#college-football-playoff

#college-football-playoff

Things are pretty settled at the top of the field, as a relatively upset-free Week 13 left a half-dozen or so teams that are virtual locks for the CFP. But the ACC in particular has numerous moving parts in terms of who will play for the conference championship and likely make the playoff, and league title-game matchups are unsettled pretty much everywhere. Meanwhile, teams sitting at five wins are sweating things out, with one more chance to become bowl eligible.

"Vince Young was high-fiving me," Sarkisian said of the legendary Longhorns quarterback. "He said, 'Man, I wish I would've had that play.'"

Baylor is expected to announce the departure of athletic director Mack Rhoades in the near future, sources told ESPN on Thursday. Rhoades, who has been the athletic director at Baylor since July of 2016, suddenly took a leave of absence from the position for personal reasons last week, and the sides are planning to announce he's stepping away. Baylor didn't identify the reason for Rhoades' leave, other than to say it was for personal reasons.

The third week of playoff rankings have been released and the wildest thing is North Texas is sitting -115 both ways to make or miss the playoff ... while not even being ranked. Tulane is the only AAC team the committee is willing to acknowledge, and Navy isn't in the Top 25 either. Yet the books hung a number that basically says: this is the team the market expects to rise.

With only three Saturdays remaining before Selection Day, the College Football Playoff field includes 19 Power 4 teams still in contention to compete for their respective conference titles ahead of the committee's third of six rankings on Tuesday night (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). Six teams (Virginia, Georgia Tech, SMU, Miami, Duke and Pitt) are still alive in the ACC race. Four teams (Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M and Ole Miss) are still eligible to reach the SEC championship game -- and there are no SEC clinching scenarios in Week 13, according to ESPN Research.

"Look at the urgency he has when he drops back," Narduzzi said.

Baylor athletic director and College Football Playoff chairman Mack Rhoades is taking a leave of absence from his position at the school for personal reasons, he told ESPN on Thursday. Rhoades told ESPN that he initiated the leave but declined to explain why. Baylor also released a statement acknowledging Rhoades was on leave but declined to comment further.

Cal storylines: The Bears face their second straight AP Top 25 opponent, having lost 31-21 to then-No. 15 Virginia last week at home . . . Cal has dropped 14 consecutive games to Top 25 opponents, dating back to a 21-17 home victory over No. 21 Oregon in the COVID-shortened 2020 season . . . A loser in back-to-back games for the first time this season, Cal needs one victory in its final three games to secure bowl eligibility . . .

The first round of the 12-team College Football Playoff will start at 8 p.m. ET on Dec. 19 on ABC and ESPN, followed by a tripleheader Dec. 20 that starts at noon, the CFP, ESPN and TNT announced Tuesday. ESPN, which has owned the exclusive rights to the playoff since its inception in 2015, is in the second year of its current expanded package, which includes all four games of the CFP first round with two of the games sublicensed to TNT Sports.

It's not supposed to care that Vanderbilt hasn't been 7-1 in 84 years. The 12 people in that room will absolutely care, though, that Vanderbilt is 7-1 now -- with back-to-back wins against ranked SEC opponents LSU and Missouri. Vanderbilt -- the story of the season so far -- is on the brink of making its first appearance in any CFP ranking during the playoff era.

The 2025-26 coaching cycle wasn't expected to be calm, like its predecessor. But few forecasted such a robust line of storms rolling through the sport in the first half of the season. All four power conferences have had a firing. Penn State's ouster of James Franklin, midway through his 12th season and barely 10 months removed from the team playing for a spot in the national title game, sent a message around the sport: Almost no coach is safe.

Last year, in the inaugural season of the 12-team College Football Playoff, eight of the teams that qualified had two losses. Five of the seven at-large teams had two losses, and three of the five conference champions had at least two losses. Keep that in mind as more contenders fall each week and the playoff picture changes -- this system is more forgiving.

Week 8 of the college football season had the USC Trojans and Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the latest ( and hopefully not last) edition of their historic rivalry. The Irish, with two losses, need a win to stay alive in the College Football Playoff race and bolster their credentials. The Trojans are the only remaining team on the Irish's schedule that is currently ranked.

Indiana has reached a new eight-year contract with Curt Cignetti, which will make him one of the highest-paid football coaches in the FBS with an annual average salary of about $11.6 million, the university announced Thursday. Cignetti guided the Hoosiers to a 10-2 record and a surprising College Football Playoff appearance in his first season at the school in 2024. This season, the No. 3 Hoosiers are 6-0 heading into Saturday's game against Michigan State.

The overriding trend of the 2025 college football season -- anything goes -- continued in Week 6 with two sure-fire preseason College Football Playoff contenders losing to previously disappointing opponents. Penn State's loss to winless UCLA was the big shocker, with Texas' defeat at Florida not far behind. Other key results for the postseason picture included Alabama handing Vanderbilt its first loss, Cincinnati doing the same to Iowa State and Miami winning at Florida State.

Below you'll find one team in the spotlight for each of the Power 4 leagues and another identified as an enigma. We've also tiered schools into four groups. Teams with Would be in status are featured in this week's top 12 projection, a snapshot of what the selection committee's ranking would look like if it were released today. A team with Work to do is passing the eye test (for the most part) and has a chance at winning its conference, which means a guaranteed spot in the playoff. And a team that Would be out is playing in the shadows of the playoff -- for now.

One of the most anticipated weekends on the 2025 college football calendar is upon us. The headliner comes Saturday night when No. 6 Oregon visits No. 3 Penn State. A potentially season-defining occasion, the clash of Big Ten powers, will test quarterbacks Drew Allar (Penn State) and Dante Moore (Oregon), Nittany Lions coach James Franklin and the Ducks' backbone as they step into the hostile confines of Beaver Stadium in Week 5.

The 12-team College Football Playoff has significantly broadened the pool of candidates to include any team that has a chance to win its conference -- and that makes every FBS race matter longer, as the selection committee's five highest-ranked conference champions are guaranteed spots in the playoff. Heading into the final Saturday of September, the shifting continues as conference races are just beginning to heat up.