For all the changes off the field ahead of the 2025-26 college football season – which included the House Settlement and a tweaked playoff format – the on-the-field product remains as captivating as ever.
Ohio State proved that with a run to the national championship in the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff. The 18-team Big Ten and 16-team SEC provided compelling races. The ACC and Big 12 had unexpected champions. Boise State produced a playoff team and a Heisman Trophy runner up.
What will college football do for an encore – aside from the release of "EA Sports College Football 26"? It should be a show. Ohio State returns star receiver Jeremiah Smith, but expectations are high for Big Ten champion Oregon and runner-up Penn State. Arch Manning leads Texas – our preseason No. 1 pick – while Georgia, Alabama and LSU are top-10 teams. Clemson is back on top in the ACC, and the Big 12 should be another wide-open race with Arizona State looking to defend the conference championship.
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The College Football Playoff begins on Dec. 19. The semifinals will be played at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Jan. 8-9 The College Football Playoff championship game is on Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
We’re here to get you prepared for all that and more. With that, Sporting News will have preseason top 25 rankings, bowl projections, All-Americans and more to get you ready for the start of the 2025 season:
College football rankings: SN's preseason top 25
Sporting News' post-spring Top 25 is out, and there is a legitimate debate at the top. Should Georgia or Ohio State be No. 1?
- 1. Texas
- 2. Ohio State
- 3. Georgia
- 4. Penn State
- 5. Notre Dame
- 6. Oregon
- 7. Clemson
- 8. Alabama
- 9. LSU
- 10. Illinois
Who made the rest of SN's preseason top 25? What does a composite of 11 preseason publications' top-25 rankings look like? How does that compare to the USA Today UFCA Preseason Coaches Poll and AP Preseason Coaches Poll?
SEC, Big Ten schedule rankings
Scheduling has become a hot offseason topic, with the SEC mulling a proposal to go to nine conference games. Who has the toughest schedule in the SEC? For the second straight year, it's Florida. Check out our SEC schedule rankings here. What about the Big Ten? Find out why Illinois fits the description of a sleeper after looking at our Big Ten schedule rankings.
What's next for the College Football Playoff?
The College Football Playoff moved to a straight seeding model for 2025-26 – which was the right move, in our opinion. What's next? Will the College Football Playoff expand to 16 teams? Will there be multiple automatic qualifiers for conferences? Which models work? Follow along here for more updates on the next chapter of the College Football Playoff.
Ranking top college quarterbacks for 2025
Who is ready for the Arch Manning era at Texas? Sporting News is going all-in in its Top 25 QBs for 2025. We have the new Longhorns quarterback – who is set for his first year as a full-time starter – as the top quarterback on the board. If you're going to lean into the hype, you might as well go all the way. Who else made our list? Where do Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin and Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood fit on the list?
College football coach rankings (1-136)
Delaware and Missouri State join the FBS this season – meaning there are 136 FBS coaches to grade during the season. How do those coaches stack up in the rankings right now? Georgia's Kirby Smart is No. 1 for the second straight season, and Ohio State coach Ryan Day is No. 2 after leading the Buckeyes to the national championship. Where does Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman fit in? Sporting News 1-136 Coach Rankings for 2025 answers the question here. We broke out the top 25 coaches on a separate list here.
2025 NFL Draft Big Board
Could this be the "Year of the Tiger?" Clemson has five players featured on Sporting News 2025 NFL Big Board – including edge rusher TJ Parker and quarterback Cade Klubnik. Those star players are candidates to be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Where does Penn State quarterback Drew Allar – one of the more-polarizing NFL prospects at quarterback – fit in?
Who will make the 12-team playoff in 2025-26?
For the second straight season, there will be 41 bowl games involving FBS teams in the 2025-26 season – and that does not include the first-round, on-campus games for the College Football Playoff. Sporting News has complete bowl projections for all of those bowls, the 12-team College Football Playoff and CFP national championship game later this month. We got 50 percent of the CFP teams right in our preseason projections last season.
SN Preseason All-American team
Ohio State safety Caleb Downs and Pitt linebacker Kyle Louis are among the returning players from Sporting News 2024 All-America team. Who will be on the 2025 All-American team later this summer? Sporting News remains one of five outlets that is used to determine the Consensus All-America team at the end of the regular season.
Who are the GOATs at your favorite school?
Sporting News will be releasing lists for the top players from 20 FBS schools later this summer. Is Cam Newton or Bo Jackson the greatest player in Auburn history? Which schools made the list? Our formula will show the GOAT players for some of the GOAT programs in college football. We started off with Ohio State and Alabama. More to come soon.
When does EA Sports 'College Football 26' come out?
EA Sports' "College Football 26" will continue the franchise for a second straight year after a long hiatus. The latest version – which features two cover athletes in Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith and Alabama's Ryan Williams – will be released on July 10. Fans can access the game three days earlier if they purchase a bundle that includes "College Football 26" and "Madden 26." Sporting News has all the details about the game's release, including the available consoles and game-play features that users will be able to experience.