim Mora Jr. had them looking good last year. They look to have a tougher schedule and only return 11 starters, but they do bring some transfers who are hungry to show their old schools that they should've had more game time. Their first three games are against FCS Central Connecticut, at Syracuse ('Cuse has won the last 5 meetings including a 48-14 thumping in '22), and at newly minted FBS program, Delaware, so we should have a reasonable idea of what they're capable of fairly quickly.


Oregon St technically won the Pac 12 last year. They're bringing back a lot of experience, including Trent Bray, who will be in his second season as a head coach, and they have what looks like a slightly easier schedule, which will include 2 games against Washington St. I'm not going to say the sky's the limit, but a winning season is a reasonable expectation for the Beaver fans.

Washington St despite having had 8 wins in the FBS, could be described as a team of FCS players. Jimmy Rogers is coming in from South Dakota St and he brought more than a handful of his old players with him. The schedule starts off favorably and they could come into The Apple Cup with a winning record. This is hardly the same team as last year and time will tell if that's good, bad, or indifferent.




Up next: Conference USA.

 

[Mr. PrettyGood]

While there is no pyramid for conferences in college football, no relegation and promotion, there is an informal hierarchy and Conference USA is at the bottom. Two years ago they had an undefeated champion who still missed the playoffs by a significant margin and last year their champion finished 9-4 before losing in The Cure Bowl. In short, if any team is going to be mentioned in the playoff conversation this year, they'll have to go 13-0. But that doesn't mean that it won't be interesting. In the last 3 years, no team has made it to the conference championship more than once. The conference championship game is contested between the teams with the best conference records and is hosted by the team with the best conference record.

Delaware's greatest liability may be their passing game, but the defensive side of the ball might have the talent to keep some of the games competitive. The schedule does not do them any favors as they draw away games against Jax St and Liberty in their first FBS season. This team is ineligible for postseason play including the conference championship.

Florida International was better than their 4 wins indicate, losing 3 games by 3 or fewer points and another game in overtime. Most of their best players have transferred out, but new coach Willie Simmons is bringing in transfers from Florida A&M, where he has been 8 for 8 in winning seasons. Their holes should be plugged, but how well they are plugged remains to be seen.

Jacksonville St is not the same team that won the Conference USA Championship last year. They lost not only their coach, but also more varsity lettermen than were brought back from last year's team. This is compounded by playing one of their toughest opponents, Liberty, in their second game of the year, which means they will need to get everything together quickly. A bowl game would be a more reasonable goal than a repeat championship.

Kennesaw St pulled the pound for pound biggest upsets of the year against Liberty a year ago. They'll need to do a similar feat to match last year's 2 win record. Coach Jerry Mack is bringing in a host of transfers from his old FCS school, but it looks like Kennesaw will be continuing to build rather than starting to win.

Liberty was a grade A example of playing down to opponents' levels. Despite being favored in every game last year, they were behind at some point in each of them. Since joining CUSA, the Flames have lost 3 games by a combined 15 points, so even though they replace their starting QB and RB this year, they are favorites to make the CUSA Championship game.
Louisiana Tech made it to a bowl game after Marshall was unable to field a team. This reflects the opportunism that coach Sonny Cumbie is known for. They had 3 overtime losses, so they were better than their 5-7 record indicated. Relative to their conference, they have no major liabilities and getting WKU and Liberty at home could be a difference maker. They are a contender to reach the CUSA Championship Game.
Middle Tennessee looks to rebound after two disappointing seasons. They return a lot of experience including 15 starters and were victim to -9 net turnovers (extreme numbers in this statistic tend to reverse or at least get much closer to 0 the following year). The Blue Raiders also avoid some of CUSA's heaviest hitters, so a lot of signs are pointing up.

Missouri St is going to lean on their offense and hope their defense can make some strides. They're 4 nonconference opponents consist of an FCS team and 3 who were bowl eligible (including one who made the playoffs), so they will be battle tested and maybe have some confidence going into conference polay. This team is not eligible for postseason play including the conference championship game.

New Mexico St has a few reasons to be optimistic. For one thing, last year's 3-9 record included 2 close losses and -13 net turnovers. Tony Sanchez is familiar with success and this is his second year, so the team should more closely resemble what he wants it to look like. A bowl bid may be out of reach, but they will likely top last year's 3 win total.

Sam Houston overachieved expectations last year; and should probably be prepared for a let down. They have a new coach and only 8 returning starters along with no true home games (their stadium is being renovated. Add to it a whopping +12 net turnovers and there's plenty of reason to suspect that a repeat of their 10 wins is beyond reach, but their running game may be enough to get them to another bowl game if the cards fall the right way.

UTEP is ending their 20 year affiliation with Conference USA and could make a lot of noise on their way out. In Scotty Walden's second year, he's looking at a faster and stronger team that gets their toughest conference opponents at home. Things are looking up in El Paso especially if their passing game can live up the hype.

Western Kentucky should have the best passing offense and possibly the best passing defense in the conference. They have their heaviest hitting opponents at the end of the season, so if they'll be able to see what their opponents bring to the table when they line up. This team is a contender to play in the championship game.

 

[Mr. PrettyGood]

The Mid-American Conference, also known as bad football at its finest, has been easily the most stable FBS conference for the last few decades in terms of membership. In terms of scheduling, they are the conference most likely to play on a day other than Saturday. One trend you might notice is that a lot of teams have new coaches and another trend is players not returning. Some graduate and others leave for the transfer portal. Nobody from the MAC was ranked at the end of last year, but there are plenty of reasons for some of the teams to be optimistic... somebody has to win and an undefeated champion can be only one or two upsets away.

Akron had some bad luck with turnovers a year ago and may have their most talented team that they've had for a while. The trenches may be their biggest weaknesses. Despite being academically ineligible for postseason play, they may manage to pull off their first 6+win season since 2017.

Ball St is one of 6 schools in this conference with a new head coach. Mike Uremovich will have a blank slate to work with only 28 lettermen returning, but that doesn't mean this team is devoid of talent, especially with the run-pass option style that the new coach brings with him and a quarterback who can run almost as well as he throws.

Bowling Green has made bowl games the last 4 years and has a proven winner in new head coach Eddie George. What they don't have is a returning defense. Only 1 starter on that side of the ball, so this may have to be a rebuilding year. Their nonconference schedule looks to be much easier than last year's.

Buffalo barely missed the conference title game and brings back more starters than any other team in the MAC by a considerable margin. Of the four teams with the best odds to win the MAC, they're one and they finish the season against two, so a rematch in the championship game is a possibility.

Central Michigan will start off their season with three road games against opponents who made bowl games last year. First year head coach Matt Drinkall may have inherited the best running game in the conference and the conference schedule may be a little more friendly, so topping last year's 4 is a possibility.

Eastern Michigan came up just short of a bowl game and with a slightly harder conference schedule, may meet the same fate this time, but all is not lost. Chris Creighton is tied for the longest tenured coach in the MAC and has pulled off more than his fair share of upsets in recent years.

Kent St is currently riding a 21 game losing streak and their late promotion of offensive coordinator Mark Carney to interim head coach probably didn't do them any favors. They'll have to come out shooting because after Merrimack (FCS), the first half of the season is a mixture of UMass, favorites to win the conference, and Power 4 opponents.

Miami (OH) returns only one offensive starter, but it's Dequann Finn. Give him some Power 4 receivers (done) and a decent OLine (questionable) and you have a championship contender. If they can get by Wisconsin in their opener, there's reason to talk about an undefeated season and a playoff berth. Of course talking it and doing it are two very different things.

Northern Illinois lost a lot of experience last year, but may be in the thick of things in this, their last year in the MAC. Their passing offense leaves something to desire, but they should be in the upper half of the conference in all other aspects of the game and have a slightly softer schedule, so surpassing last year's 8-5 performance (complete with that famous upset over Notre Dame) is a possibility.

Ohio has had double digit wins each of the last three years and won the MAC Championship a year ago. With a new head coach and a harder nonconference schedule, they may have to take a step back, but it doesn't have to be a big one because they do bring back some key elements from last year's team and that new coach has been with the team in other roles since 2022. They are legitimate conference contenders.

Toledo stumbled at the end of last year, but brings back one of the most experienced teams in the MAC. They will play some of their toughest opponents on the road, but avoid Buffalo and Ohio altogether. If the cards fall the right way, they could be in contention for MAC Championship and possibly the playoffs.

UMass won 2 games last year and isn't bringing much back from that team. This blank slate may be good for new coach Joe Harasymiak as he was able to hit the portal hard, particularly on special teams. They seem to have an easier schedule this year and may be able to top last year's record.

Western Michigan has most of the pieces in place to be a contender and a coach in his third year. They lost some experience especially in the linebacker department, but if Lance Taylor can get his team to ootpeform expectations last year, he can do it again this year and just might bring his team to a second consecutive bowl game.