College Football Playoff X-factors: Players poised to make or break contenders’ 2025 postseason chances

Even with the expanded format, a lot has to go right for teams to punch their tickets to the College Football Playoff. One factor can make or break a postseason push, like the Miami defense did last season when the Hurricanes fell just short of their playoff debut. Ahead of the 2025 season, every CFP contender has at least one player or position group that needs to step up and play to their potential in order for the team to deliver on its playoff goals.

A large contingent of this year’s CFP hopefuls are set to break in new quarterbacks, and performing at a high level from the jump is of the utmost importance. They are obvious X-factors in their teams’ search for postseason berths. Most cases go deeper than just the quarterback spot, though. Their supporting casts are just as relevant.

Take Penn State as an example. Drew Allar has long been a promising signal-caller, but the lack of reliability out wide last season was a difference-maker in the Nittany Lions falling short of a national championship. The receiving corps is, thus, a major X-factor in 2025.

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Using spring playoff projections from CBS Sports, here is one X-factor player on each potential CFP team’s roster:

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Author : Carter Bahns

Publish date : 2025-06-18 17:46:00

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