The Oregon Ducks‘ 2025 football season came to a close over two weeks ago, but the Ohio State Buckeyes, the team that knocked Oregon out after a rout in the Rose Bowl, still have a game to play. On Monday, the Buckeyes will take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the National Championship Game. Although Oregon is far away …
Read More »Monthly Archives: January 2025
Kansas CB Mello Dotson earns All-American ‘flowers,’ turns attention toward NFL draft
Mello Dotson joined exclusive Kansas Jayhawks company in his final season of college football. Dotson, a Mainland grad, became the program’s first All-American selection in six years and only the 25th all-time. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound cornerback was named a Walter Camp second-team All-American, and to The Associated Press’ third team within the space of a week in mid-December. During the …
Read More »Why Tennessee football is 8th right now in my SEC power rankings for 2025 | Adams
College football won’t crown its 2024 national champion until Monday. But that doesn’t mean it’s too early to think about the 2025 season. Here are my early, early SEC power rankings for 2025: 1. Texas: Finally, after two years on the bench and a Heisman candidate’s worth of publicity, Arch Manning will become a starter. I don’t expect him to …
Read More »Texas Longhorns: 5 under-the-radar breakout candidates for 2025 football team
Names like Ryan Wingo and Trevor Goosby are familiar to most Texas football fans by now. Having already made an impact in 2024, they look set to be part of the next wave of stars primed to move into more prolific roles following the departures of key players. But the Longhorns, who are losing at least 13 starters between offense …
Read More »When is the CFP national championship game? How to watch Ohio State vs. Notre Dame
The College Football Playoff national championship game will feature the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Ohio State Buckeyes competing for the title at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Jan. 20. The rise of standout leader and quarterback Riley Leonard has been a beacon of inspiration for Notre Dame’s journey to the championship game. Leonard’s exceptional performance, both in the regular season and postseason, has not …
Read More »SEC quarterback rankings: Where does John Mateer fit in with Arch Manning & Co. in 2025?
NORMAN — Now that Quinn Ewers has declared for the NFL Draft, opening the door for Arch Manning to start for Texas next season, the quarterback picture in the SEC for 2025 is gaining clarity. Among the newcomers expected to start next season are Washington State transfer John Mateer at OU and Jackson Arnold, who transferred from the Sooners, at Auburn. …
Read More »No debate: The 12-team College Football Playoff was a success
The College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy in Tampa, Fla., on Jan. 9, 2017. With just one game to go to close out the 2024-25 college football season, we’ve seen enough to call it: The inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff has been an undeniable success. There are minor issues that need to be addressed or tweaked, but the overall format …
Read More »From Kansas State rejection to redemption: Will Howard reveals unique road to Ohio State
ATLANTA – Will Howard was talking about this strange season, one that began long before he took his first snap as the Ohio State quarterback and long after a loss to Michigan brought the program to its collective knees. There are the stories, he says, no one knows. Stories that make up Ohio State’s perplexing run to the College Football …
Read More »Ohio State rebounded after Michigan loss. But would they trade that defeat for national title?
ATLANTA — Admittedly, the question is ridiculous. Ohio State is hours away from meeting Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff championship game, capping a season that just in the past eight weeks has seesawed between the depths of another loss to Michigan and the potential high of claiming the program first championship since the debut of the four-team format …
Read More »College Football Playoff now survival of fittest with Ohio State, Notre Dame managing injuries
ATLANTA – Both Ohio State and Notre Dame will break a threshold Monday night that no college programs have ever reached. And they don’t need to be reminded of what it means to get ready for their 16th game this season means because their bodies are doing it for them. “Anybody that says they’re 100 percent that’s been playing is …
Read More »Mailbox: Dispatch’s Ohio State football ‘best plays’ bracket guilty of recency bias
Have more comments, questions? Reach out to me at bwhite1@dispatch.com. Letters are lightly edited for clarity. On Ohio State football To Mr. White: Please advise your staff that OSU football players have been making “jump-up-worthy” memorable plays for generations. Your recent voting contest included only three out of 16 total plays that were from prior to 1990. I understand the bias towards …
Read More »Here’s how the Absher family, Belmont has thrown its support behind Notre Dame football
Somewhere between trips to College Station, Texas, and West Lafayette, Indiana, or New York’s Yankee Stadium and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Chris Absher admits he’s lost track of how many miles his family has traveled following the Notre Dame football team this fall. “Outside of the one in East Rutherford, New Jersey, when they faced Navy, we’ve been to …
Read More »New Braunfels Canyon DB commits to Texas Tech football team
The Texas Tech football team picked up its third commitment for the 2026 recruiting class on Saturday, getting a pledge from New Braunfels Canyon defensive back Luke Bell. Bell, listed at 6-foot and 175 pounds, played in five games this season for a Class 6A team that finished 8-5. He was credited with 38 tackles, including four tackles for loss. …
Read More »Notre Dame football vs. Ohio State: three keys, predictions for CFP championship game
It all comes down to this. Ohio State. Notre Dame. A chance to win a College Football Playoff national championship. The Buckeyes’ last title came in 2014. The Fighting Irish? 1988. One of these storied programs will get to hang another banner following Monday’s title game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta (7:30 p.m., ESPN). Despite Notre Dame being seeded ahead …
Read More »Why Cade Klubnik returned to Clemson football, Dabo Swinney for senior season
Clemson football quarterback Cade Klubnik revealed why he returned to the Tigers for his fourth season. “I wanted to be at a certain spot (in the NFL draft), and I don’t think I was quite there, so I want to come back for another year and really have a great fourth year,” Klubnik said Thursday on the Field Talk Podcast. “That’s kind of …
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