We have seen college football teams back into the College Football Playoff, losing their last regular-season or conference title game and still earning a spot in the four-team field. This happened to Alabama in 2017 after losing the Iron Bowl and to Ohio State after it lost to Michigan in 2022. That was the same…
And now, 20 Final Thoughts from college football’s Rivalry Weekend, where many of the teams fought for 60 minutes, and then fought some more. 1. On his weekly coach’s show last Monday, Ohio State coach Ryan Day described his team’s losing streak to Michigan in stark terms. “It’s one of the worst things that’s ever…
America’s breadbasket straddles the Missouri River, with Iowa on the eastern slope and Kansas burying a knee in its back from the southwest. The river’s thick, muddy waters and countless tributaries irrigate the world’s most fertile farmland. In Iowa, that means corn, hogs and even turkeys. In Kansas, that’s winter wheat, sorghum and cattle. Agriculture…
As the season approaches its final two weeks, jostling for at-large bids continues for teams in the upper echelon of College Football Playoff competition. At this point, there are teams with CFP hopes both as a conference champion and as an at-large. There are others, such as Big 12 contenders BYU and Colorado, which need…
Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams. Winning games is hard. That’s a press conference cliché you’ll hear from every coach, but it’s true, especially for coaches dealing with college athletes. How else can you explain what happened on Saturday? For two weeks, SEC fans beat the…
With two weeks remaining in the regular season, the schedule is brimming with conference championship and College Football Playoff implications, including undefeated underdogs, a crowded SEC race, potential chaos in the Big 12 and a top-five Big Ten clash between Indiana and Ohio State. Let’s rank the top 10 games of Week 12, starting with…